Did the meal prep craze of 2018 leave you wanting your weekends back? For many of my clients, the goal was to utilize what spare time they had on weekends or days off to batch cook and neatly store away several meals and snacks for the week, making healthy eating effortless. What I noticed happening more often was that the time, energy and resources needed to meal prep were huge barriers in actually completing the task at hand, leaving my clients relying on that behavior scrambling for a decent meal when the time came. Sometimes, when working with my clients, we try to simplify our nutrition goals to make them more realistic and attainable which ultimately leads to a bigger impact on our overall health picture. Instead of focusing on the daunting task of meal prep, I encourage my clients to have just a "plan" for meals and snacks. Give some thought to what you will eat, before you eat it, and prevent future mealtime stress. For myself, I like to think in terms of "themes" to make meal planning easy. Small, frequent shopping trips during the week also helps to keep my kitchen stocked with the foods I need to make simple meals and snacks. Don't forget to utilize leftovers for an easy lunch option the following day or add it to your freezer stash! Feel free to use guide below for some dinner meal planning inspiration.
Monday Dinner: Crock Pot Meal
Tuesday Dinner: Taco Tuesday
Wednesday Dinner: Build Your Own Burger
Thursday Dinner: Stir-Fry
Friday Dinner: Homemade Pizza
Saturday Dinner: Leftovers
Sunday Dinner: Night out/Order In