A ny employee would agree that work can sometimes get rather exhausting. There is a high chance that you’ve missed a meal or two trying to submit your project on its deadline.
However, it can get pretty unhealthy if one missed meal turns into two, and soon you don’t remember the last time you ate. Giving your A-game at work is a great initiative to take, but not when your health is put at risk and you end up at the doctor’s office.
Having to prepare for the week ahead of you does sound like a daunting task, but with a few tips and tricks, you will soon be a pro at meal preps getting all the nutrition in!
Although it’s no surprise that deciding and cooking meals for the week ahead of you can be pretty scary, but probably the best factor of meal prepping is that you won’t have to worry about your next lunch, relieving you of a lot of stress. Along with that, instead of compensating with fast food or instant noodles, you can incorporate healthier and inexpensive foods into your diet!
Additionally, even if you cook fresh food for yourself every day, prepping for meals will allow you a lot of free time from deciding on what you should eat to cooking your meal.
If you haven’t already, get a hold on as many glass and airtight containers as you can, but 7 or 8 works too. This way you won’t have to fill up a container every day either, and equal-sized meals every day. Alternatively, if you don’t have enough space for so many containers in your fridge, or simply don’t want all your containers crowding in your space, you can get a large container and use a smaller one for every day of the week.
Aside from storage containers, it’s a great idea to keep appliances such as baking dishes, saucepans, or a crockpot and pressure cooker in your kitchen to make your meals. If you’re following someone else’s recipes, having a set of meat thermometers and measuring cups doesn’t hurt either.
Starting slow is the way to go. Look up a dish you can easily make, and in bulk -like rice- and get on with the cooking!
At this point, you may think that meal prepping is not worth it, since cooking up a meal to last you an entire week is rather time-consuming, and pretty exhausting. But when you wake up late for work, and instead of scrambling around in your kitchen to find anything edible, all you have to do is open the fridge doors and transfer one container into your work bag, and every struggle seems to disappear.
If this is your very first time meal prepping, it is better to cook enough for two to three days, and then make a new meal for the rest of the week. This way you can make two different meals for a little variety and have fresher meals if your stomach hasn’t settled in with the idea of eating a week-old meal.
One of the biggest mistakes people make while meal prepping for a week is not doing enough research and ending up with spoiled food. This will not only waste your time and energy but also leave your efforts futile.
Salads don’t do all too well over the week, they can get pretty soggy and no one wants a soggy salad. However, if you do want a salad to eat make sure your greens are completely dry and don’t add your dressings until you get to eat it, as it’ll make the greens wilt faster.
If you plan on cooking a meal to eat throughout the week, make sure you use a lot of non-perishable or semi-perishable foods, especially if eating old food makes you feel icky.
Having to eat the same meal for an entire week can sound pretty boring, and having to finish the large portion you made for yourself can be scary as well. However, when you learn how to meal prep for a week your life gets a little easier!
