So, first off, let me start by telling you that if I can do it, anyone can! All you need is a little planning, some time, and the right motivation. Which you should have plenty of after reading this. You are an athlete, following an effective fitness program, designed to help you be stronger, fitter, faster, better looking, and the best damn version of yourself that you can be!! So you have the fitness, now you need the nutrition! Time to start acting and eating like the athlete that you are!
My meal prep journey has been a long one. Full of mistakes, learnings, successes, failures, smoky ovens, but thankfully, no fires. I am not a great cook. I would actually consider myself a terrible cook. While my mom was trying to bestow her culinary genius upon me, I was too busy doing unmentionable things....but we'll save that for another blog. The good news is that you do not have to be a great cook to start meal prepping. I started years ago with pre-packaged stuff, the Trader Joe's frozen section basically. I started meal prepping because my nutrition no longer fit my lifestyle and it was time to grow up and grow into a healthier me. I was tired of eating out for lunch, snacking on junk and eating whatever was available. My goal was to eat as clean as possible. Meat. Veggies. Fruit. So I started small with no real plan. I just played around with cooking food to hold me over for a few days. It soon became a habit, and now I consider it something I have an extremely hard time functioning without. It took years of practice and I continue to learn and get better and better. My goal is to prepare 20-25 nutritional meals on Sunday for me and my boyfriend. It usually takes me 3 hours from start to finish.
We are constantly using willpower and making decisions. All-day every day. Meal prepping creates one less decision we have to make every day. One less time I have to use my precious store of willpower. If my food is ready and available, I am going to eat it! I no longer have to stress about what I'm going to eat for lunch, or wait until I'm starving than make a terrible decision based on "hanger"! It's a way to fuel your body, remove the temptations, never feel hungry or starving, and to be consistent. It's also a great way to control how much you eat, no more overeating. Meal prepping is my weekly guarantee for nutritional success.
So, let's get down to business!
First, you need to plan a few things to get started.
Plan when you will do your grocery shopping and when you will do your prep. I like to get my groceries delivered Saturday and meal prep Sunday.
Next, you need to plan how many meals you will be making, and your menu. KEEP IT SIMPLE!
Make your grocery list based on your menu and make sure you have enough containers.
Once you have all of your ingredients and containers you're all set! Turn on some music, your favorite podcast, or an audiobook and start cooking!
Once you have all your containers filled with delicious meals and nutritious snacks, take a pic for the gram and hashtag #blkopsnutrition and @stephfitnessandnutrition
Coach Steph