Do you hear the words meal prep and immediately cringe and picture yourself cooking and cleaning stuck in the kitchen for hours? Never fear, it doesn’t have to be as complicated and time consuming as you think. With just a few hacks we’ll have you ready for the week and back to enjoying your life in no time.

Know your schedule:

The first thing you should do is sit down and plan out your week. Or at the very minimum three days, just know that this will require some mid-week prep but I have a little trick for that too. What does your work schedule look like? Will you be working late? Do the kids have any late sports or activities this week? Try to plan for every surprise the best you can. You don’t want to find yourself getting home from your kids practice at 7PM with nothing prepped and ready to go for dinner. Planning ahead for busy days like these will help you avoid those unplanned stops for Pizza on the way home. Meal prep does not have to mean preparing and cooking every single meal for the week. I for one do not love eating reheated food out of tupperware every day. Sometimes our busy schedules can make cooking a nice dinner feel impossible, these are the days you want to have quick options for dinner ready. Know your schedule, and there will be no excuses.

Lunch is non-negotiable:

It really doesn’t matter what your profession is, if you work at home, in a car, or in an office you need to have your lunch prepped. If you only have time to prep one meal per day prep your lunch! If you head off to work for eight plus hours day with no lunch you will for sure go off plan and eat take out or worse skip it all together, causing you to come home ravenous and over eat at night. Moral of the story, don’t leave home without your lunch.

Bulk prep:

This is my go to method for prepping my food fast. For me this means picking two proteins and cooking roughly 1-2 pounds of each on Sundays. Just a few examples are chicken breast, ground beef or turkey, salmon, shrimp, and pork. This can be easier than you think. Fire up the grill and throw some chicken or fish on, sauté some ground beef in taco seasoning, or turn on the crock pot and throw in some chicken breast or pork loin for shredded meat. With your protein prepped for the week you have so many options to throw together quick, nutritious, and macro friendly meals. You can add it to a salad, throw in a tortilla or lettuce wrap, create a rice bowl, or keep it simple and serve with basically any carb and vegetable of your choice for a complete quick meal! The options are endless.

Your bulk prep should also include preparing some vegetables for the week. At the very least you should have at least two different veggies chopped up that can quickly be sautéed or roasted. You can go as far to cook these ahead of time if you feel you will be really pressed for time during the week or if they will be for your prepared lunches. But at the very least, clean and chop them. How many times have you brought vegetables home from the grocery store just to throw them away a week later after they have gone bad? You are much more likely to use these if they are already cleaned and chopped.

If you’re really short on time most grocery stores have a section of pre-cut veggies. Even less time?! Don’t be afraid to stock up on frozen vegetables, they last longer and are frozen at their peak of freshness. Just watch out for heavily sauced veggies that can ruin your macros for the day, read your labels!

Leftovers for Lunch:

As the week goes on and my prep gets low this is my go to for making sure my lunches are still prepped for the rest of the week. I usually just start making larger portions of dinner so that there is enough for my lunch the next day. If it works for you, you can use this method daily. After everyone has been served, I will weigh and portion my lunch for the next day and immediately enter it into my fitness pal.

Prepared meals:

Another great option is to supplement your prep with prepared meals from food delivery services. There are many great options that already have the macros done for you. Most will deliver to your door or to a local gym. It does not get any easier then someone else doing the cooking for you! Just reheat and enjoy, better than take out!

I hope this helps dumb down the meal prep madness for you. We all have busy lives, but sometimes all it takes is a few steps to make sure your week stays on track. If you love to cook and spend time in the kitchen then I encourage you to do so! But if you’re anything like me keeping it as simple as possible can be the one thing that makes hitting your macros everyday possible. As always please reach out with any questions. Until next time, happy tracking!