Ew..Get your gym bro meal prep away from me
When I think meal prepping I think eating broccoli, chicken, and rice for every single meal. I physically feel a jacked-up gym bro breathing down my neck telling me this is what I have to do to meet my macro goal (if you don’t know what that is, don’t worry about it—it’s just what gym bros live and die by).
Bleh.
This is why when people ask me if I meal prep, I typically say “absolutely not” because I get so tired of eating the same meal. Talk about ~burnout~. I am also someone who will drop everything if a friend wants to go to happy hour or get dinner. That’s just who I am. The meal I have planned in my head for dinner goes directly out the window after that. I always thought meal prepping was not for me until recently when I realized I was meal prepping but in a gentle way.
Truth be told, meal prepping can be easy. You don’t have to go all in or go all gym bro. You can be a normal person with a normal life or a busy person with a busy life and a busy brain that cannot stick to a plan to save their life (I am calling myself out right now okay).
Some ideas for a gentle meal prep can include:
1. Simply coming up with a few meals/recipes you might want for the week. (Key word: might). You do not have to. Just because you come up with it does not mean you are tied down to it. (I’m really attacking myself on this post). It is simply giving yourself options and maybe the opportunity to try something new so you don’t say “I’ve had this for the last 4 days in a row, I am so damn bored”
2. Being realistic about the time you have and WANT to spend on cooking. To be completely transparent, if something takes more than 30 minutes of prep, I am not going to cook it. AND THAT’S A FACT. On what planet do I have more than 30 minutes to spend making a meal? Not earth that’s for sure. Maybe don’t plan out a full homemade 5 course meal when you have 10 meetings in one day and a kickball game that night. BE REALISTIC.
3. Prepare your veggies ahead of time. It makes things so much easier. Granted, I’m not going to spend an hour chopping vegetables for the week. That just isn’t me. Circling back to me saying I am not going to do anything in the kitchen that takes longer than 30 minutes. BUT if you are someone like me, who changes their mind a lot, your veggies probably go bad before you get to them. You’ve thrown away 1 too many moldy bell peppers and are about to call it quits on buying them. Veggies store surprisingly well when cut up, put in a Tupperware container, and put in either the fridge or freezer. My kitchen is cutting back on food waste one frozen onion at a time, folks.
4. IF YOU DO NOT LISTEN TO ANYTHING ELSE IN THIS POST, LISTEN TO THIS SHIT OKAY THANK YOU. Purchase foods that last longer to give yourself more flexibility!!!!!!! Stop villainizing frozen and canned foods. They are sustainable and convenient. My favorite tip to give people is to grab some frozen veggies for the week. I ALWAYS have chopped peppers and onions from the frozen section and a frozen stir fry. I can pick out what genre of food sounds good and throw them into literally anything. 12/10 would recommend. On your next trip to the store, grab some frozen or canned veggies (I typically try to snag the low sodium versions of canned, but if you cannot find them and are worried about sodium content you can always wash them before use). Maybe even snag some frozen fruits to throw in a smoothie or to enjoy something cold? MAYBE EVEN GO CRAZY WITH A PACK OF TUNA???? Go off. ANYWAY, by doing this you allow yourself to have backups in case what you had an idea you wanted this week goes way off track by Wednesday. Less food waste, less stress on yourself, and way more flexibility. WIN WIN WIN.
5. Okay, more chill section this time. Keep your kitchen staples on hand. This goes back to flexibility. What happens when you don’t want what you have planned? Canned tuna and mac & cheese, duh. Okay actually no. Or maybe idk. But having a backup plan that doesn’t really go bad is always a good idea. Back to that flexibility I was talking about. Maybe the kitchen staples are a few comfort foods, some frozen meals, and a box of hamburger helper. Perfect. You can at least save some $$ instead of going out, it doesn’t take much brain power, and they are easy.
6. Last but not least!!!! Utilize your damn freezer. You have a freezer for a reason. Unless it’s hurricane season in New Orleans. Then you have a storage space until you lose power for 14 days and panic. Anyway, let’s say you make extra and you are someone (like me) who hates leftovers and eating the same meal multiple days in a row. Freeze your leftovers, reheat them on the stove top when you remember they exist after being in your freezer for a few weeks, and then you don’t even feel like you are eating leftovers. A few things that freeze really well: meat, veggies, soups.
I hope this helps. Meal prep really doesn’t have to be hard and monotonous. You don’t have to have a set meal plan to follow every single day. Eat what sounds good. Plan out what you think may sound good. Have options on deck. Enjoy the world of food. Eat some damn cake.
Xoxo,
Kam