Understanding Meal Prepping
Meal prepping for weight loss can feel like a daunting task. However, it’s a crucial tool to success that can be easily mastered. Meal planning allows a person who is trying to lose weight to map out what they will eat in advance, so they are more likely to hit their personal calorie and nutrition goals consistently.
Meal prepping takes a good deal of the decision-making out of day-to-day life. Successful dieters rarely make food decisions on the fly, instead relying on meals they’ve already made at meal time. The less decisions they make, the more consistent they are with their eating habits.
Essential Tools and Ingredients for Meal Prepping
Before starting meal prepping for weight loss, it’s important to have a few essential tools on hand to streamline the prepping process:
Meal containers
Invest in simple meal containers that can hold the contents of your meal. Ideally, choose an option that is made of glass so that you can heat your meal within the same container. If your meals will travel, choose airtight lids that can handle being jostled around in your bag without spilling. Finally, have enough of these containers on hand to complete your meal planning strategy each week.
Food scale
Weight loss requires a high level of accuracy when it comes to tracking your food intake to achieve a calorie deficit. Weighing out food in gram portions is the best way to ensure your plan will lend results. Use a digital food scale, and don’t spend a ton of money. Great options exist under 25 dollars.
Meal plan template
This can be as simple as a notebook or a piece of scrap paper, or as complex as a full menu system. This is a matter of preference! The main thing is having a place to write down your meal plan ideas, a map of how your meals stack up daily to meet your nutrition goals.
Optional tools and tips
Here’s what registered dietitian Jackie Durand RD, CDN prefers for meal planning in her kitchen:
“A pressure cooker: this tool makes quick work of cooking grains like sorghum (my favorite!), quinoa, rice, dried lentils and bean. I like to set and forget while I prep other things.”
A big, clear workspace: this might not be possible in every kitchen but arrange your space in a way so you can have all of your containers lined up and ready to be filled, along with your cutting board, plus some extra room for ingredients. I suggest cleaning and clearing the sink so dishes have a place to go as you work.
The RIGHT strategy: Nobody is asking you to meal prep ALL of your meals for the week at once. I suggest prepping ahead meals that you struggle with. For example, if you are always getting fast food for lunch, prepare those in advance. If that solves all of your nutrition problems, it’s okay to stop there, or move on once you’re comfortable.
I regularly work with clients to individually decide what level of meal prepping works for their time constraints and needs. Rarely do two plans look the same!”
Simple Meal Prep Strategies
Consider your meal prepping for weight loss strategy a constant work in progress! There is no perfect way to meal prep, so long as the outcomes saves you time, improves your nutrition and supports your weight loss and health goals.
Work within the prep steps below, and alter the plan as you see fit. There are no wrong answers!
Steps to Simple Meal Prep for Weight Loss
- Set a prep-time window
Meal prep only works if you have the time to get it done. Before choosing recipes, decide how much time you reasonably have for meal prep this week. Be mindful of this time limit as you begin next steps.
- Brainstorm ideas in your kitchen
Go through your refrigerator, freezer and cabinets to brainstorm healthy meal ideas using ingredients you already have on hand. Write down ingredients you don’t have on your grocery list.
- Use common ingredients
When meal prepping, it makes sense to utilize recipes using similar ingredients to cut down on prep time. For example, you might bulk-cook chicken breast for two different recipes, but pair with different ingredients and seasonings to add variety to your diet. Or, you might make a large salad with greens, tomatoes and cucumbers and change out the add-ins.
- Shop once
Add all of the ingredients for your planned meals to your grocery list and plan to shop for everything you need.
- Be mindful of food safety
Generally, food can be refrigerated safely for 3-4 days. For perishable items like salads, prep only what you can reasonably eat within that time frame. Plan another time mid-week to restock as necessary. You may still bulk-cook proteins like chicken or ground beef, but plan to freeze half and pull it out mid-week to complete your meal plan.
- Execute your prep-time window efficiently
Before beginning, write out a meal prep checklist in an order that makes the most of your time. If prepping salads and protein, for example, you could plan to pre-heat the oven, then cut and season chicken, then prep your salad vegetables while the chicken is cooking.
Delicious and Healthy Meal Prep Recipes-Pomodoro meal prep
When meal prepping for weight loss, find recipes that are easy to follow, fit your nutrition goals and keep well for a few days in the refrigerator. Here are a few recipes to consider.
For full weight loss-centered meal plans created by a registered dietitian sent to your inbox every week, consider joining JD Nutrition LLC’s Healthy Habit Support Network!
