We live busy lives with hectic schedules and it can be hard to find the time or the motivation to cook nutritious food every evening, which is why meal prepping is so important. What meal prepping essentially is preparing your meals ahead of time, whether this is cooking them completely and then freezing them, or just taking the time to chop food ahead of recipes.

The idea is that instead of buying junk food or microwave meals when you’re exhausted you already have all the ingredients to make something delicious and nutritious, which will not only benefit your body but also your waistline. The most important thing to do when just starting out is to not go overboard and feel overwhelmed, rather start small with simple recipes. You don’t have to prep for the whole week but rather two or three meals at a time, until you're a meal prepping pro!

Pick a day to do the meal prep.

Most people choose a Sunday afternoon to do this because it’s the day that they have off work and are able to relax. If you do your grocery shopping that morning, then you can easily start prepping when you get home.

Before you go grocery shopping have a plan.

Pick out the meals you want to make, so you can buy the ingredients for them and reduce the amount of waste. While you can cook the same meal and eat it for two or even three days straight, that could get bland and boring fast. instead, try to make dishes that contain similar ingredients, like a chicken stir-fry, and then you can use the cooked chicken again in a salad.

Also, choose meals that are balanced in protein, carbs, and fat.

The storage of your meals is very important.

You need to store them in good quality containers like Tupperware or other containers that are BPA free, which is incredibly important if you want to microwave your food. It’s also helpful to have containers with many separate compartments so, for example, you can keep your veggies away from your protein.

And always do your research.

The point of meal prepping is to make your life easier during the week, and how much time you dedicate to planning and preparing your meals is really up to you, but it’s important to realize that you cannot prep for extended periods of time. What I mean by this is certain foods can only be kept for a limited amount of time before they start turning bad. Research the foods you want to eat and how to cut and store them properly for maximum freshness and taste.

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