Meal Prep Tips & on a Budget
- Madison Scholder
- Aug 22, 2021
- 3 min read
When it comes to staying on track with fitness goals it can be hard and overwhelming to find good healthy foods to eat every day. What has helped me along my fitness journey is meal prepping. Meal prep is where you prepare a few days worth of food ahead of time. This way when hunger calls, you will have a meal ready to pop in the microwave. Meal prepping can be overwhelming at first because there are so many recipes and foods you can prep. Below I will be sharing my tips & tricks about my healthy, budget friendly, simple, & delicious meal prep.
Questions?
Where to buy food to meal prep?
What is the best food to meal prep?
What should a prepped meal consist of?
How do I figure out the serving size?
How do I store my meal prepped meals?
What containers should I use?
You can meal prep ANYTHING. This is where I get overwhelmed but I am going to break it down for you. A meal prepped meal should consist of a protein, vegetables, carbs, and a healthy fat source. You can also meal prep snacks. A meal prepped snack could look like fruit and a healthy fat source (nuts, peanut butter, chia seeds, greek yogurt and fruit, raw veggies and hummus. Meal prep has endless options.
A few starting tips to making meal prep simple:
Plan ahead. Plan out what you want to prep.
Create a meal prep list before going to the store.
Stick to a protein, 1-2 vegetables, a carbohydrate, & a healthy fat source.
Give yourself at least 2-3 hours from start to finish for prep.
A few food options:
Protein - Fish, chicken, turkey, tuna, shrimp, lean beef
Vegetables - Broccoli, spinach, onions, peppers, lettuce, zucchini, asparagus, kale, brussel sprouts, cauliflower
Carbohydrate (don’t be scared of healthy carbs) - Sweet potatoes, potatoes, rice, brown rice, quinoa, whole grain bread, lentils.
Healthy fat - Olive Oil, Avocado, Hemp seeds, chia seeds, nuts, nut butters.
MOST IMPORTANT - Seasonings: salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, everything but the bagel seasoning, pepper flakes, garlic salt, etc.
I have meal prepped for years and my go to meal prep consists of chicken, broccoli, & sweet potatoes. It’s easy, simple, healthy, and delicious.
Now you may be thinking “doesn’t meal prep get expensive???” And yes it can if you buy fish & steak every week. But if you opt for less fatty lean protein sources like chicken and turkey. You can keep the prices lower.
My Tips for Meal Prep on a Budget:
Buy in bulk at Costco, Target, Cub.
A voice buying your meal prep food at stores like Whole Foods, Lunds, etc. the prices will always be higher at these types of stores.
Buy frozen vegetables. They have the same nutrients as fresh vegetables and are a fraction of the price.
Potatoes are a great carb source and cost friendly.
Make 8-12 meal prep meals at a time and freeze some.
Stick to a few main food options.
Yes you can freeze your meal prep meals, pull them out of the freezer a week later, and enjoy them like they were made fresh the day of. I recommend keeping 2-3 meal prepped meals in the fridge and freezing the rest. Pull out 2-3 at a time. Prepping more meals at once will help save a lot of money over time.
You can figure out the serving size of each food source of your meals by figuring out how many macros you need by using a macro calculator. You can find a macro calculator online. I also recommend looking or finding the serving size. Once you find the serving size you can measure out your ingredients with measuring cups, measuring spoons, or even a scale. I will link the measuring products below to help keep you with your meal prep!
Measuring cups
Measuring spoons
Scale (great for macro tracking)
Lastly, having a reliable container will make or break your meal prep. You want a container that is freezer and microwave safe. I will link the meal prep containers I use below. They are microwave and freezer safe. They also keep my food fresh and delicious! I recommend replacing your meal prep containers every 5-6 months to keep your food as fresh as possible!
My Meal Prep Containers
Takeaways:
Meal prep can be made simple and delicious by sticking to 1 protein, 1 vegetable, & 1 carbohydrate per meal.
Meal prep can be made budget friendly by buying in bulk, prepping 8-12 meals at once and freezing them, buying frozen vegetables, and sticking to mostly lean meats like turkey & chicken.
Plan out and create a shopping list for your meal prep ahead of time.
Learn how to properly measure out your meal prep meals to help you along your fitness journey.
When looking for meal prep containers, make sure they will keep your food fresh, and are microwave, and freezer safe.
Now that you know some meal prep tips and tricks let’s get cooking!
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