Meal preparation is the bane of many people’s lives (including my own), but it is essential for making a healthy lifestyle sustainable and efficient. In this blog post, we take a look at what meal prep is, and why it is so important to do!

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What is meal prep?

Very simply, meal prep is the process of making large amounts of food in batches. In terms of quantity, though, large amounts would only be required for someone looking to build muscle, whereas meal prep can be as simple as yoghurt for breakfast, salad at lunch and salmon for dinner. The key, however, is the term ‘preparation’ which means it is prepared in advance of it being eaten.

Why?

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For those of you who are already meal prep experts, you will know that good meal prep is the holy grail of being able to sustain a healthy diet, whether you’re bulking, cutting, or simply just wanting to eat more healthily. For those of you who have not meal prepped before, this all probably seems like a lot of hard work, and you’re right, but the rewards at the end of the tunnel are more than worth the initial hardship.

Preparing meals in advance allows you to basically take your kitchen with you, on the road, to the office, and even to the gym. I myself take two tubs of food each day with me to work that I have made the night before, normally with some variation of my favorite – rice, chicken and broccoli. Finding meals with the same nutritional benefits whilst out and about at work is almost impossible and will cost a lot of money. This brings me nicely onto my next point: meal prep will save you money. One big cook up may cost you £10 for example, but it will last at least two days. Most spend more than that on coffee and a meal deal at work!

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My final point I want to make in support of meal prep is the time you save. I know what you’re thinking though, a good batch cooking session can take up to two hours, but the counter argument to that is that you don’t have to cook at all again for two-three days. Think of the amount of time you will free up in the week and what you could do with it!

Summary

This may seem like a lot of work to start with, but don’t let that put you off! I challenge you to try it for at least one week, with simple recipes such as rice and chicken, and I can guarantee that, if you have done it correctly, you will not be disappointed with the results. Finally, to all the experienced meal prep experts out there, please comment below with your experiences, favourite recipes and tips for all the people wanting to start!

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Check out these related blogs

Why You Should Buy Your Groceries In Bulk

Our Four Favourite Meal Prep Tips

 

Sources/references/media

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/5-must-read-rules-of-successful-meal-prep

http://www.healthination.com/kitchen-tips/cooking-tips/cooking-beans-tip/