Organize your fundamental ingredients
To make meal planning and prepping a pleasant experience, we must keep things as simple as possible by organizing. Nothing can discourage me from making meals more than getting started and realizing I don’t have a certain ingredient or utensil. This is something that has happened to all of us. By making a list, you can outline what you need, purchase it, and have it ready to go. I have made a list of 4 steps that you can use to organize your kitchen and get things ready to make your shopping experience great.
4 Steps to meal planning
Designate your cabinets: Have each cabinet in your kitchen specifically designed for a certain thing. For example, my cabinets above my stove have nothing but canned foods in them. Whenever we go shopping that’s where we immediately put canned goods. Whenever I get ready to make something I automatically know where everything is because everything has a specific place.
Utilize fridge space: So many times, we just throw things in our refrigerator and we forget all the useful components it has. Something that is very useful in meal planning is utilizing the different parts of the fridge. Keeping your fruits and vegetables on the top shelf works because as soon as you open the door its one of the first things you notice. Place your berries, grapes, and other fruits on one side of the top and then place your veggies on the other side. This may seem silly or maybe even a bit over kill but it can help you save time and effort.
Spice it up: When it comes to spices I don’t think you need an entire cabinet but you need a spice section. I would recommend keeping your spices to the right side of your stove. For me this is just a convenient place to keep them while cooking because they are easy to reach but also easy to put back. I always get whatever spices I need for that meal, use them and then put them back. Sometimes I’ll make it easier and measure them out in TSP or TBL and place the original spice container back.
Make a checklist: This is like a checklist within a checklist. Make sure you have a checklist as you do your shopping and prepping to make sure you don’t repeat anything or skip a step. Your list should include the day, time, list of meals, coupons, and even cooking times. It could seem tedious to make a checklist but it will save you time in the long run. Once you make your list for the week, you can go shopping in peace without having to worry about finding things or even over spending. Stick to your list, get what you need, and get out. Once you get home, utilize the rest of the things on this page and you should have a great shopping experience!
Meal Prepping
One of the things I love about meal prepping is that you can get it done in multiple ways. If you know the fundamentals of meal prepping you can adjust it to fit your lifestyle and your needs. Meal prepping is something that has been useful for years in the bodybuilding world and now it has spilled over. I personally think that meal prepping is very important when it comes to any part of your wellness, especially weight loss. The organization alone can allow you to save time and use that time to improve other areas of your wellness.
You may be asking yourself what exactly meal prepping is, which is a great question. I’m sure you have seen people post their containers full of food on Facebook or some other social media site to show their prep for the next few days. Some of those posts are good and can help you but others are just posted for attention. When it comes to meal prepping it seems like some people think of it as simply putting meals in a clear container and freezing them. There’s definitely more to the process than that! This really follows my 3 pillars of success: Principle, Patience, Focus!
The first thing you need to do is get a shopping list of some sort together to figure out what you want to prep. I would recommend spending about an hour getting your list together and going through ads to see if you can find deals on some of the items. We all would like to save a little money in our shopping! Creating a list saves you time in the store and without one, you may just wander around putting random items in your basket, which is never a good thing.
The most effective way I’ve found to shop is to buy enough food for a 4-day prep. This way you are getting enough food but also keeping your meals fresh. Prepping for too many days at a time can cause the food to not taste as fresh and you end up throwing it away and wasting money. It may also cause you to become discouraged and begin eating on impulse. Meal prep also doesn’t mean you must cook the meals as soon as you get them. Sometimes I will season my meat and place it in the freezer until it is time for me to use that specific food. This way, when it comes time, all that’s left to do is take it out and prepare it.
The best thing you can do when it comes to your prep is keep it simple. Too many times people over prepare and defeat the whole purpose of prepping. Another thing that I can’t mention enough when it comes to prepping is to make sure you keep yourself engaged and interested. Eating the same thing multiple days in a row can be boring. Make sure you are keeping your meals fresh and diverse. One of the biggest reasons I created a book with simple recipes is to keep people focused. Speaking from personal experience, when things are long and drawn out I lose interest, fast!
You may also want to consider preparing your meals according to food groups. For example, prepare and cut all your fruits and vegetables and place in a container. Then prepare your grains separately and set aside. Lastly, prepare your proteins and set aside. Something that you may also find useful is using different color tops for each food group.
The important points I’d like you to take away from this meal prep article are:
- Pick your prep day.
- Create a list.
- Keep your meals simple.
- Season your meats.
- Separate according to food group.
- Enjoy your meals!
Charles Bell graduated from the University of Central Arkansas in 2013 with his Bachelors of Science in Nutrition. Shortly after, he started his own nutritional coaching business First Klass Nutrition. Charles has helped many clients with meal planning and provided nutrition counseling and became a certified personal trainer through the National Academy or Sports Medicine. After finishing his certification, Charles became very busy between group exercise and personal training and also his full time job at Arkansas Children’s hospital. Between teaching boot camp 4 days per week, training clients and working full time, Charles gained a lot of experience in the health and fitness industry.
