How to Be Fine: Meal Prepping and How to Stop Dreading It

The only problem I have is fitting all the containers in the fridge :)

They always say your health and physical appearance is 80% what you eat and 20% of exercise. For some reason, people talk about how hard it is to hit the gym routinely. We need to talk about how hard it can be to eat a healthy meal with our busy lives.

We are all busy. I can remember when I would only think of my next meal when I actually got hungry. I would make a poor choice by that point because I was starving! I would get a personal pan pizza and be hungry 45 min later because it did not fill me up and lacked the nutrients my body was craving.  After admitting to myself that my body was getting older and my metabolism was not the same as it was at 21, I knew I couldn't keep eating pizzas unless I was okay with a pizza body. (FYI-I am not okay with a pizza body.) You get what you put in.


Meal prepping is work and you won't see results immediately. Yes, I know this is not what you want to hear. Someone has to be honest with you instead of selling you a "get thin quick" diet plan. But I can guarantee the more you do it, the easier it will be and the more consistent you are; the better and more satisfying the results.

Your Meal Prep Day:
You need to pick a day to do meal prepping each week. I recommend picking an off day where you have more time than your routine schedule. This day is Sunday for me since Monday's kick off the work week and I tend to have less time Monday-Friday. Once you pick a day; that day needs to be recognized as your official meal prep day each week. Do not fluctuate and meal prep on a Thursday one week and flip to Tuesday the next week or else it won't become routine.

Your Meal Containers:
It's important you have enough for the work week. This is at the very minimum. I like the glass containers because they do not stain (hello, chili stains) and they do not have the harmful plastic that could melt into your food. I pack 3 containers a day in a small, medium and large size. Small is for snacks, medium is for breakfast and large is for lunch. Having containers for ingredients also saves a ton of time such as chopping veggies.

Chopped veggies for quick salads

Your Meals:
Get on Pinterest, Youtube, and/or google meal prep ideas. There are tons of recipes out there. I have done this for long enough to put the same 7-9 meals in rotation without getting bored. I also meal prep 3 meals of the same kind and 2 of the same kind and switch around because I do not want to eat the same lunch 5 days in a row.

I can't express how much easier life is when my containers are prepped and I can easily put them in my work bag each morning. I save so much time in the morning and I know what I prepared is a lot healthier than stopping at a restaurant or worst; the drive thru. My pencil skirts still fit and it also saves me a ton of money. My lunch is typically $3 a serving. Some days I splurge with some fresh avocado because guac is always extra :)


Here's what I made this week. You can use this as an example to get you started.




Breakdown:

Breakfast: Sliced strawberries and coffee (not pictured). Yes, you have to cut up strawberries. The more appetizing they look; the more likely you will eat them.

Snacks: Pecans. Easy and delicious.

Lunches: Two grilled chicken salads and three cajun shrimp, rice and green beans. It's very important to separate your chicken from the salad so you can heat up the chicken separately. It makes a better tasting salad :)

Before

After

Dinners: BBQ shredded chicken in a crockpot with salad and blackened salmon, baked potato and asparagus. The crockpot did all the cooking and I baked all the potatoes at once. Salmon and asparagus cook so fast with minimal preparation that I cook it the night I will eat it. I don't put them into containers because I eat them on a plate with my husband like a normal person. I just didn't slave in the kitchen for hours. Most of the work was prepped.

Once you start meal prepping each week, you start accumulating ingredients you can use in other recipes over time. The same chicken I grilled for my salads; I used in the crockpot for BBQ chicken. The red onions and tomatoes I chopped for my salad can be used on a Saturday morning with eggs when I feel like making a quick frittata.

Sample Grocery List (for meals/snacks pictured):
1. Chicken breast (Used for chicken on salads and BBQ Crockpot Chicken)
2. Shrimp
3. Salmon
4. Strawberries (breakfast)
5. Asparagus (side dish)
6. Pecans (snack)
7. Lettuce Mix (for salad)
8. Tomatoes (for salad)
9. Cucumbers (for salad)
10. Green Beans (side dish)
11. Potatoes (side dish)
12. Jasmine Rice (side dish)

Seasonings Recommended:
1. Salt/Pepper
2. Season salt
3. Old Bay
4. Garlic Powder
5. Garlic and Herb seasoning (Weber's is good.)
6. Butter
7. Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Salad Prep Tip:
I see people making their salad by putting the salad mix in first and then throwing the veggies on top. The veggies on top immediately weigh down the lettuce mix and it's no longer a crisp salad by the time they eat it. (No wonder they get discouraged.) Tip: I put the heaviest and veggies with the most liquid on the bottom. I lay the lettuce mix on last. Everything is fresh and crisp even after 3 days of being in the fridge. I just shake up the salad once it's time to eat.

Before

After

Review what is in your kitchen to see how many ingredients you already have and then list what you still need prior to going to the store. Put the list in your notes app on your phone for convenient grocery shopping. Take pictures and look at them when you need the motivation. Share the pictures with friends and family to spread the inspiration! (I send my salad porn pictures all the time.) The key is consistency and take it one week at a time.


Don't overthink this. Your meal prep containers can be as simple or as complicated as you like. The important takeaway is that the meals are ready BEFORE you get hungry.

Namaste,

T. Singleton