Ever wonder what it would be like to open your fridge to find a full week of healthy, delicious food that’s prepped and ready to eat?
Trust me when I tell you that it definitely makes staying on track with your nutrition plan and achieving fat loss a lot easier…
Meal prep is a great way to keep on track what your eating throughout the entire week.
The idea is to plan out all of your meals on the weekend, most often on Sunday, then do the shopping and the prep for the entire week on one day.
The result….your food is ready-to-eat for the next 6 full days.
So without delay…..
Here’s my 5 Step Meal Prep Guide to make your next food prep week really simple:
Step One: Planning
Get out your notebook and pen or pull up a blank note page on your iPad, it’s time to start planning for the week. Here are the questions that you’ll need to answer:
1. How many meals do I need each day?
- Check your calendar for special events
- Consider your appetite throughout the day
- Look at each day separately
- If you are following a nutrition plan, how many meals do you eat daily
2. How many servings do I need for each meal?
- Consider who in the family needs which meals
- Check the calendar for guests or visitors
- Look at each day separately
Step Two: Recipes
Now it’s time to translate those meals + servings into actual recipes. Take a moment to consider the produce that’s in season and any special requests or food allergies.
1. Find your recipes
- Browse around on your favorite recipe site
- Pull out your favorite cookbooks
- Find your family favorite recipes
2. Focus on a core group of ingredients
- Plan recipes that use similar ingredients
3. Calculate leftover meals
- Making enough of some recipes for leftover meals saves time
4. Make your list
- Narrow down to the exact list of recipes
Step Three: Grocery List
Take your list of recipes and create a grocery list. A few things to keep in mind…
1. Pay attention to recipes that you’ll double or triple
- Make sure to include all ingredients in your list
2. Organize your list into these convenient sections:
- Meat/Seafood/Egg
- Organic or Standard Produce
- Herbs/Flavors
- Pantry Items
3. Check your pantry for items that you already have
- Save money by avoiding double purchases
Step Four: Shopping
It’s time to head to the grocery store! Take your list and a full stomach, to your local market and go through each section item by item.
Step Five: Food Prep
You have options when it comes to the actual prep of each of your meals. Many of your meals, you’ll be able to fully make right away and put it in the fridge. Some of your other recipes you’ll want to simply do the chopping, measuring and organizing in order to make the meal hot and quick before you plan to eat it.
Which recipes should you fully cook in advance? The truth is, that’s really up to you and your schedule.
Here’s a good game plan if you don’t want to fully cook everything on Sunday:
- Fully make the baked goods for the week.
- Chop all your veggies.
- Cook one of two of your proteins.
- Gather all seasonings.
- Fully cook Monday’s dinner.
Getting into the habit of prepping your meals for the week is a perfect way to help you accelerate your fat loss results, because you don’t have to worry about not eating on your plan.
A healthy life is within your reach – I’ve seen hundreds of my clients before you do it, and I’ll see hundreds including you do it.
Today it’s your turn!
