Have you started meal prepping yet? Meal prepping can be an ideal way to maintain a healthy and varied diet, regardless of the hustle and bustle of everyday life. But then you have to do it right… These are 7 meal prep mistakes you didn't know you were making and of course how to do it.
Some love to set aside the entire Sunday afternoon to do their mealprep for the week ahead, but this strategy can go awry if you're feeling overwhelmed by all the time you have to spend in the kitchen. Your plan can also fall into the water if another appointment suddenly comes in between. That's why it works better to work with a flexible system and to make multiple parts of your meals at the same time. For example, make wok vegetables, rice and chicken from the oven (each in a different pan), to which you can add new ingredients during the week. This way you keep the prep time relatively short, but you are not tied to a specific prep moment.
Read also :'5 ways to make meal prepping a form of self-care'
It is of course very nice and much tastier to use fresh ingredients for your meals, but it is very important that you prevent food waste. So make sure you organize your meal prep schedule in such a way that you use your fresh ingredients first, so that you don't have to throw away your fresh vegetables and your fresh (and expensive) meat halfway through the week because it is no longer good. Make a list of all the ingredients you got and mark the fresh ones, so you can make sure you don't forget to use them.
Not all meals are ideal for meal prepping. Deep-fried or breaded fish can be wonderfully crispy when freshly baked, but become very soggy if left too long. Since you use leftovers or longer-life foods for meal prepping, it is important to use foods that can be stored longer, such as grain products (quinoa, rice or pasta) and different sources of proteins, such as chicken, salmon or legumes. You can combine endlessly with these kinds of ingredients and you can last longer:win-win, so!
Meal prep is not only done to ensure that you get certain calories, it is also important to eat a good balanced meal. Otherwise you will continue to feel hungry or grumpy and you will have little energy. A balanced meal also ensures that you are full for longer, so that you are less likely to snack. So make sure you connect meal elements like puzzle pieces:choose vegetables, lean proteins, fats (preferably vegetable, such as nuts or avocado) and grains and make endless combinations with them.
Especially if you haven't done much meal prepping yet, it can be quite difficult to estimate exactly how much you should make. Did you make too little? Then add some extra frozen vegetables to your meal; they require no additional prep, other than reheating, yet add some extra nutrients. Did you make too much? Then use your leftovers as lunch or snack for the day after, so you don't have to waste food.
When meal prepping, it is not only important to prepare your large meals, your snacks also fall under your meal prep schedule. If you don't prepare it, it can happen that you snack too much or eat too little in a day. A good snack helps to limit your hunger between meals and gives you the nutrients you need. So start with a fruit or vegetable base and add a healthy fat source (such as avocado) or a protein option (such as a boiled egg). By combining these macros with each other, your blood sugar level remains stable and you are less hungry in between.
One of the biggest mistakes you can make is basing your meal prep on someone else's. Meal prepping is not a one-size-fits-all method, you have to find out how it works best for you! There are many different options:some like to prep complete recipes, others prefer to prepare meal components for mixing &matching. There is also no better method, you really have to find out what works best for you (and your family). After all, then you will last longer!
