I heard something on Instagram yesterday that resonated with me.
It stuck with me so much, that I would feel guilty if I didn't share this with you today.
Before I continue, this is a positive thing.
It is not me bashing a dangerous nutrition trend that I think is more harmful than helpful.
There is a well known and respected online trainer in the fitness industry named Jordan Syatt (https://www.syattfitness.com/).
He mentioned something in an Instagram post that I absolutely loved.
Not only that, but I am 100% sure this will help a majority of you stay consistent with your nutrition during the week, especially if you like some variety with your meals.
For the longest time, people always thought that in order to stay on track with your meals, you had to meal prep.
Not sure about you, but when I think about meal prep, my mind goes to tubs of chicken, rice and broccoli in those black tubs with those clear lids.
You know, that ones that your take out Chinese food comes in.
When I tried to meal prep in the past, I wont lie, I hated it.
It was time consuming, and during the fall, it took me away from sitting on the couch watching football.
Here is what traditional meal prep entails.
First you have to make sure the kitchen is clean and prepped to be cooked in (a step many people forget about).
Then you have to prep all food with spices and seasonings.
Then you have to cook the food.
Then you have to measure and weight out each food for their individual tubs.
Eventually you slowly lose interest in the meals that you made because you realize that you don't want to eat the same thing every single day.
Finally, the food you spent hours making goes bad because you chose to go out with family, friends, or you got suckered into another happy hour after work.
I am about to offer you a solution, that I think is worth trying.
Instead of meal prepping, try "ingredient prepping."
This is something I do, and some of you may do already.
This is the term I first heard by that trainer I mentioned earlier, Jordan.
Here is how "ingredient prep" works.
Instead of dedicating 2 - 4 hours on a weekend to prep every single meal for the week from start to finish, make a list of the most common foods you eat on a weekly basis.
For starters, this could be a list that looks something like this.
Protein: baked chicken, ground beef or ground turkey
Veggies: brussels sprouts, fajita veggies, broccoli, green beans
Carbohydrates: rice, potatoes, beans, lentils, quinoa
Fruits: wash, cut, and store them ahead of time rather than as you need them
Fat: these will most likely be used in the cooking process with oils, butter, etc.
Then pick 1 or 2 items from each category to make for the week.
Let me be very clear.
You don't have to make everything on this list!
Stick with ones that are best for your dietary preferences and the time you can dedicate to cook them.
This becomes helpful because it can give you more options, allows for quicker access to foods, and for most of the busy adults reading this, this will be more realistic for you.
I've learned from experience that it can be more harmful than helpful, to try and change everything all at once.
Start small, stack up those consistent wins, and build up from there.
With that being said, my first recommendation would be to use this strategy to help with your lunch options.
If you spend just 1 hour on a Sunday making ground turkey, peppers and onions, and some brown rice, you can quickly put a lunch together to bring to work or have in between your work from home meetings.
If you are someone that enjoys meal prepping in the traditional sense, that is great!
If it works for you, keep doing it, I am not hear to push you to change it.
However, for those of you that struggle with staying consistent with your nutrition during the week, I would give this a try.
With ingredient prepping, you can always have healthy, and nutritious options ready to eat at a moments notice, and still have some flexibility with your meals.
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