A beginner’s guide to meal prep

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I was exposed to meal prep before it became a thing. Growing up, my mom would cook dinner for the week on Sunday afternoons for my family since she worked long hours during the week and did not want to be bothered to cook when she came home.

Our meals normally consisted of rice and peas, meat, and some potatoes or plantains. I thought everyone did this until I went to my friends’ houses and learned that they had different meals almost every night. Occasionally, I would get tired of eating the same thing everyday and wished my mom would change it up in the middle of the week.

When I went to college and started to cook for myself, I fully understood why my mom did what she did and continued to cook all of my food on Sunday. It made my life a lot easier, especially after late night rehearsals. It also helped me stay in good shape despite the lack of exercise.

What is meal prep?

Meal prep is the process of preparing meals in advance. It is a great method for busy people or anyone on a particular diet since your meals are already prepared and portioned.

Advantages of meal prep

• No guessing about meals
• Can help you stick to nutrition goals
• Save money from less takeout meals
• Can save time

Disadvantages of meal prep

• Time consuming for a few hours (prep, dishes)
• Can be monotonous

Individual meal prep v. batch meal prep

Individual meal prep is portioning single servings in a container. Batch meal prep is preparing several servings and taking out what you want to eat. Depending on your lifestyle, one method may work better for you compared to another.

I use a combination of both. During the school year, I pack individual meals for lunch and for evening grad school classes. Since I eat dinner at home, I batch prep for this meal. I do not prep breakfast at all.

My meal prep method

1. Determine how many meals you need to prep based on your schedule.

I normally cook enough food for five lunches and dinners. I would not recommend any more than that due to food freshness and safety.

2. Assess the freezer and pantry.

See what you have available already. If I have an ingredient that is about to expire, I tend to center my prep around that food or sauce. It might help with the next step.

3. Create your menu.

What do you already have on hand? What are you in the mood for? When planning, try to create balanced meals incorporating carbs, protein, and healthy fats along with micronutrients such as fruits and veggies. Money saving hack: check out supermarket circulars to see what is on sale for the week. Sometimes my choices are based on that.

4. Shop for your ingredients.

Depending on the amount of food I need, I will shop at the local supermarket or BJ’s.

5. Cook your meals.

If you have to prepare multiple meals such as lunch and dinner, vary your cooking methods to save time. For example, cook one thing on the stove and another thing in the oven. If possible, I prepare any meat the day before so I only have to cook it the next day.

6. Divide food into individual portions or store in large containers for batch prep.

I use these plastic containers and do not have any issues with leakage. I would prefer to use glass or stainless steel but 1) I work with children 2) I tend to drop things 3) I like to have multiple containers and the alternatives are pricey. For batch prep, I like these glass containers.

General tips for success

• It does not have to be complicated. My early meal preps were sandwiches and side salads. However…
• Meal prep does not have to be boring. There are way too many recipes out there to eat boring meals. I get a ton of inspiration from WorkWeekLunch, The Meal Prep Manual, and Clean Food Crush.
• If available, use a meal prep service. When I do not have time to cook or preparing for a bodybuilding competition, I order my pre-cooked meat in bulk.
• Be patient, it takes practice. I became more experienced over time.

Do you meal prep? If so, do you prep individual meals or batch prep?