3 Easy Ways to Meal Prep Nutritious Meals

I love the saying “if you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.” If that saying makes you feel seen when it comes to food and meal prep, this article is for you! Let’s talk about it!

We are all busy during the week. Meeting after meeting, email after email, appointment after appointment. Some of us are lucky if we have time to unplug mid day, eat lunch and go for a little walk (see “why movement outside of the gym is important” article!). One thing that makes a busy day easier when it comes to food, is to prepare food so during the hustle and bustle, you don’t have to worry about where your next meal is coming from! You’ll have food prepped and ready to consume.

3 Ways to Meal Prep

Here are a few different meal prep techniques you can start playing with:

The “bulk prepper” meal prep

Braeden and I are huge fans of bulk prepping. It allows you to cook a few different options and then mix & match throughout the week. We will typically pick out 2 protein sources and 2-3 carbohydrate sources, prep them all on Sunday and assemble meals as we go about our week. Makes it super duper simple!

For example:

1. We’ll grill a bunch of marinated skinless chicken thighs and cook lean ground beef. Throw them both in tupperware and your main protein sources are ready to assemble throughout the week.
2. We’ll cook a big batch of jasmine or basmati rice in bone broth (adds extra protein, nutrients and gives it a little more flavor!)
3. We’ll dice up potatoes, air fry or bake them and they’re ready to assemble for the week.
4. Add in different toppings to jazz meals up. Feta cheese, salsa, avocado, pickled red onions, etc.

The “recipe follower”

Meal prep recipes are super easy to follow, assemble and have pre-made meals to grab and go for the week.

1. Stay Fit Mom (& dads)- amazing meal prep resource! Each recipe has the macros & how to find them in myfitnesspal if you’re tracking.
   1. Tuscan chicken bake 380 cal, 41 protein 33 carb 7 fat
   2. Protein overnight oats 239 cal 31 protein 22 carb 2 fat (you can easily add more carbohydrates and fat to bulk this up.)
2. Cailee Eats
   1. She puts out some of her weekly meal prep ideas. This one has chicken burrito bowls w/ homemade chipotle sauce (makes 4 servings) & a one pot cajun pasta (makes 6 servings). 
3. Joyful Healthy Eats – another great meal prep blog
   1. Easy chicken salad – 1/2C serving size 18 protein 7 carb 10 fat  
4. The Meal Prep Manual – another great meal prep blog that includes the calories and macros of all recipes. Plus, many of the meals have a video tutorial that you can follow along while you cook.
5. Kôr Nutrition, that’s right you can get recipe ideas right from your coaches!

The “no cook crew” meal prep

Just like it sounds, this meal prep is for people who don’t want anything to do with the kitchen. Your goal is to find pre-made/pre-cooked food options!

1. Protein ideas-
   1. Kevin’s Natural Food products
   2. Chicken Sausages
   3. Tuna Packets
2. Carbohydrate sources-
   1. Rice Packets
   2. Microwaveable Potatoes
   3. Corn Tortillas 
3. Fat sources-
   1. Avocados
   2. Cheese
   3. Olives
4. Veggies-
   1. Opt for pre-cut forms like onions, peppers.
   2. Go to the frozen section for your produce. 
5. Pre-made meal companies like Power Plate Meals

Whatever meal prep technique sounds like it would work best for you and your family, I encourage you to start ASAP! I guarantee your week will be a lot more organized and you’ll start prioritizing your nutrition when you start preparing food to help set yourself up for the week!