Meal prep is easy if you have the right tactics, the right skills, the right tools, and the right mindset.
Here are 25 quick tips to help you out:
1. Use a rice cooker. 🍚
They’re easier to clean, can make larger portions, and are more hands-off than pots and pans.
2. Eat the same high-protein, low-effort breakfast everyday. 🍳
Start each day with one less decision that you need to make. Eggs, shakes, and bars work great here.
3. Count and measure, don’t guess. 🎲
The effort is minimal (and gets to be second nature over time) and the reward is saving stress and frustration when your goals seem far off.
4. Make protein/produce in bulk, then add seasonings/low-calorie condiments meal by meal for variety. 🧂
This is much much easier than prepping completely different meals for every single day of the week, yet still satisfies your desire for variety.
5. Buy a food scale. ⚖️
Accuracy becomes more and more important as you get closer to reaching your goals. It also makes portioning a cinch!
6. Buy single-serving portions of snack foods. 🧀
Save yourself the heart and stomachache before accidentally eating the entire bag or box of something.
7. Start with calories, then protein, then carbs or fats, then add enough vegetables to keep you full. 🍤
This statement alone could replace hundreds of dieting books. Once you figure out what this formula looks like in your life, it’s incredibly easy to eat for your goals.
8. Line all of your pans with aluminum foil. 🔲
A cheap way to save time and effort in cleaning up.
9. Use cooking oil sprays to drastically reduce calories when baking, frying, sauteing, etc. 🛢
Pouring oil into a pan can be difficult and time-consuming to measure, and the spray works just as well for cooking results.
10. Don’t buy food items that don’t fit into your calorie budget. 🙅🏼♀️
It sounds simple, but if you don’t buy it, you can’t eat it. This takes much less willpower than buying (junk) foods and trying not to eat it when you’re bored.
11. Cook a week’s worth of protein in the slow cooker with zero effort. 🐌
Pile it up, fresh or frozen, turn the slow cooker to low heat, and come back in 6-8 hours.
12. Create dozens of meals with 3 ingredients: protein, starch, vegetable. 3️⃣
This meal template can be adapted to any goal at any calorie level. Easy, nutritious, and filling.
13. Keep quick protein on hand, such as eggs or cooked frozen chicken. 🥚
Items like these can give you a protein-packed meal within minutes via the stove top or microwave.
14. Keep quick carbs on hand, such as microwaveable rice packets or oats. 🍙
Items like these can give you a energy-packed meal within minutes via the stove top or microwave.
15. You will not die of boredom if you eat the same meals 7 days in a row. 😉
If this sounds absolutely dreadful or outright impossible, you might want to reanalyze your goals.
16. Meals with fewer components/ingredients are faster to make and easier to track. ⏳
They’re easier to clean up, too!
17. Use your oven, stove top, slow cooker, and rice cooker at the same time to keep total prep time down. ⏲
With everything running at once, you’ll be spending less time in the kitchen than ever!
18. Calculate next week’s macros ahead of time to help with grocery shopping and working around special occasions. 🗒
Planning ahead means easier/faster grocery trips. For special occasions surrounding food, reduce your calorie budget earlier in the week to mitigate the impact of a higher calorie meal/day.
19. Roast almost anything in the oven at 450F for 15-20 minutes. ♨️
Vegetables, meats, poultry, fish, etc. Easy and simple to remember!
20. Cook chicken to 165F internal temp. 🌡
No one likes under cooked or overcooked chicken!
21. Buy meats, grains, and condiments in bulk. 🌾
Save money by buying in bulk, and reduce the possibility of “running out of food” at home when you’re in a pinch.
22. Ingredients chopped into bite-sized pieces will cook much faster than whole items. 🥒
For foods like potatoes, poultry, and ground meats, this simple swap saves lots of time.
23. Try carb-cycling by replacing starches with a double portion of vegetables on your non-training days. 🥕
You can use this strategy to save calories, and to adjust your daily meals according to your appetite. No need to stuff or starve yourself ever!
24. Weigh total weekly ingredients, then eye-ball individual portions instead of weighing every single meal. 🥩
This one is a game-changer! Weigh/measure your foods once, then eye-ball the rest. Same total weekly macros!
25. No food is off limits if it fits your calorie/protein budget. 🍕
You can fit any food into any diet, but it will take some planning and discipline!
What are your favorite meal prep tips? Share them below so everyone can learn from you! 💬👇🏼