Meal Prep: How, Why & What

If you follow me on IG you've already seen this and know what I was up to on Sunday - that's right. Meal Prep!

Does the thought of having to carve out an hour to focus solely on prepping food for the week totally freak you out? Don't let it. It sounds like a tedious task, but once you get into it, you won't know how you ever survived without it. My meal planning journey started when I read A Place of Yes by Bethenny Frankel. When I read it, my oldest was 10 months, I was working and life was crazy busy. Just like now, just in a different way. She talked about how when she was on some Martha Stewart Apprentice-like reality show early on in her career, it basically turned her life upside down. They were putting in sometimes 20 hour days and the other cast members were "dropping like flies". They'd eat whenever and whatever they could get their hands on. She, on the other hand, being a healthy, natural-food chef, always made time for good, healthy, clean food and rest. The others didn't sleep (which I'm learning has a HUGE impact on weight and recovery), ate whatever was easiest and essentially, had their priorities all out of whack. Bethenny said that was her #1 priority - eat clean and rest - no matter what.

She knew that was the only way to be the best version of herself. 

She ended up getting essentially second place and she may have lost the battle, but pretty sure she won the war (sadly, only in regards to her business career). I'm not sure why that stuck with me like it did, but that's really when I made up my mind to start meal planning and prepping. It's pretty much the only way to truly eat clean, especially in my part of the country. One of my husband's friends said the other day, "McDonald's has a pretty good diet selection". I about punched him in the face died, but I digress.

I made up my mind to learn how and what to cook. Now comes the planning part. This is just like anything else, it's going to take practice. Just be consistent and make time for it. I use these adorable little meal planner books from May Books, but find what works for you. Just like workout clothes, I find that the cuter it is, the more I'm apt to use it. Maybe, for you, it's Evernote, Pinterest, or eMeals. Whatever it is, just schedule 30 minutes during the week to find your recipes and plan them out so you can do your shopping. Our grocery store offeres a shopping & delivery service for $14. I used it A LOT when baby #2 was born. When I worked, I'd go on my lunch break and stick my grocery bags in the fridge (I obviously could only buy a few things so, I'd end up going a few times a week). The point is, if you want anything bad enough, you'll figure out a way to get it done. Period. If you don't particularly care, that's fine, just don't allow yourself to make excuses. I used to. Then I got over it, sucked it up and made it happen.

So here's a list of what I most often prep in quantities:

Salmon Salad
Tuna Salad
Quinoa Caprese Salad
Banana Protein "Bread" (found out the hard way, keep this refrigerated!)
Turkey Chili
Turkey, Beans and Rice
Chocolate Protein Bars 
Hard boiled eggs
Veggies for snacking
Cut veggies for dinners (red onion, carrots, tomatoes, etc. Makes dinners a lot easier if I can just grab cut veggies and go)
Sweet Potatoes for these
Cooked Chicken Breasts (boiled, grilled, whatever)

It will vary sometimes, if I find a new recipe or get sick of eating this stuff all the time, but this has been it lately.

I hope this helps you meal plan and prep if it's not something you're already doing, or are getting bored with.

What do you meal prep?

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