What Is Meal Prepping
and How Can It Help Me?
By Sheila M. Clancy MS, CHES
Meal prepping” is the practice of planning
28 BC Health, Beauty & Fitness
and preparing your meals ahead
of time. Do you find that you grab
the most convenient foods at mealtime? Do you
make less than healthy food choices because you
are hungry and don’t have the time to prepare a
healthy meal? Do you find yourself spending too
much on your meals? Do you end up eating portions
that are too big because you made more than
you needed? If you answered yes to any of these
questions then please continue reading.
When you meal prep, you set aside a few hours
to make meals that you will pack up and store in
your refrigerator or freezer until you need them.
You can start out by just meal prepping for one
meal per day. If you feel rushed in the morning
or you are not a morning person, you might find
prepping your breakfasts to be a good start. If you
have been going out to lunch with coworkers
every day and you are spending a lot of money or
eating bigger portions than you should, you may
want to prep your lunches for the week. While
meal prepping sounds overwhelming and time
consuming, you’ll be surprised at the time you get
back in your day when your meals are already
prepared. Let’s get started!
You will need some containers to store your
meals. These can be plastic or glass and there are
lots of different sizes to choose from. You may
also need some zip-top storage or freezer bags.
You will need to label your foods and possibly
create a system in your refrigerator or freezer to
keep things organized. If you prep on Sunday,
store anything that you’ll eat by Wednesday in the
fridge. If you won’t eat something within three
days then freeze it. Always try to defrost the
frozen foods overnight as opposed to trying to
microwave them when they are still froze. If the
food has defrosted it will cook evenly when you
heat it up.
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