Meal Prep for Beginners

Originally published September 11th 2013

Meal Prep for Beginners doesn’t have to be difficult or expensive. Keep reading to learn how it’s done by bodybuilding competitors.

If you were like me when you first tried to lose weight you asked your friends what worked best for them and maybe even tried to copy things you’ve seen shared through social networks. I wasn’t much of a cook prior to starting my weight loss journey and many of the recipes I saw were a bit intimidating. With meal prep, I found ways to keep my cooking simple and efficient.

One of my favorite things about meal prep is that when it’s done you don’t have to wait on your food to eat it. Everything is prepared in advance and this cuts down on the chances of cheating. When I first started dieting, most of my cheats occurred out of a sense of grave starvation. I didn’t want to wait and so I thought buying a burger from Wendy’s or a chicken sandwich from McDonald’s was the quickest way to fill me up. It was a short-term solution that was not helping me reach my health goals. Furthermore, the portion sizes for the food we don’t prepare ourselves as well as the choices we make when ordering off the menu seldom align with the necessary caloric intake for our weight loss. Meal prepping helps you plan ahead. The better you become at sticking to your nutrition plan, the more results you will see faster.

GROCERY SHOPPING.

I can be a bit unmotivated to go grocery shopping at times, but creating a grocery list from your meal plan can save you a lot of time in the store. Also, once you’ve gone to the store, save your receipts so you won’t have to guess which store had what items if you need to restock them. In order to get all of my groceries on my meal plan, I have to go to three or four different grocery stores. The best way to make your grocery list is by writing out categories. Separate the items by their location/aisle in the grocery store. Most of the healthy items on your list will be fresh foods and you’ll find them along the walls of the grocery store (most processed foods are in the middle aisles). Here’s an example of my Grocery List.

Fruit
– Blueberries
– Pineapple ring
– Apples
– Grapefruit
– Prunes

Veggies
– Spinach
– Green Beans
– Asparagus
– Sweet Potatoes
– Carrots

Meats
– Ground Turkey
– 90% Lean Beef

Oils
– Balsamic Vinegar

Other
– Gluten-free Penne Pasta
– Red Sauce
– Low Carb Wrap (under 15 grams carbs)

CoOKING

The most daunting task of meal prep is actually cooking all of the food or so I thought. I’ve found that I can place most of my chicken on a pizza pan and fish on another pizza pan wrapped in aluminum foil and cook it all at the same time. If I’m making tilapia with other food that takes longer to cook, I’ll set the timer for 20 minutes, remove the pan with tilapia when it’s done cooking. While my food is in the oven, I watch a movie or if I have more food to prepare, I’ll start on that.

MEASURING

Purchase a digital food scale and measuring cups/spoons to be certain of the portion sizes you are eating. Oats can be measure dry, but most other foods will me measured after you cook them.

STORING.

Always stock up on gallon and sandwich size zip-lock baggies. If you are on a budget, rinse them with soapy water and reuse them. I didn’t know anything about storing raw and cooked meats or thawed out veggies when I first started learning to meal prep and so I spoiled a lot of my food trying to preserve them in Tupperware. If you’ve prepared enough food for the week then store half in the fridge and the other half in the freezer. If you prefer your food to be fresher, cook only enough for 3-4 days (meal prep twice a week).

STAYING ON TRACK.

Once your food is prepped, don’t think too hard about it. Eat what’s stated for that particular meal with no additions or subtractions. If you are on the go, take your meals in a cooler with you. Many fitness competitors use meal prep bags like the Six Pack or Isobag to keep 3-6 meals with them everywhere they go. I used to use Bentgo storage containers and my cute PuTwo Lunch Bag (which is also insulated and leakproof). I’ve recently upgraded to a Wolfpak Meal Management Backpack. Meal prep for beginners, means you’ll likely accumulate lots of meal storage and on-the-go meal travel kits over time. You are eating every 2-3 hours and a good functional lunch cooler will help you stay consistent with your meal plan.

Some people avoid meal prepping because they think it’s too much work. I hope this article has made meal prep for beginners sound a lot less daunting. As they say, there’s nothing to it, but to do it!