Meal Prep: friend or foe?

These days it is hard to follow a 'fitness personality' or trainer on IG without seeing at least ONE (hundred) pictures of what they've done for Meal Prep on a Sunday. AMIRITE?

Images range from the simple to the simply-no-way-am-i-going-to-do-that. Like this image, which at first glance has three meals a day for a week all prepped out. But when I counted, there are EIGHT days worth of three meals a day. Huh. Dude must work for The Beatles. Anyway, while I DO agree that meal prepping can be a huge time saver and be beneficial to MY lifestyle and food choices, it isn't for everyone.

And that, my friend, is the beauty of it all.

What works for me might not work for you, and vice versa. What I believe is important to do is to TRY things like this. (I nearly said "try everything," but that's just ridiculous. I mean, who needs to try leprosy just to know they don't like it?) There are so many ways for us to be successful with our food intake, exercise regimen, mental health, etc., that I sincerely hope that you don't feel like there is only ONE WAY to succeed.

On the topic of meal prep, though, here's what I've found to work for me, most of the time: At the grocery store, I'll buy a couple packages of chicken thighs or leg quarters, or maybe even breast meat if it is on sale. If I am grilling it, I will remove the skin first (makes a HUGE FIRE if I don't), and marinade it in some sort of sauce or spice mix for a day or a few hours. Then I grill it all at once. While I'm doing that, I might make some brown rice and cook up some veggies. Or not, and plan salads for each day.

I have these nifty 3-compartment containers that work great for helping me portion out my foods. I'll put chicken in the two smaller ones and fill the large one with the rice/veggie or salad. I'll prep 5 like this so that I can have one a day for lunch at work. The containers stack nicely in the fridge at home and at work.

Show here is my lunch for the week. In the mornings it is so simple just to grab one, wrap it in a plastic grocery bag, and head to work. Do I prep my meals EVERY WEEK? OF COURSE I DO!  Nope. I'd be lying if I claimed that I did. I try to do it more weeks than not, and when I do, I find that my lunches are much more satisfying, my morning routine is a lot less stressful, and I don't spend as much money on food as I do when I don't prep. Good news all around, really.

Want to get started, but not sure what to do? Lemme give you some tips:

• Pick a healthy combination of foods that you enjoy
• Purchase them on a Saturday or early Sunday 
• Use Sunday afternoon to prep and store your meals
• Start SIMPLE. Sure, I'd LOVE to have salmon every day, but that just isn't going to happen

Are you already prepping? What are some tips you can pass on to the rest of us? Sharing is caring.

See you soon, 

BigZig