For some, hearing “meal prep” brings on feelings of anxiety and maybe even a cold sweat. For others, it’s the only way that they can bring healthy meals to the dinner table each and every day. No matter where you stand, there are some tips to help you figure out how to meal prep for the week.
For those that are breaking into a sweat right now, stay with us! Meal prep can be enjoyable. It doesn’t have to take up your entire Sunday and make you feel like you’re a 1950s housewife.
Start with Your Fridge
This is easy enough! Head to your fridge and clean it out. Get rid of the old leftovers peeping at you from the back of the fridge, the expired salad dressings (I wish they could last forever), and the other food that you just know you’re not going to eat.
Cleaning your space makes it feel like you’re already more focused and ready to go. It lowers your stress hormones and makes your surroundings feel more relaxed. Just getting your fridge in a good spot can already help lessen the chaos that surrounds meal prep and planning.
Pick the Most Painful Meal
Not all meals are created the same. Breakfast at my house tends to be easier, because there are limited options and it doesn’t feel so stressful to eat the same thing every day. For myself, it’s a protein smoothie on repeat nearly every day unless I’m feeling a little spunky and want to switch in some oatmeal.
Anyways, take a look at your week and think about which meal causes the most pain. Which one feels like it sucks your soul dry? Likely, it will be dinner.
There are a few reasons why dinner turns into the most painful meal. For many, dinner starts in the morning – when it first crosses our minds of what we’re going to eat. Throughout the day, the analysis gets a bit louder. Perhaps it’s trying to remember what is in the pantry. Or maybe it’s trying to remember a recipe that will work with the busy night ahead.
Whatever it is, it drains our battery throughout the day. And then, it’s actually time for dinner. By that point, our brain has been going for hours and making little decisions all day long. The idea of having to figure out what’s for dinner just feels like too much, so it becomes overwhelming.
If that’s you, focus on dinner first. And, you don’t even have to try to solve the entire dinner problem in just one go. Maybe you focus on meal prepping for one or two dinners at first. Once your brain adjusts, start to add another meal on top of that. The secret to how to meal prep for the week is to find how to make it easier on your life – not harder.
Subscribe to Weekly Table
When it comes to meal prepping, you need to have a plan in place. Knowing what you’re going to cook for the most painful meal (or your other ones, too) makes it easier to prep for it. That’s where Weekly Table can come in!
Weekly Table is a meal planning tool built for connection. It’s built so that it takes on the mental load of planning your meals, so you don’t have to – and you can spend that energy where it matters most: with your family and loved ones.
Weekly Table takes your favorite recipes and uses them to create a meal plan. In one click, you can have a customized meal plan for your week ahead that aligns with your dietary preferences and with your schedule.
One of the best parts comes next: the automated grocery list! For many who meal plan and prep, pulling together the grocery list can be the most overwhelming part of it all. First of all, how do you make sure you’re getting all of the ingredients? And then there’s the part of organizing it.
Nobody likes to go into the grocery store and wander back and forth because your list is built from each recipe, and not organized by how the store is laid out. Weekly Table takes care of that so you’re ready to jump in and start meal planning.
Focus On One Small Win
If you’ve followed along this far, you’re ready to find that one small win to give you a boost and get excited about meal prep once again (cold sweats be gone). I used to spend hours of my Sunday cutting, chopping, and prepping – putting everything into the fridge. While it was nice to have everything ready to go, that’s just not realistic in life.
The way I’ve shifted is that I’ll start to make more while I’m cooking. Let’s say I’m doing a delicious power bowl one night. I’ll make extra rice on top of what I need for the meal and leftovers, so that it’s ready for a dinner later in the week. Or, if I’m making mom tacos, I’ll double up the ground beef, so that I can use it for another recipe later on.
That being said, figure out what works for you. Maybe you prefer to spend a few hours on a Sunday to get it all in place. Or, perhaps you have some pockets of time throughout your days where you can cut up some vegetables or get some rice on. Whatever it is, focus on how you can get a win in your meal prep process. That’s how to meal prep for the week – finding ways that keep it rewarding.
Enjoy How Good It Feels
Of course, the most important part – celebrate your win! Celebrate the fact that you learned how to meal prep for the week without wanting to rip your hair out. It does require a pat on the back or even a high five in the mirror.
And then, remember this feeling. The next weekend when you’re starting to think about the week ahead, remember how you created a weekly menu with Weekly Table in a matter of minutes. Grocery shopped like a boss. And then, won the week with some smart meal prep tips that fit into your current reality and world. That’s the feeling of victory in the meal prep arena.
Whether you’re a meal prepping veteran or starting it for your first time, sign up for your free trial with Weekly Table today!
