When you’ve seen enough videos online and your friends in Hamilton can’t stop raving about their “Meal Prep Sundays,” it’s a good time to get in on the healthy action. Your body and your bank account will thank you once you do. Getting started is quite simple, but sticking with it can be a challenge for us all. To help you get started with batch meal preparation and to help you actually stick with it, follow these simple steps.
Start Out Small
When you get into that “Meal Prep” zone, it’s easy to feel ambitious about preparing your entire week’s menu. Once you try that, you’ll find out very quickly how overwhelming it can be, which can leave you feeling defeated before you really begin. So, don’t try and meal prep it all from the beginning. Start off with baby steps and focus on just preparing one or two recipes for the week ahead until you get more familiar with the process and the amount of time that it takes.
Schedule Meal Prep Time
Just like your gym time, laundry, or family dinner, solidify your batch meal prep time by scheduling it into your daily plans. Whether it’s each Sunday or an evening during the week – the most important factor for sticking with this is making the time to do it. Also, make sure to add in a plan for your grocery shopping so that you can have everything on hand and ready to go.
Make a Meal Plan
Before getting to the meal preparation mode, you first need to make a plan of what you’re going to make ahead of the week. Think about what you can freeze and refrigerate that won’t spoil, and think about dishes like chilli, curry, and soups that can be made in large batches and stored away for later. These are easy to whip up and handy to grab when you need to.
Stick with Recipes That You Know
When it’s time to start your batch meal preparation for the week and suddenly you’re all set to try a few new recipes that your friend has mastered, it’s usually best to stick with what you already know. Remember that meal prep takes time and effort. And before actually making the recipes, you need to spend the time picking up those set ingredients. So including new recipes that you haven’t tested or tried can complicate your entire process and take up a lot more time.
It’s always best to stick with recipes that you know when starting out. This will ensure that you don’t waste any time on something that you’re unsure of how it will turn out.
Do What Works for You
There are no set rules when it comes to meal prep. The point is to make your life easier by having food accessible, chopped, or in batches ready to simply toss in the oven or your mouth. If you’re a salad lover then you can pre-cut all of your veggies and toss batches of your favourite ingredients together in reusable containers to bring with you for lunch.
Getting in on the batch meal preparation is a fantastic way to get a grip on both your eating habits and your spending habits. Because, let’s face it, when we don’t have food readily available to grab, it’s way too tempting to opt for a pizza, take-out, or any easy, fast, and unhealthy food instead.
Take advantage of your downtime when you’re at home in your Hamilton apartment to start planning out your meals with these easy steps.
