Meal prep is the key to good health and making your meal prep simple is key to success!
Meal prepping is one of the most simple things you can do to set yourself up for success. With planned healthy recipes along with portion control for all your macronutrients your meal prep will simplify your life and eating habits.

With weekly preparation just once a week for yourself and your family you’ll have the ease of not wondering what’s for breakfast, lunch or dinner. With a simple prep each week you can have all your favorite healthy recipes ready for grabs throughout the week.
Use these tips to help get started by learning the basics. You’ll plan how many meals you’ll prepare each week, what day you’ll prepare, shop and even eat. The key to maintaining a healthy diet when busy is always being prepared. Planning is the skeleton for success and this is your Meal Prep Made Simple Tips to Success – let’s get started….

Tip #1: Plan For Success

The key to maintaining a healthy diet when busy is to be a step ahead. Just like any successful endeavor there must be a plan and proper meal prepping requires the same – a plan!

If you don’t have a plan you will find meal prepping to be a hassle, daunting task with unsuccessful results. Meal prepping is done best with a laid out plan.

Know which day you will shop, which day(s) you’ll prep and which days you’ll consume. “Failing to plan, is planning to fail.” So plan your preps wisely for each and every week.

Tip #2: Plan a Day To Prep

To successfully meal prep you want to pick a day to shop and prep your meals.

A good day to consider is the last day of your weekend. This helps to prepare you for a busy work week ahead and also keeps your meals fresh. If you freeze your meals, you don’t want to do it in the middle of the week. Keep meals in the fridge that you plan to eat at the beginning of the week. Freeze meals that you plan on eating later in the week, day 3 and later.

Depending on how many meals you need throughout the week two split days of prep may be beneficial and time efficient rather than preparing everything in one day.

Tip #3: Determine Your Numbers

Know how meals you want to prepare. You can prepare all your meals but it is not necessary!

Prep the meals that typically have you on crunch time. This could be lunch, a meal after your late workout and/or snacks for the days you know you’ll be on the go. Determine your schedule and prep the number of meals necessary.

Tip #4: Know Your Goals

Your goal could be weight loss, lean muscle gain or merely to just eat clean! With a Simple Meal Prep plan you prepare for success by planning your meals according to your goal.

Meal prep also limits the chances of overeating with structured portion control. A healthy homemade meal tends to be lower in calories and sodium content as compared to our favorite go-to lunch spot.

All in all, meal prepping can help you better achieve any health related goal because you are the one in control of your plate! As opposed to eating out where portion sizes tend to be loaded with calories, your meal prep should be portioned out by your goals.

Tip #5: Keep It Simple

No need to prepare a gourmet meal. Not only do gourmet meals tend to be less healthy, they also don’t keep as well as opposed to the simple prepared foods.

The basic formula to eating clean is selecting whole foods with nothing overly processed or added ingredients.

Here are some simple and healthy foods to consider:

Protein: Chicken breast, ground or turkey breast, flank steak, turkey bacon, Fish, cottage cheese
Carbohydrates: Oats, quinoa, couscous, brown rice, wild rice, whole-grain tortillas and bread
Healthy fats: Almonds, walnuts, pecans, pistachios, pumpkin seeds, peanut butter, almond butter, olive oil and coconut oil

Tip #6: Pack Snacks

Don’t forget to prepare healthy snacks. Not only are snacks simple preps but they are essential if you are really on the go. Snacks will help avoid those midday crashes and keep your metabolism boosted. 

Simple and healthy snack include:

hard-boiled eggs, almonds, celery sticks with a side of almond butter, scoop of protein and shaker cup.

Tip #7: Time Your Portion Control

If you are not on a controlled fasting eating schedule then try to eat four to six small meals per day. One meal every two to three hours will keep your metabolism boosted.

Consuming smaller meals throughout the day is a way of informing your body and metabolism to keep working and burning calories. If you are depriving ourselves of proper intake you are actually telling your body you are starving! This then triggers the metabolism to slow down. On the contrary, if you keep fueled with small nutritious portions your body’s metabolism ignites to burn off those smaller portion meals.

Tip #8 Plan your grocery shopping

After you determine the factors above make sure to make a shopping list and get ready to stock up on quality macronutrient sources including protein, carbohydrates, fruits, vegetables and other healthy essentials.

Write your meals down and then make a grocery list so you don’t miss any necessary items.

Tip #9: Prep Supplements

Often just sitting down to eat can feel time consuming on an overly busy day. Days like these plan to prepare a simple smoothie or a light supplement snack to curb your appetite while revving up your metabolism.

Protein Packed Smoothie Recipe

½ – 1 Cup of Frozen Mixed Berries

1 Scoop Vanilla Protein

1/2 cup Water

½ cup Milk of choice (Almond, Coconut or Low Fat)

1 Tbsp Liquid Vitamin

Blend and sip up!

Tip #10 Get Proper Storage Containers and/or Cooler

Last but not least be sure you have the proper food containers. This will make a world of difference for convenience. If you choose plastic containers make sure they are BPA-free and they won’t melt in the microwave. Mason jars and other containers that will store neatly will be beneficial. If you are prepping more than one meal an insulated bag and/or cooler is a good and affordable investment.

Looking for some healthy seasonal recipes? We’ve got you covered! Enjoy 10 delicious healthy recipes in our new Healthy Holiday Recipe Guide that also includes a 30 day Fitzone30 workout program to keep you on track with your healthy and fitness goals throughout the holiday season!