Meal Prep

Meal planning is much like goal setting: necessary!

Having a plan helps you to stick to your goals, takes away the pressure of making decisions in the moment, and gives structure to your life. If you are putting in the effort to track your macros, having a plan of action is a key component to success.

What do you mean by meal prep? So many ways to tackle this.

1. For some, it means putting together a weekly menu, which also provides your grocery list (very helpful). Sitting down one day a week and planning all your meals; breakfast, lunch and dinner. Putting together your grocery list accordingly and making sure you get all the food into the house ready for the week.

2. If you're really organized, this includes doing most of your week's cooking in advance and portioning out your food in containers so that every meal is accounted for. This is great for macro tracking and also for ease. No guessing what's for dinner because it's not only made, it's also portioned. This system is HUGE for those just starting macro tracking and who want to hit their goals quickly. It makes entering your macros super easy as well. Then the only thing that's left to chance are your snacks. But, again, depending on your style, you may pre-plan those as well.

3. For others, it can mean planning your food simply by planning the protein you will consume at each meal. So jotting down: Breakfast - eggs, lunch- salad & turkey, dinner - salmon fillet and filling in your sides and snacks to accommodate your personal macros. This comes with some knowledge about what fruits and veggies you can easily add to your meals to hit your macro and micronutrient goals.

4. Another way to do it, is to prepare daily what your meals will be and pre-entering it into your tracker of choice. Example: Tuesday am, I wake up and feel like yogurt, protein powder and fruit. Look in the fridge and see my cooked chicken breast and decide I'll have that on some salad greens with avocado for lunch and enter into my macros now. Then I can see on my tracker what I need to eat for dinner and choose accordingly. I've made all my food choices for the day, entered them into my tracker and know that if I stick to my plan, I'll be very close to my macros. Since I've made the plan, I can avoid the open refrigerator staring at food trying to decide phase that can cause anyone to go off track so easily.