I am pretty sure that you must be familiar with the popular saying; “when you fail to prepare, you have just prepared to fail.” That statement is so true, especially when it comes to eating healthy. Virtually all of us get extremely busy in our day-to-day lives. It doesn’t matter if you are a student, working full time, or a mum, it can be very hard cooking all your meals every day at home. This is the juncture where meal prep could be very helpful. With meal prep, you will not only be saving lots of time on cooking, but you will also reduce your chances of eating junk foods.
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What is Meal Prep?
Meal prep is simply preparing, cooking, or packaging some or all of your meals ahead of time. It is more or less like those TV dinners you would normally get in the store. The only difference here is that you are not buying them; you are actually preparing them yourself with better, healthier and unprocessed ingredients.
Meal prep does not only help you save time but also ensures you feed on healthy foods always and in the right proportions. It prevents you from the need of getting to eat quick processed and packaged meals or snacks that will feel you with lots of calories.
The basic idea behind this is to ensure you always have healthier things to eat instead of reaching for other potentially harmful foods. And you know what; meal prep has been working incredibly well!
Essential tools for meal prepping
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Meal prepping can be much easier when you have the right tools for it. Whether you are only looking to save time and stress of cooking every day, eat healthier, lose weight, or practice portion control, apart from having a balanced and interesting menu that is able to keep you sustained for the whole week, the following tools will, of no doubt, help you stay on track.
- Meal plan program
This is the first and a very important step in having a successful meal prep. While the meal plan provides you a concrete list of what exactly you need to prep, it also saves you time and eliminates waste. You need to make sure you have a meal plan that can sustain you for the week. Investing in a meal planning program is really worth it. - Quality and appropriate containers
As you get your ingredients and full meals prepared, you will need a safe and efficient way to store them. Go for a quality set of meal prep containers that has locking lids to help keep your food sealed from air exposure, and thus gives it a longer shelf life. I always prefer people go for a glass or silicone containers and not plastic ones. Also, ensure you choose the ones with tightly sealed lids. - Measuring cups
It will be much easier to Portion out your meals into prep containers with a set of measuring cups. They are much ideal for beans, grains, vegetables, and other loose ingredients. - Kitchen scale
You can’t afford not to be measuring the right nutrients you are consuming when it comes to meal prepping. While you may count on your measuring cups for beans, vegetables, and grains, you will need a good kitchen scale to rightly measure out your protein. For greater flexibility, get a scale that can measure in ounces and grams. - Sharp knives
You may not necessarily need to have the right knife skills before chopping, dicing, and slicing your ingredients. You only need a very sharp knife. Getting quality and a sharp knife will greatly reduce the time you spent with meal prep.
Why it is important to calculate how much food you need to cook
In meal prep, it important to make sure you cook the right portion of food. It has a lot to tell about the success of the whole process. When you calculate the exact amount of food you need to cook, you are indirectly helping yourself stay on course in your daily calorie intake, helping yourself save time on rushing to the grocery store to shop for some more ingredients soon, it will also help save money, as well as ingredients for the meals. That is why it is important to get a kitchen scale as one of the essential tools for meal prepping.