Meal prepping is all about setting yourself up for success. If you want to win the week, I’m here to tell you that meal prepping is going to change the game.
I know it seems painful to have to spend half an hour planning and batch-cooking stuff all at once, but it will save you SO much time in the long-run and ensure you don’t default to something less healthy. If you’re anything like me, you will reach for non-portion controlled stuff that sends you off-track when I’m feeling tired / grumpy / hangry / emotional and everything in-between.
So let’s get a few things in order. It might be a little daunting if it’s your first meal prep rodeo, but I promise that once you’ve got the hang of it, you’ll fall in love with the perks of meal prepping and never look back. Heck, I love it so much, I even wrote a book on it.
Status8020 Members are provided with a customisable Meal Guide that is suited specifically your YOUR macros to help you reach your goals. After selecting your program, we’ll review your likes, dislikes, dietary preferences and more to curate your perfect plan so we take the guess work and brain power out of the whole thing.
Set yourself some time to review it before the next week to review what you’ll be eating if there are any meals or snacks you’d prefer to change, you can just hit ‘SWAP’ and I will provide another option so you can generate a week of food you will LOVE that will still meet your calorie targets.
Once you’d mapped out your food week of dreams, head to the shopping list in the Status 8020 members area to make life easy at the supermarket.
If you’re new to tracking and prepping, you might find it easier to start by prepping only the snacks for the week, or a few main meals that you freeze for the following week. Once you have the hang of it, you’ll be prepping the whole week and creating different ways of eating throughout the week.
Hot tip: take shortcuts where you need to. Salad bags, steam-fresh veggies, microwave rice, frozen fruit and zero-prep proteins like tofu, canned tuna, protein powder, and smoked salmon are great options for the extra-time poor.
I tend to block out time over my weekend to meal prep by adding it in my calendar (it’s either that or get a PA to organise my life!). Once I’ve been to the markets on a Saturday morning, I get home, boil 12 eggs, pre-roast veggies, chop carrots into sticks, wash fruit, portion out nuts and seeds, weight out my overnight oats and so on. It never takes longer than an hour.
Depending on your schedule, you might prefer to break it into two meal prep sessions with a mid-week cook up, or double up on dinner potions so you always have leftovers for lunch. Whatever works for you is the right way to do things. Remember – we’re aiming for consistency 80% of the time, and speaking from experience, you’ll only get there when you make it easy and enjoyable for yourself.
Remember, if you’re cooking with another 8020 Member, be it your housemate, partner, girlfriend, accountability buddy, daughter, mum or other, you can use out ‘couples’ feature to ensure you have the same meals programmed for the week. Your portions are adjusted for each person’s goals to hit their personal targets. SUPER COOL!!
It’s a worthwhile investment to stock up on reusable food containers that you can store and reheat your meal prep in. I prefer glass (because heating plastic can leak into food and effect your hormone levels over time).
According to a study in Environmental Health Perspectives, even if the containers don’t contain BPA, most plastic products release estrogenic chemicals. Plastic products from sippy cups to food wraps can release synthetic chemicals that can mimic hormones and interfere with or disrupt the delicate endocrine dance.
Where you can (being reasonable with convenience too!) opt for glass containers to avoid this potentially unhealthy heat situation, or tip your food onto a ceramic plate to re-heat if you’re carting your prep around.
I recommend getting a range of different sizes too – some for snacks, some for large salads and meals, so you’re only carrying what you need and not taking too much storage space in the fridge.
If you follow the correct quantities in your 8020 meal plan when cooking, there’s no need to weigh out each ingredient separately when portioning your meals into containers. You can eyeball this to save yourself time because regardless of the individual portion size each day, you’ll still be eating the same amount of calories across the week.
Like me, you can also pre-wash, chop up, and store your fruits and vegetables in portions after every grocery run. Not only will this save you time when you’re actually cooking, but you’ll be more likely to reach for a nutritious snack when it’s ready for you to grab-and-go.
Hot tip: For any measurements out of a jar, simply take off the lid and place it on the kitchen scales. Then tare the scales to read zero, and scoop out your desired weight. The minus (-g) number will be the amount you’ve used – including whatever is stuck on the spoon.
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