Preparation is the key to meeting your goals! Behind every individual who has reached a health and fitness goal, proper nutrition and planning has been paramount to their success. Meal prepping is a common practice in the fitness community. It entails gathering, purchasing, and cooking your meals for a time span of 4 to 7 days in advance. The benefits of meal preparation are endless. First off, you stay on track of your nutritional goals and you save money. Eating out can be one of the biggest reasons you are falling behind your goals.
Restaurants and fast food chains often add copious amounts of sodium and fry their foods in unhealthy oils. Overall, your best bet is to prepare your own food to save yourself time, money, and the guilt of eating out when you know you should be sticking to your meal plan!
Research Your Diet
Whether you are vegetarian, vegan, pescatarian, or keto there are plenty of online sources that offer creative and easy meal prep ideas for your diet preference. The key to successful meal prep is to eat meals you genuinely enjoy, so take the time to research and find meals for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks that fit your preference.
Gather Your Ingredients
I recommend meal prepping your food four days out. Four days is enough time to keep you ahead of schedule, but not too long where your food could go bad. Meals that begin going bad are the surest way to get sick of the process – so avoid this at all costs. Put together a list of ingredients that you can take to the grocery store. Many ingredients can overlap and be used for other meals to save money.
Prepare Your Ingredients
Choose a day when you are relatively free and have a few hours to spare. Prep and cook all of your ingredients. Divide them up into storage containers and store them in the fridge to enjoy later in the week. Not all of your ingredients need to be cooked, for example oats can be divided up based on portion size into separate containers and enjoyed the same morning.
