Meal preparation is about convenience and organization, it is the biggest tool to remove overwhelm and decision-making regarding nutrition. Trial and error are sometimes required to find which option is best for your lifestyle. Many people love convenience over variety, but that is totally a personal preference.
Pre-cook the entire meal and separate it into individual containers.
Perfect for your one-pot wonders, this method will require you to cook up a large batch of ingredients, which would typically be if you are preparing something like:
Spaghetti bolognese – Skillet – Frittata – Curries – Chilli
Weighing each ingredient and creating a bulk recipe, keeping a note of what ingredients you have used, or logging this straight into your meal tracking app.
Adding all ingredients into your pan or however, you may cook your recipe. Cooking them all together or combining them during the cooking process.
Once everything is cooked to perfection, decide how many servings you want from the whole recipe.
Portion the servings into individual containers, you can weigh 100 grams at a time or separate them into the containers by eyeballing. With this method, you don’t have to make all the containers the exact same weight, as over the week you will have consumed all of the servings.
Go back to your meal tracking app and split the entire recipe into the number of servings you made.
Ensure all meals are stored correctly, freezing meals that you will not consume within 3-4 days for food safety.
This method allows the convenience of cooking large-batch recipes without weighing each ingredient individually for each container. This method is more convenient for recipes and elaborate meals which have many spices and sauces, ensure you are weighing each individual ingredient before you cook with them.
This method is for those who enjoy eating the same meal each day.
Large batch ingredient cook-ups.
Perfect for convenience and flexibility with how you want to have your meal each day. The most optimal way to use this method is when you have completed your food shop, cut up your ingredients, and cook your meats. Pre-cooking each different food source and storing them cooked in the fridge.
For example:
You purchase 2kgs of chicken breast, and when you get it home, cut it how you like straight away and cook it. Store the entirety of this in a container in your fridge. When you are looking at preparing your meals for the next day follow these steps:
- Get all the pre-prepared ingredients out.
- Get your scales and add your container to the scales. Zero the scales after this step
- Portion your first ingredient into the container, eg: 100 grams of cooked chicken. Add this as an entry into your food-tracking app
Repeat step 3 with all the ingredients you are having for that meal and the meal is ready to go.
You are able to see when you need to replenish your ingredients and you won’t be using lots of containers when using this method. Allowing flexibility with what sources you want day to day, and not having to have the exact same meal every day.
Cooking each morning:
If you are super spontaneous this option is for you, but you need to ensure you have the preparation in place to reduce your overwhelm each morning. Having a few different options in your kitchen ready for you to prepare your food for the day before you leave for work.
Leftovers:
For the people who love to cook every night, if you are a lover of cooking and find it more convenient to take leftovers for work this one is for you.
When cooking dinner, double the portion of food you are cooking in that meal. Be sure to measure the ingredients you are cooking for this meal and track them in your food tracking application. You can go back and view your history when tracking your leftovers.
There is no ‘one size fits with nutrition, everyone needs to have an individual approach. Consuming the recipes you love to cook and the ingredients you love every day can still get you to your health and fitness goals. Food is important for any body composition goal, but it has a huge impact on your energy levels and overall well-being. Remove the stress of organization and feel more prepared with meal preparation.
Not sure if you’re taking the right of macros from your goals? You might need this.
