I’m going to break the news to you….living a healthy lifestyle takes planning. I guess I was destined to have a healthy lifestyle because planning is my middle name. However, even if you are not a planning guru, you can still teach yourself to meal prep. And once you get the hang of it, you will never want to go back.

Meal prepping is great. Especially if you work a full time job or have children or whatever life throws your way to create endless madness. If you can set a few hours for meal planning during the weekend, then meals during the week will be so much faster and easier.

The Brilliance of Meal Prepping

I try to do my meal prepping on Saturday nights (I know I am a party animal). I make sure I have picked out several recipes for the week ahead and make a list of what I need at the food market. Here are some examples of foods I typically prep:

• Boiled eggs for breakfast
• Chia seed pudding for breakfast
• Chicken
• Washed and chopped organic romaine for salads
• Veggies for sides (e.g. broccoli, sweet potatoes)

Keep in mind these are just a few examples of food I meal prep. You can meal prep just about anything like soups, casseroles, pasta, rice, falafels (check out my falafel recipe here – it is great for freezing and using as you need).

I try to prep as much as possible that I know will stay fresh. For example, I bake several chicken breasts at a time and my husband eats them for lunch during work days. My husband and I also eat a lot of fish for dinner during the week. However, I never meal prep fish. Fish is not good re-heated and it doesn’t take long to cook, so I will cook it right before we eat it. If you can do vegetables and rice or pasta as a prep, then dinner will not take as long if you do cook fish the night you plan to eat it.

Prepping Salads

I eat a lot of salads for lunch. So, washing and chopping the lettuce I plan to use during the week saves me a lot of time when I go home for lunch. Also, I prep the salad toppings I plan to use. Also, I prepare chopped red onion, drained chickpeas, etc., that way lunch is super easy to prepare. I understand some people do not have the opportunity to go home during their lunch hour; therefore, you can always make the salads with the toppings and place it into a sealable bowl. That way, all you have to do is grab the salad in the morning before work and you are out the door.

Meal prepping is really not hard. You just have to have the willpower to do it. Turn on your favorite playlist and get to cooking! Follow me on Instagram for more updates.