Even though bodybuilders and fitness enthusiasts used to be the only ones who practiced preparing their meals for a whole week in advance, the truth is that more and more people these days have started doing this on a weekly basis. Meal prepping is definitely one of the most useful practices if you’re a parent with a full-time job. So why won’t you give it a try and see its amazing benefits? Just keep on reading and you’ll find out everything you need to know about it!

What is meal prepping actually?

Basically, meal prepping is the practice of preparing your meals in advance. It usually includes spending a few hours each week in your kitchen cooking simple yet delicious meals for the whole week, thus saving some time and money on a daily basis. Apart from that, it’ll allow you to eat healthy foods, and what’s more important – properly measured portions, which is essential if you want to eat balanced meals or lose some weight. Meal prepping is a fantastic way to maintain your overall well-being by preparing dishes with healthier and unprocessed ingredients, which will help you avoid processed and prepackaged snacks that usually go over your caloric needs.

First of all, pick a day

As already stated, meal prepping should be done in just one day, so you’ll have to spend a couple of hours in the kitchen. This means that you’ll have to wisely choose the day so that you don’t have other errands to run. That’s exactly why the majority of people pick Sunday since that’s a day when you’re off work and your kids aren’t in school. By doing so, everyone can help you in the kitchen. Of course, you don’t have to prepare meals for the whole week if you’re just a beginner. Instead, start with cooking three to four meals at one time because that’s the optimal number that won’t give you anxiety.

Opt for the meals you want to prepare

Once you’ve picked the day, you should make a decision on the meals you will prepare first – breakfast, lunch, or dinner. After the decision is made, you should find the recipes that fulfill you and your family’s needs.

Grocery shopping is another crucial step since nothing can be done without the proper ingredients. If you’re always in a rush and don’t have much free time to get it done, you can always buy meat online, which is exactly what more and more people are doing these days. Chicken is an absolute favorite among the meal preppers simply because it can be prepared in so many different ways. Apart from that, it’s really easy to store and freeze, which is a huge plus.

Choose appropriate containers

We can’t emphasize enough the importance of proper containers. These are basically the base of the meal prepping process. Good containers will allow you to store your meals properly and come up with balanced portions, which is crucial for a healthy lifestyle. If you’re are one of those people who love to divide each part of their meal, you’ll definitely want to get containers with divided sections so that your food doesn’t get all mixed up. Clear, same sized containers are a perfect option for beginners. This will allow you to stack them with ease and save some room in the freezer.

Learn to multitask

Cooking a lot of different meals at the same time can seem really chaotic, but trust us – multitasking is the key to success. First of all, you should ensure that you’re using your oven space to the max, which means that you should use multiple oven trays or even aluminum foil as a divider on your regular oven tray. Of course, this can seem like an impossible mission to beginners, but you don’t have to worry at all – start with some simpler meals that don’t require a lot of different steps, and you’ll be just fine!

As you can see, meal prepping is a truly useful practice that can save you a lot of time and money, while allowing you to enjoy healthy and nutritious meals on a daily basis. All you have to do is stick to our four simple steps, and you’ll master it in no time!