Healthy Eating 101 - Beginners Level 3

 

If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Ever heard of this quote? This applies to healthy eating as well. Planning for a healthy eating lifestyle makes it easier to eat healthy. Welcome to Level 3 where you will learn the importance of meal prep.

(To read more about meal prep, click the link below to“Read More”.)

Level 3: Meal Prep

The most important thing if you want a healthy lifestyle is preparing your meals. Why? Preparing your meals can help you knock out 3 things: it makes sure you meet your calorie intake, it helps you save time, and it helps you save money. If you think about it, buying, preparing, and cooking food takes a bunch of time. 
 

Let's do the math. You eat 3 meals per day, 7 days per week. That's a total of 21 meals you have to prepare and cook for. So if you take 1-2 hours per meal to prepare and cook, that would be a total of 21 - 42 hours wasted. Whaaaaat?! Yeah, that's why college students decide not to cook and go for fast food instead. But there's a solution for this: MEAL PREP!

Step 1: Preparing to Meal Prep
Before you start to meal prep, you have to get the preparation tools - tupperware. You want to purchase food containers that can be stored in the fridge or in the freezer, and microwavable. BPA free containers are ideal for meal prep. I also suggest you purchasing all your tupperware in the same size. The purpose? It's easier to store in the fridge/freezer.

Step 2: Preparing to Grocery Shop
We've all had the problem where we ask ourselves, What should I eat today? Well you don't have to think anymore cause you're preparing for the whole week! You plan your meals ahead of time, knowing what you want to eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the whole week. You also can count your calories for the whole week. You're basically knocking out 2 things in 1 step. So whatever you want to eat (healthy meals of course) write it down and make a list of the ingredients.

Step 3: Preparing to Cook
There are a lot of things you can do here: prepare to prepare for cooking or preparing to cook. Preparing to prepare? Yea, what I said. Preparing to prepare to cook. Foods don't taste good when it's cooked and in the fridge for long (think of leftovers. YUUCK!). So it's best to break down your cooking in half. But to make it easier and save time, you prepare the food you wanna cook.

Step 4: Preparing to Pack
Now that all your food is cooked/prepared to cook, pack it! Pack and label your containers with your breakfast, lunch, and dinner meals. Simple right? 

Step 5: Preparing to Eat
Now that your food is all prepared, eat it as planned. This is the easiest step that you shouldn't mess up on. Eating your planned meals help you eat healthy and stay on track towards a healthy lifestyle.

Step 6: Preparing to Meal Prep...Again
Wash, dry, repeat! Now that your meals are done, you do it all over again. YAAAEEEE!

Congrats! You just learned how to meal prep! Before you know it, you will incorporate meal prep into your weekly routine. I hope this post helps you start your journey to eating healthy and meal prepping