Meal Prep 101

Today I want to go over how I meal plan and prep. I think it is absolutely crucial for success, whether you want to lose fat or build muscle, whatever your goals may be, if you don't prepare your meals for the week, you will just set yourself up for failure. You may be thinking, "I don't have the time to spend planning and prepping; it takes too long!" That is why I want to go over what I do. When I started, it took me about 4 hours, but now that I have it down, it takes me less than two hours. It saves time in the end because I don't have to think about what we are having for lunch or come home and try to get supper all ready. This is a great way to stay on track with your eating during the week. If you spend the time making healthy food and pre-portioning it out, you will be less likely to binge and be likely to grab the healthy goodies you prepared!

What To Do

• Pick one day for planning and one day for shopping. I plan all my meals and snacks on Saturdays, and then I shop and prep on Sundays. 
  
• Be sure to have enough storage containers. You are going to need storage for all this food, and you want to be sure to get something that isn't going to crack after a couple uses. For those of you on the 21 Day Fix, Target has colored sandwich bags that are perfect! You can measure your food and snacks out in the containers that came with the program and then put them in the coordinating baggies so they are ready to go for your week ahead.
  
• Use your measuring cups or the 21 Day Fix containers to be sure you have accurate serving sizes.
  
• I have a food scale as well. This has been a great tool to have on hand as I am measuring proper portions. I bought an electronic one from Amazon, and I love that I can zero it out and measure my food with the tupperware right on there.
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• Cook everything you can at the same time to save time.
• I cook a lot of chicken breast, and you could do turkey as well. These are meats that keep longer. If you make seafood ahead, you will want to use it the first day or two before it goes bad.
• Keep it simple! You don't need to make all these exquisite meals. If you check out my meal plans, you will see a lot of repetition throughout my week.

Prep Tips

1. Head to the store and pick up all the groceries you need for the week.
2. Place all veggies in a water/white vinegar bath and leave them to soak for 10 minutes. {To create the "bath", fill your sink with cold water and add 1/3 cup white vinegar.} Drain, rinse and set aside.
3. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. While that is preheating, you can start peeling and cutting the veggies you just washed. If you want to bake any of your veggies, I toss mine with coconut oil and sea salt, throw them in the oven and bake for 40 minutes. 
4. If roasting any veggies, chop those with olive oil, sea salt and any other dry herbs you desire. Place in the oven, along with your sweet potatoes and bake for 30-40 minutes. 
5. Boil any chicken breasts you will be using. Poach for 15 minutes or until cooked through. I shred or cut those up and place in a container.
6. Hard boil eggs.
7. Wash, cut up and portion out any fruits you need on hand for the week.

Good luck on prepping! Comment with any questions; I am happy to help!