Food Prep In 5 Ways
Food prep is for most people a very daunting task that also feels like it’s the only way to success. Some of that might be true, but it’s not always what you think it is.
Meal prep gets a bad name because of the plain redundancy that it used to be when it was first popular. Food prep has really evolved to the actual meaning of those words: a way to prep your food for your week.
There’s not a “right” way to prep your food, it’s all about what works for you. It might take some trial and error (more on the importance of that here), but finding what works best in your life is going to be key.
The biggest thing to remember is that there’s not one right way to do it; the main thing is that it’s custom to you and allows you to be successful and healthy - both mentally & physically.
Here are five ways of food prep to consider:
1 - EVERYTHING ACCOUNTED FOR
This way of prep is for someone who:
Doesn’t mind eating the same meals and snacks throughout the week
Likes the idea of being able to pre-track for the week with existing measurements
Isn’t home to cook throughout the week
Eat most, or all, of their daily foods away from their house
How often they prep:
Someone who does it this way will likely prep everything for the week in one day, once a week.
What they might prep:
All meals, snacks, and possible drinks (other than water) and have it fully measured and/or tracked going into their week.
2 - ONLY MAIN COURSES, PLEASE
This way of prep is for someone who:
Doesn’t mind eating the same meals daily, but prefers to switch up their snacks
Is okay with tracking on a daily basis with the flexibility of choosing their snacks/drinks because their main meals being prepped are enough to ensure the week will be successful
Has time at home to choose/track different snacks, but may not have time to cook throughout the week
Eats most, or all, of their daily foods away from their house
How often they prep:
Someone who does it this way will likely prep their meals for the week in one day, once a week, but their snacks they choose on a daily basis
What they might prep:
Main meals for the week and have it measured/tracked to work around
3 - I’LL BE HOME FOR DINNER
This way of prep is for someone who:
Is home for 1-2 meals and needs 1-2 meals or snacks pre-prepped
Is okay with being flexible in daily tracking
Is able to cook at home for at least one meal daily
Gets sick of eating the same thing every day for all meals
How often they prep:
Someone who does it this way will likely prep that one meal for the week in one day, once a week, but they cook the other days and could include enough to make leftovers for following days
What they prep:
Meals that they use for their 1-2 meals and have measured/tracked to work around
4 - THE CREATIVE COOK
This is for someone who:
Has flexibility in prepping, depending on schedule
Needs variety in most of their food
Has some time at home to cook during the week, but not every day
Is comfortable measuring/tracking daily for most meals
Can creatively combine the same foods into different types of meals
How often they prep:
Someone who does it this way will likely cook a huge volume of sides/proteins twice a week and use the components to create other meals or have leftovers throughout the week.
What they prep:
Proteins, sides, carbs, veggies that keep well. They might ensure things are defrosted for the week as well.
5 - THE SOUS CHEF
This is for someone who:
Really enjoys cooking
Has a decent amount of time at home to cook nightly, but not enough to cook a full meal start to finish
Enjoys variety in what they eat daily
Is okay with cooking almost every day and this won’t hinder their success
Is successful with tracking each day as they cook because they’ve done some homework on what is in each of their recipes
How often they prep:
Someone who does it this way will likely prep daily. They can make enough to have leftovers for lunch the next day but not more than that. Their preparations of recipes might be a few times per week.
What they prep:
Raw food that will still need cooking later. This might include marinating meat, chopping veggies or prepping sides to be cooked. They also may spend time once a week choosing the meals they want to cook and finding recipes ahead of time to account for the ingredients/macros.