{"id":9004111222568430,"date":"2020-03-06T19:28:47","date_gmt":"2020-03-06T19:28:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.healthcoachinstitute.com\/?p=9004111222568430"},"modified":"2022-03-04T18:10:22","modified_gmt":"2022-03-04T18:10:22","slug":"everything-you-need-to-know-about-meal-prepping","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.healthcoachinstitute.com\/articles\/everything-you-need-to-know-about-meal-prepping\/","title":{"rendered":"Everything You Need To Know About Meal Prepping"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you are a Health Coach<\/a> looking for ways to help educate your clients on meal prepping, you are in the right place!

If you\u2019re looking for ways to simplify mealtime and eat healthier\u2014and you do not meal prep\u2014it\u2019s high time to make it a habit!
Meal prepping can save you a lot of hassle when it comes to the dreaded \u201cWhat should we eat?\u201d question\u2014not to mention saving you time and money.

Contrary to popular belief, meal prepping doesn\u2019t have to be super complicated or eat up an entire day. (Great news for us busy folks!)
But first, what exactly does the term \u201cmeal prepping\u201d mean?

Meal prepping is short for \u201cmeal preparation\u201d and it\u2019s the process of making full meals or meal components in bulk ahead of time.<\/p>\n

8 Benefits of Meal Prepping<\/h2>\n

Using meal prepping techniques to prepare your food for the week in advance offers a number of benefits, such as:

1. Lower grocery bills – Knowing what meals you\u2019ll be prepping in advance can save you money because you\u2019re shopping for only the ingredients you need. Plus, you can purchase items in bulk and save additional cash.

2. Less time spent in the supermarket aisle – Have you ever walked into a grocery store, started wandering around, and somehow completely forgotten the items you came in to buy? Having a plan for your week and cooking in bulk makes for a faster grocery store visit so you can get in and out in less time. Make sure to create a list before you head inside.

3. Smarter meal choices – Meal prepping can facilitate wiser, more nutritious meal choices because you\u2019re more intentional about what and how much you\u2019re consuming. This leads to healthier decisions throughout your day and feeling better about yourself overall.

4. Reduced food waste – Meal prepping with only the ingredients you\u2019ve purchased helps cut down on food waste that often stems from shopping with no plan in mind. When you know exactly what food items you need and how much, you don\u2019t over-buy or throw away as much.

5. Better portion control – Divvying up your prepared meals into individualized portions helps teach portion control and supports weight management.

6. Reduced temptation – When you meal prep, you\u2019re a lot less likely to reach for unhealthy meals and snacks because you already have an easy go-to meal within arm\u2019s reach.

7. Reduced stress – Having your meals all but ready to devour can minimize that frazzled feeling that often results from having no meal plan in place. It takes a lot of time and energy thinking about what you\u2019re going to eat every day; when you have a schedule in advance, you can spend your time on more important things, like being with loved ones or treating yourself to a self-care ritual.

8. Less time cooking – Yes, you\u2019ll still need to cook but with meal prepping, you can prepare all of your meals in one fell swoop so you don\u2019t have to spend as much time in the kitchen the rest of the week. You\u2019ll actually spend less time doing dishes and cleaning up the kitchen too!<\/p>\n

An Overview Of Top Meal Prep Methods<\/h2>\n

There are a variety of ways you can make meal prepping work for you. According to this article, a few of the most popular meal prep methods are:

Make-ahead meals – Fully cooked meals that can be stored in the refrigerator and then reheated when you\u2019re ready to eat them.

Batch booking – Making large quantities of one recipe and then dividing them into smaller portions to eat over multiple days or freezing them for later use.

Individually-portioned meals – Portioning prepared meals into individualized portions you can grab out of the fridge on the run.

Ready-to-cook ingredients – Prepping ingredients for meals in advance to make the cooking process more efficient.

If you\u2019re just getting started with meal prepping, you may want to pick one method to try out first, like prepping meal ingredients in advance. Once you\u2019re comfortable with one method, you can branch out and incorporate others.<\/p>\n

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How to Meal Prep<\/h2>\n

Step 1: Pick your meal prep day(s).<\/strong>
Meal prepping is most efficient when you have a plan and set aside a block of time to shop, prep, and assemble your items. Sunday is a day that works for a lot of people because most people are home and can devote a chunk of time to meal prep, but of course, you should choose whatever day works best for you and your schedule. Again, we don\u2019t recommend diving full force into meal prepping for every day of the week if you\u2019re just getting started. In the beginning, you might just want to try meal prepping for a few days of the week.

Step 2: Choose and schedule your meals.<\/strong>
Decide on some simple go-to meals (emphasis on simple!) to prep based on wherever you feel like you need to streamline the most. For some people, dinnertime is the most chaotic. For others, it\u2019s breakfast or lunch. If you do decide to prepare more than one meal, try to select meals that share ingredients. Some people find it useful to pick themes for specific meals, like Meatless Monday, Taco Tuesday, or Slowcooker Sunday. Once you\u2019ve determined your selections, write them down in your planner or on a calendar for visibility and accountability.

Step 3: Purchase your ingredients.<\/strong>
Write out everything you\u2019ll need for your meals, grouping like ingredients together so you can find what you need efficiently at the grocery store. Then head to the store to grab all of the items on your list. Or consider scheduling a pickup or grocery delivery to save yourself some time. Wherever possible, shop in bulk.

Step 4: Get the right containers.<\/strong>
Having the right containers on-hand is key when it comes to meal prepping. Here are a few things to look for:<\/p>\n