Q&A Monday – FOOD PREP TIPS

Question: How do you prep your food and how do you do it in a timely manner?
Answer: If you’re working out hard and not seeing the physical results you are looking for, you are most likely not paying as close of attention to your diet as you should be. Diet is the one place where a little bit of tweaking producing visible results, and the key to sticking to a clean diet is to plan ahead! When you have healthy meals made and ready, you are much less likely to reach for the junk food or swing through a fast food drive through.  Food prep and a healthy lifestyle for that matter is not necessarily
the “easy” route, but I assume that looking in the mirror and feeling
badly about yourself is not exactly easy either, so decide what’s
important to you!

I typically prepare a week’s worth of meals on a Sunday. When I first started doing this, I thought that I would not have the 3-4 hours it takes to do so, but I found that the time this saves me during a week of not cooking is much more beneficial! Also, I’ve personally noticed results during times when I have all my meals made versus time when my diet slacks from not having my meals made. Here are a few tips on how to prep those meals.

1. PLAN OUT WHAT YOU WILL BE MAKING
Never go into anything without a plan, especially food prep. I typically look at a write out of my diet and decide what variations of meals I will be using. For instance, if my diet has 4oz. ground turkey breast for a meal – will I make turkey burgers, ground turkey, etc. Plan out what types of proteins, carbohydrates, and vegetables to prep. 

2. GROCERY SHOP FOR ONLY THESE ITEMS
Do not just write down these big items, but check for any seasonings/tools/utensils that you will be in need of! Put it all on a grocery list and only allow yourself to buy these items! You can make or break your diet at a grocery store – if it’s not on the list, don’t buy it! No, the frozen pizza or cookies for Saturday’s cheat meal do not need to be bought right now 😉

3. FIND 3 HOURS & GET TO COOKING
Find 3-4 hours in order to get all this cooking done. You may not have 3-4 hours to spare, but you will have to make the time. If possible, find a cooking buddy! This makes the whole process a lot more enjoyable and an extra set of hands in the kitchen can aid in time efficiency!

First cook all your protein. My proteins typically consist of chicken, ground turkey breast, and tilapia. I utilize all kitchen appliances for this task including the stove top, oven, and even my George Foreman grill! Simultaneously 🙂 Don’t forget to allow time for these items to heat up/pre-heat while your slicing your meats. Next, I move onto my carbs. My carbs typically consist of brown rice and sweet potatoes, which I cook on the stove top & in the oven. Both are pretty easy things to cook, which allots time to clean up the protein & get set for the next step, vegetables. For my vegetables, which usually consists of broccoli and asparagus, I usually steam these items, which again is a pretty easy job!

4. PACKAGE IT UP
When it comes to packaging up these meals, everyone uses a different technique. The most common is to weigh out each meal (protein, carb, and veggie) and place it into it’s individual container or plastic bag and label which meal it is. However, I prefer to keep all my food items together, so I have a large container of brown rice, another of chicken chicken, another of sweet potatoes, etc. and then at each meal, I take from them! Whichever your prefer, you’re fridge will be filled with containers. However, when the time comes for your next meal, you now have a complete meal made and ready to go!