Meal Prep 101 Basics How do I get started meal prepping?

I’m not a nutritionist, but I do LOVE food and I require all my food to taste GOOD! I have also been taking Precision Nutrition & Excercise classes. This week’s theme in my Journey to Be Fit Facebook Community is Meal Prep and today is Meal Prep 101 Basics How do I get started meal prepping? Feel free to click on the link and join our group!

Meal prep means exactly like it sounds preparing meals in advance. Meal prep will help you eat healthier, save you money, and time. It just may seem like it takes more time and money until you get the hang of it. I always suggest start slow with a few days at a time and as it gets easier work yourself up to a week or more.

The first step to meal prep is to have your plan. Last week I covered a whole week on meal planning and gave away freebies to get started.  Having a plan is super important otherwise what are you going to prep?

When will you prep?

This will depend on your schedule and when you can devote 2-3 hours to it. As you get better and more efficient you may be able to cut it down to an hour. You may also be able to break all this down so you can do an hour a few different days of the week if that will work better for you. I do some prep in the middle of the week and the rest, the majority on Sundays.

What do you want to prep?

Do you want to do Meats, Carbs, or fruits and Veggies or Do you want to concentrate on certain meals like just dinners, or breakfast, lunch, and snacks too? I’m going to be sharing tips on meal prepping for all of these things this week. But ask yourself which is the the hardest for you to get done through the week? Which of these things if you don’t prepare ahead of time will cause you to run through drive thru instead of having a home cooked meal?

Now What tools do you need or already have?

Here are some of the things that are commonly used when meal prepping. I have included my Amazon link with each item so you can easily take a look and order if you would like to add them to your meal prep tools. Feel free to click on the picture or the linked name of each item.

Different types of containers to keep the prep in:

A lot of people use these Bento Containers (just click on them and it will take you to them on Amazon with my link) which is great if you are preparing for just yourself whether it be for lunches all week to take to work or for you to eat something separately than the family. When picking containers I would make sure they are microwave, dishwasher, and freezer safe, BPA free, and stackable (or else they can take over a cabinet and I have a tiny kitchen).

Another great option is to use Mason Jars  especially for salads and dry mixtures. I got a 24 pack of Big ones really reasonably on Amazon.

I personally use a lot of glass. It can be used in both microwave and oven and be kept in the freezer too. Besides my husband is in the glass industry so supporting glass is keeping him in business. Here is one of the sets I use from Pyrex.

• Kitchen utensils like knives, spatulas, silverware.
• Things to measure the food with like measuring cups, spoons, and portion containers.
• Cutting Boards or work space to use, maybe even a mandoline or other type of slicer.
• Different types of Pots, Pans, Baking Sheets & Mixing Bowls

These next few things are optional but will dramatically cut your time prepping and cooking! The more of different types of tools you can use will end up saving you tons of time. You will be able to prep many different things at the same time like having different meat roasting, grilling, and in the insta pot, crock pot, and oven all at the same time. If you don’t have these you can still meal prep just may take you a little longer. I have tips and recipes in the Meal Prep 101 Series Breakfast Lunch Snacks & Produce and Dinner so be sure to check them out.

Slow Cooker

 Insta Pot

• A Blender or food processor I use the Ninja Professional

Ninja Professional 

• If you are going to want to take your meals to work you may need a good cooler here are some of my suggestions for that:

Nordic by Nature Insulated Neoprene Lunch Box Set

eBoot Lunch Bag Tote Insulated Cooler Carry Bag (Colorful Heart) :

MIER Large Capacity Soft Cooler Tote Insulated Lunch Bag

The last thing I recommend is SPICES, you can find Here are a few I suggest:
Pink Himalayan Salt
Brand called Flavor God (the everything everything flavor)
Flavor God Ranch seasoning
Flavor God brands are Paleo/GMO/MSG free seasonings.
I also like the Simply Organic line and here is a link for Chili Powder but have many varieties.

Meal prep is crucial to eating healthy on less time! Just remember to start slow and as you get more comfortable with it things will get easier and quicker. What meal or type of food do you feel will best benefit you to meal prep post? Comment below!