I’ve been making meal plans and doing meal prep on Sundays since my kids were small. Back then, it was a way for us to manage kids with hectic activities and parents with opposite work schedules, while staying on budget.
I would print a blank calendar page on the last day of the month. We’d all huddle around it at the kitchen table, and I filled in every day with suggested meals from the assembled crowd. We’d note when there were activities that would require something fast and that’s when we’d plan for pizza or grilled cheese and veggies. I tried to have one non-meat meal a week. One that had soup and a side of raw veggies. I planned how to turn leftovers into different leftovers a day or two later — so Sunday night spaghetti and meat sauce turned into chili on Tuesday, I just had to add beans and chili powder. Once a month we planned a meal out. We posted this calendar on the fridge so it was easy to see — and easy to follow.
I didn’t do that intensive planning for breakfasts or lunches, these were pretty easy to manage without having to write things down — we knew we’d need fruit and snacks, sandwich meat and bread, milk, juice and a few different kinds of cereal.
When the meal planning was done, we would take stock of the items we had on hand in the pantry, make a grocery list for the items we needed, and head out to the grocery store as a family on customer appreciation day (so we could save 10% on the bill.) We divided the shopping list in half and my hubby took one cart and one child, and I took one cart and one child, and we met at the till to bag it up and take it home. It made for a hectic shopping experience once a month, but we saved money, knew what to make for dinner most evenings (we could always switch things around if needed) and then we just had to occasionally stop for milk and fresh produce in-between those big trips. It also let us plan fairly healthy meals and stop wasting so much food.
Fast-forward to today, and our kids are grown and live on their own. I don’t do a monthly meal plan anymore — instead we tackle them a week at a time and shop on Sundays to pick up what we’ll need. And now that I’m in the MOB bootcamp, I have to be pretty meticulous about what I eat — and what I don’t eat. We still rely on the many of the same habits, including:
- Do a lot of meal prep one day to save time the rest of the week. Wash and cut up a week’s worth of raw, fresh vegetables or fruit all at once. Line a big plastic container with paper towel to keep it all from wilting. Cucumbers or peppers get slimy within a couple of days, but carrots, radishes, celery and snap peas keep really well and then you always have veggies ready to go. You can also chuck them into the air fryer if you want to cook them instead.
- Dip on dips. I’m always stocked up on fat free cottage cheese, fat free plain greek yogurt, hummus, lemon and lime juice, apple cider vinegar and balsamic vinegar. You can make countless kinds of dips and salad dressings that way. It’s healthier, tastes better and has fewer calories.
- Take some protein shortcuts. I buy a deli chicken, cut it apart into pieces and remove the skin, then store it for quick protein choices. I also keep a bag of cooked shrimp and cans of tuna and salmon on hand. If you’re throwing a steak on the BBQ, cook an extra and slice it up for steak salad the next day.
- Power up your lunches. We cook a batch of mixed grains in vegetable stock — I’ll toss in quinoa, wild rice, barley, spelt or whatever else I have around so I have an easy, healthy carb to add to power bowls. You can also roast a can of chickpeas with a splash of olive oil and your favourite spice blend in the air fryer until they’re crispy and throw them into salads, just 1/4 cup adds a great crunch, extra fibre and protein. I recently made Mirin eggs (like the ones in ramen—soft-boiled and marinated in a tasty Asian sauce) and added them to my lunches. Just note they’re a bit high in sodium.
- Salads don’t have to be boring. I pick up individual filets of salmon or tilapia and throw those in the air fryer. They pack a huge protein punch, are done in about 8 minutes and are great in a bowl with crispy rice (bake some of those grains on a cookie sheet on low for 20 minutes until they’re crispy), edamame and shredded Cole slaw. Make your own Asian dressing with rice wine vinegar, garlic, ginger, soya sauce, a bit of sesame oil and some chili crisp and you’ve got a delicious meal that’s ready in about 15 minutes.
- Supplement when you need to. I have a protein shake after my workouts to help me hit my protein goals. I add flax-based fibre supplements because I’m perpetually low on fibre. (You’ll notice I didn’t mention adding broccoli to my raw veggie mix, I only like it cooked.) I keep a jar of kimchi in the fridge and make my own pickled red onions to add tasty and easy probiotics to my meals. I also use Greek yogurt instead of sour cream for the same reason.
- Go low. We search out low-sodium, low or no-sugar added condiments whenever possible and switched from regular to natural peanut butter to cut down on unneeded additives.
- Be adventurous. I search out food bloggers that specialize in turning high-calorie recipes into lower calorie, high-protein dishes and try them out! I save the best ones on Instagram or I add them to my Pinterest recipe pages.
I will leave you with the usual list of things to avoid when meal prepping:
- Don’t buy trigger foods. If I have potato chips or Mini Eggs in the house, I will find them and I will eat them long before I crack open a container of carrot sticks.
- Don’t guess at the nutrition content when you see a recipe you like. Use an app like MyFitnessPal that has a recipe builder function to do a quick estimate of calories, protein, fat and carbs.
- And finally, don’t beat yourself up. One bad meal does not equate to one bad day. One bad day does not mean you’ve wrecked your week. It’s easier to prevent a dieting mishap than to fix it, but we’re all human. And humans eat Mini Eggs sometimes. This one does, anyway.
If you’ve got some great meal prep tips to share, drop them in the comments!
Until next time,
Michelle
Nutrition got you down? Connect with Leanne at TEAM IRON elles to create a plan that boosts your mood, energy, and gets you back on track!
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