Meal prepping is more than just arranging healthy foods in pretty containers worthy of Instagram. In fact, meal prepping could be a crucial process that your daily diet is missing. Even if you have a kitchen stocked with all the right foods and perhaps, you’re even exercising regularly, meal prepping is an extra step worth taking. Meal prepping also has a lot more benefits than having an organised meal plan.
Stay on that fitness track
It’s more difficult to give into temptation when you know there’s a whole healthy meal waiting for you at home. There’s no need to go through the drive-through of a fast-food restaurant or call eating a bag of chips in front of the TV a proper dinner because you’ve already prepared every meal you need for the coming days. It’s especially challenging to stick to whatever diet regime you have at the end of a long work day or when you’re all beat from a tough workout at the gym. But, with an easy meal you can re-heat at home waiting for you, it can make your commitment to your fitness goals much easier.
Save time and money
Eating out is fun, but when you’re on a particular diet or trying to save money, it’s not so good. You can bring your prepped meal to work or wherever you need to be during the day, so that keeps your wallet in check. Even better is when you’re shopping for groceries, you already have planned out your meals, so you know exactly what to get and how much of it. There’s less chance of those fruits and veggies going bad in your fridge now. And, it should go without saying that meal prepping will save you heaps of time throughout your week. Sure, you need to set aside some time on a Sunday for your meal prepping, but it should be all smooth sailing from there when all you need to do is reheat your meals. This should also save you time and energy on kitchen cleanup and constant trips to the supermarket.
Mix it up
Looking at meal prep photos, you might think, ‘oh no, a whole week of just chicken breast and broccoli?’ Well, think again. You can, in fact, mix it up. What’s great about meal prepping is that it can be as flexible as you need it to be. This goes for both recipes and shelf life. Most recipes allow you to keep your meals in the freezer, so if you opt to eat out, then that’s completely fine. Also, meals don’t have to be bland and dull. You can make healthy versions of your favourites to eat at your convenience.
Learn something fun and new
Even if you think poorly of your skills in the kitchen, meal prepping might just surprise you as an enjoyable activity, especially once you realise the time-saving benefits. And even if you already have some culinary know-how, applying your skills to meal prepping can be a new challenge. No matter your cooking skills, you’ll be learning all sorts of recipes.
Sources:
https://www.shape.com/healthy-eating/meal-ideas/5-reasons-start-meal-prepping%E2%80%94now
https://greatist.com/eat/meal-prep-reasons
