This meal prep for beginners guide is the perfect place to start if you are wondering how to begin your meal prep journey or needing some fresh meal prep ideas. We will cover all the various ways you can meal prep as it is a powerful tool to help you improve your health, conquer your goals, and manage your nutrition and wellness.
Maintaining a healthy diet and balancing our health can be challenging and intimidating, especially with busy schedules and the hustle and bustle of our daily lives. We are here to provide any and all the tools you need for stress-free, budget-friendly, and nutrient dense meals.
There isn't one specific way to meal prep, if you've ever cooked a meal and packaged off food for the next day then you my friend, have already started the process.
Meal prepping is the conscious and deliberate act of preparing ingredients or meals and portioning them out to create grab-and-go meals or quick cooking meals for later.
Spending a little more time tailoring your nutrition to your lifestyle is ultimately self-care and choosing to be more conscious about your diet is one way to show yourself some love while conquering your health goals.
In America in 2020 over 40% of adults are obese, 9% struggle with type 2 diabetes, and 40% battle with at least one chronic disease (1,2,3).
Modern medicine recognizes the critical impact lifestyle factors and proper nutrition have on the prevention, development, and management of disease and overall connection to our health and wellness (4).
Changes to your diet and lifestyle, big or small, can vastly improve your overall health and wellbeing, such as facilitating weight loss and blood sugar management (5).
That being said when it comes to assessing the health benefits of meal prep, it really depends on the person, their individual health goals, and the type of meal prep plan they want to follow.
There isn’t a downside when choosing to be more intentional and conscious about your diet and lifestyle.
The only obstacles to consider may be your budget and amount of the time you have.
Cost effective food prep takes a bit of strategy and can feel overwhelming at first, but with a little practice you will get more efficient and better at fine-tuning your breakfast, lunch, and dinner menu to meet your fitness and wallet needs.
There are tons of great tips to make food on a budget including starting off by assessing what is already in your pantry and preparing sauces from scratch.
Some other budget friendly tips:
30 minute recipes sound great, but all that cooking time really adds up!
You can easily save time by planning out your recipes before hand and choosing a specific day to prep.
Other simple time saving tips:
In the restaurant business, we call this our ‘mise en place’. A term that translates to “put in place”, mise en place refers to gathering all your ingredients, equipment, make your grocery and prep list ahead of time.
Take a moment to think about why you want to start, continue or revamp your current diet.
How do you want to feel after 2 months, 4 months, and 6 months after implementing new rituals and habits into your diet and lifestyle?
Really ask yourself, "what is driving me to do this? What am I hoping to get out of it". And then write it down or take a picture of it, and post it somewhere that you have to see it every day - like in the mirror or the fridge.
Are you meal prepping to:
Knowing your ‘why’ will help you create sustainable changes, achievable goals, and increase your willpower when it comes to being the best version of yourself.
Even if you don't plan on calorie counting, logging your food, or counting your macros, having a basic understanding of how much you should be eating per day to fuel your body and what kinds of food you want to be eating will ultimately help your health and wellness.
Try this free calorie calculator to get your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) in a few minutes:
Knowing your nutrient needs will help you:
Keep it simple, and use the Trifecta App to track your meals.
Figure out exactly how many calories you need to consume each day to meet your basic nutrient needs is one way to start building a meal plan to match your lifestyle.
Whether you are starting a meal prep plan or looking for some new ideas don’t feel like you have to change everything at once.
Start by prepping for 1 meal for the week, like lunch, then add in breakfast and snacks once you get the hang of it.
For Example: Prepare this teriyaki chicken bowl recipe which will give you 4 servings to enjoy for lunch or dinner throughout the week.
Take a look at home much you want to budget as well. It is entirely possible to load up on quality, nutritious options each week without breaking the bank or losing your sanity.
Here are two quick tips to help determine your budget:
Pick what meals you want to prep for and determine your budget before diving into the specifics of your grocery lists.
Set yourself up for success by taking it a step further and organize your cookware and containers beforehand to get an idea of what you have to work with.
We all have had a cupboard full of odd-and-end containers whose lids seemed to have mysteriously disappeared. If you don't have the right storage containers before you start prepping, it's worth the money to invest in high-quality containers.
Here is our list of top kitchen tools to consider:
This is also the time to shop your pantry before choosing your recipes or deciding on specific; take an inventory of what you already have to reduce food waste.
There are a few different ways to prepare food ahead of time. Know which way you plan on cooking will help you create a menu and plan your grocery list.
No matter which way you choose to approach your menu, plan on creating your grocery list before going to the store to shop. Make sure you eat before you go grocery shopping, we all tend to impulse by when shopping on an empty stomach.
If you are using complete recipes refer to the ingredient list, or build you grocery list by purchasing simple pantry staples:
Keep a folder digitally with your favorite recipes for a quick guide to planning your menu.
The best foods for you weekly meal plan are the ones you enjoy eating. Need some inspiration? These healthy food lists have a variety of ingredient ideas to prevent meal prep burnout:
Now that you have your menu set and your grocery list made, all you have to do is pick a day to shop and then get prepping!
You don't have to do this on the same day either, you can totally shop, get organized and then plan on prepping the next day. This is 100% based on your schedule.
Create a prep list to save time by planning out what you need to cook, and start with the ingredients or recipes that take the longest. Save the simple things for last.
Just like you created a custom shopping list for your menu, take a moment to write down a 'prep list' and review any recipes you may be referencing.
When your preparing food to be consumed later in the week, there are a few tricks you can do to help keep your food fresh and practice proper food safety in your kitchen at home and save time:
Even with a cold fridge, proper containers, and food safety precautions, food doesn't last for ever. Most meal prep won't last longer than 5 days in the fridge.
Here are some basic guidelines for the shelf life of most pre-cooked food without freezing:
Microwaving is the go-to in terms of reheating pre-cooked food but can often lead to mushy and not so great flavor. The cooking time will vary based on what kind of food you are re-heating
You can also reheat your meals in the:
Here is some inspiration and easy recipes to add into your routine.
Grab-n-go options for breakfast for the week that can be prepared in a few simple steps:
Add variety into your meals by finding inspiration from different cuisines and using various sauces and seasonings.
Recipes we know you'll love:
Let's be candid with each other, a well-balanced meal plan includes drinks, snacks, and something to satisfy your sweet tooth.
When you plan ahead don't forget to include whatever snacks, drinks, and sweets you would to include:
Use our RD created toolkits for various lifestyles to help you simplify the process of starting your meal plan, complete with food lists, grocery lists, and planning guides.
You could also build healthy meals for as little as $6 a meal using pre-cooked and ready-to-eat ingredients. Yes, you heard that right... almost zero cooking required.
Trifecta's a la carte menu is a meal preppers dream - allowing you to plug and play with the exact proteins, carbs, and veggies you like to match your taste preferences and lifestyle. And the food is the highest quality possible:
We do all the hard work and give you the tools you need to crush your meal prep - all while getting most of your time and money back, so you can spend it on what matters most to you.
Ready to hit the easy button on your meal prep routine?