Meal Prepping – It’s OKAY if You Don’t Meal Prep

This is not a brief article about HOW to meal prep…I have said that I am not giving “meal prepping” tips if I am not an “expert” on the topic, which I am not at all. With that said, I am simply going to provide you with your options and that it is OKAY if you DON’T meal prep weekly. So let us start with my meal prepping experience…

My Experience with Meal Prepping

I did the research, bought some meal prepping books at the bookstore, bought the food, came home on a Sunday afternoon to start my meal prepping for a committed six weeks. I enjoyed having my meals ready for the week, both my lunch and dinner, along with my snacks, but with my BUSY schedule, in and out of the operating room, seeing patients, etc. I had no time to eat what I had prepped in the first place ☹ I found most of the time I wasted the food, stuck it in the freezer, and/or only had the dinner I had prepped for the week. Secondly, the AMOUNT OF TIME I had to take on that Sunday was not worth my only two days to relax from work and my usual schedule. After I had prepped all the food, I had to clean ALL THE MESS…omg…I hated taking the hour to clean the kitchen. By the end of the meal prep process, at least for me, it took 4 hours out of my day. Time is precious. In my case, it was not worth the hassle. In the end, I had maintained my same weight and fitness, but wasted time, money, and food. HOWEVER, I have decent self-control when it comes to food. I still did not put processed foods in my system, ate the meals when I could, and if I didn’t eat, then I didn’t overindulge. I stuck to the food I had in front of me only. For a lot of people (and I know because I was one of those people for a long time) it is hard to have self-control when you are hungry!

What You Can Do

Your options are vast and honestly the best option is to try it all until you find the one that works best for you! I have done this in order to even write this article. Start with what is your goal and which option would give you the best outcome. I wanted to make sure that on busy days I am not stuffing my pie hole with empty calories. Listed below are options for you to try:

1. Meal Prep Service that makes it and delivers it to you (google for your options where you live)
2. Do It Yourself Meal Prep ( look for books, Pintrest, google, etc for ideas)
   1. Pick Two Days to Meal Prep (Sunday/Wednesday)
   2. Buy Meal Prep Containers for the food you make
   3. Search for Ideas (there are a ton and I am not married to one website, book, etc over another)
3. Ingredient-and-recipe meal kit service ( ie: Blue Apron, HelloFresh, etc)
   1. Many offer special dietary options now
4. Wellness Systems to Stay Balanced
   1. Isagenix, Shakeology, etc
   2. Choose one that you like best and maybe do one to two meal replacements along with 1-2 “portion controlled” meals from one of the above-mentioned methods
5. Mix and Match the Above-Mentioned Options

Conclusion

Want to hear what I do??? I have can say without a doubt I have tried it all…meal prepping, macro counting, meal prep service, no carb after a certain time, low carbs, carb cycling, keto, etc. I will tell you but it doesn’t mean it works for EVERYONE! My schedule can be crazy, with 4:30/5am workouts and 7am OR starts, or late nights in operating room or clinic, and no lunch breaks, my eating can get out of hand quickly. In order to keep myself in check and not have to meal prep, I like to combine two options mentioned above, Isagenix and Blue Apron, along with wholesome snacks 2-3 times a day. My day would look like this:

Breakfast: Isagenix shake (sometimes I throw cereal in it for crunch)

Snack: 2 hardboiled eggs

Lunch: Isagenix shake

Snack: Yogurt

Snack: Cottage Cheese/Nuts

Dinner: Blue Apron Meal of choice ( I like to create out of their 6 options, 3 meals that meet my needs, such as a fish meal, a vegetarian meal, and a low carb meal)

Late night snack if hungry again: Protein shake/Isagenix Chocolate

As I said, try everything and see what works best for you and your goals. Please don’t listen to articles that claim “this is the only way to lose weight and be fit.” The reality is that as long as you are watching your intake in general and eating wholesome meals then you will see yourself feel and look better. I don’t think I need to state the obvious that eating habits that are high in processed foods and sugars are not ideal. We have been hearing this for a long time. In order to get on a healthy eating lifestyle pick an option that works for your schedule! Last but not least….don’t feel pressured into thinking you have to stick to only one thing to make it work. Many times people have asked me why I don’t like meal prepping and for me, that 1 hour of cooking or more and 2 hour clean up on a day off or late night after work is not worth it to me…WORK SMARTER, NOT HARDER 😊