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Hear the term “meal prep” and reach for the nearest takeout menu? We get it: After a jam-packed week, the last thing you feel like doing is taking the time to plan, shop and prep food for the week ahead. But the benefits — for both your health and your wallet — may just be convincing enough to make it a priority.
A study published in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity linked meal planning with a healthier diet and lower risk of obesity. In the study, women had a 21% reduction in the likelihood of becoming obese, while men reduced their odds by 19%. Research also suggests that people who use shopping lists when meal planning are more likely to eat two or more servings of veggies per day, suggesting that meal prepping leads to eating habits that promote weight loss, health and longevity.
If the health benefits alone aren’t enough to convince you, maybe keeping some cash in your wallet is. In one survey, people said they spend about $20 per week on lunch, amounting to more than one grand per year — and this is low for most people!
Ready to start making meal prepping a part of your weekly routine? Samantha Cassetty, registered dietitian and author of “Sugar Shock“ shares her top tips for making planning and prepping healthy meals less of a headache.
Meal prep tip #1: Work smarter, not harder
Cassetty’s first rule of thumb: Never shop or cook for just one meal. “If you’re going to cook, make it count,” she says. “Make enough for leftovers. Never buy or cook something for one meal only. It’s inefficient.”
Another way to apply the work smarter, not harder mentality? Lean on convenience foods. “Canned and frozen foods like canned beans, frozen edamame and frozen whole-grain waffles are easy time-savers you can use in meals throughout the week,” says Cassetty. “Think: edamame in boxed mac and cheese for more protein or a whole-grain toaster waffle topped with Greek yogurt.”
Cassetty says to think of it as creating a food train, where ingredients are repurposed multiple ways as you move throughout the week. For example, dinner on Monday can be quinoa with rotisserie chicken, then you make a quinoa and veggie grain bowl for lunch the next day and a rotisserie chicken and veggie wrap the next. Using the same ingredients in different ways also helps keep meals feeling fresh and will prevent boredom (and the draw to abandon your brown bag for takeout).
Meal prep tip #2: Have 3 kinds of meals on deck
There are days when you have the time to cook dinner and others where you barely have enough time to sit down and eat. That’s why Cassetty recommends having three types of meals on deck, so you’re covered no matter your schedule:
- Cook meals: For these, “you’re using a recipe and eating this at least one other time during the week,” she says.
- Assemble meals: “You’re pulling things together using ingredients you have on hand,” says Cassetty. “For instance, combine frozen brown rice with smoked salmon and chopped cucumber and season with soy sauce and sesame oil and you’ve got a balanced sushi-style bowl.”
- Grab-and-go meals: These “are helpful when you don’t even have time to eat the assembly-style meals, so let’s say you’re taking breakfast to work or dinner to a kid’s sporting event,” she says. “This could be a PB&Fruit waffle sandwich for breakfast or a rotisserie chicken sandwich with some baby carrots for lunch or dinner.”
Meal prep tip #3: Make room for cravings
One surefire way to make meal prep unsustainable is to not allow for the meals you love. Cravings are inevitable and a little pre-planning will allow you to enjoy foods that will leave you satisfied. This means allowing wiggle room in your diet to indulge in your favorite foods and also finding healthier alternatives that scratch the same itch.
“You’re much better off learning to live with the foods you love than learning to live without them,” says Cassetty. “Sometimes, it’s ok to plan to eat the thing you truly crave. Other times, see if you can mimic the vibe in a healthier way. For instance, what is it you love about pizza? If it’s the sauce and the cheese, maybe you want to top a whole-grain English muffin with sauce and cheese or make a cottage cheese pizza bowl. You can apply this idea to any food you love.”
Meal prep tip #4: Keep it simple
At the end of the day, it will be hard to maintain any healthy habit that is too complicated or time consuming. So make meal prepping as simple as possible! To do this, Cassetty recommends starting with one meal a week and finding a resource that helps simplify the planning a shopping process.
“The idea of meal prep is often daunting because the thought of spending half a day in your kitchen is overwhelming. If you want to do this, great, but I know I’m not going to do this and I don’t expect anyone else to, either!” says Cassetty. “So if you’re struggling with the idea of meal prep, ease into the habit. You can start with one meal a week and see how that goes, and then the next week, try to add a second meal. Use resources like the Start TODAY app, which makes it simple to select a meal plan, choose a recipe and create a grocery list.”
