It's All About The Prep
For the #TIUgirls among my readers, I have noticed a significant amount of questions on Social Media about Meal Prep. How do you do it? What do you prep? Do you cook during the week? OMG - I spent so much on groceries! You get the drift.... I decided to outline what I do - this isn't meant as a instructional, this is how it is done - just an illustration of how another TIU girl uses her Sunday.
A lot of success, in my opinion, is the fruit of preparation. This isn't TIU-specific, just life, in general. So here, too, it is all about the prep. The Meal Plan (biggest hassle in my opinion) is your groundwork. Think about YOUR week - what meals do you eat at home? What meals happen at work? What meals will you be sharing with other people? Do you have produce, protein, etc that needs to used? Ideally, workout and meal plan go hand in hand - plan your meal times around workout times (and work and life and family... etc) I know it sounds really overwhelming. Give yourself room to adjust, to figure out what works for you and try new things.
Once you've planned your meals, your shopping list is up. I sit down and write down everything I need for my meal plan, after which I go through my kitchen and cross everything off the list that I already have. This helps me (usually) not forget anything - if you do forget something, though, please don't beat yourself up! We're all human. I am currently living in a country that has tiny fridges (seriously, teensy) with even smaller freezers, so I sometimes need to buy kale or salad midweek because I simply don't have room in the fridge.
Meal prep is here to make your week easier. Prep what you can so that you do not have to do it after a 14 hour day or at 5am. Prep so you can get in a couple more minutes of your workout or zzzzzzs. For Week 1 of the Bikini Series (dance partay!), my meal prep was as follows:
Wash & Chop veggies: Here's the trick, in my opinion: never put away produce that you haven't prepped. Bought broccoli? Wash and chop - I store it in a glass container or mesh produce bag.
Bake bran muffins: I bake something every week - these babies are one of my absolute favs!
Cook quinoa: stored in glass for the week
Cook protein: chicken (I baked it this week)
Cook black beans: trying to save money and reduce waste (i.e. less cans)
Slice & freeze bananas: I already have frozen cauliflower
Meta-Ds: I store them in glass Weck jars
Bake sweet potatoes (or are they yams - I'm sorry, I get them confused like crazay)
Make beet hummus: also stored in glass Weck jars
Make guac: stored in, you guessed it, a glass Weck jar
(I didn't make the Tahini dressing in advance because there is no room in my fridge)
I spent $65 on groceries this week. If you spent more - don't be worried or scared. If you had to stock up on staples, it quickly becomes a larger grocery haul - and MUCH pricier. That's okay, it's not a weekly occurrence. Things like superfoods, powders (protein, maca, spirulina, etc), cacao nibs, chia seeds last a while!
All in all, when you finish meal prep you feel like a total boss! It makes the week SO much easier. I tend to cook a little during the week and reheat. If you're worried about planning all your meals in advance (where's the spontaneity? how do I know what I want to eat in 7 days?), I used to ask myself the same questions. Honestly, I find not having to think about it every day frees up so much space in my head and energy that I gladly plan what I'll eat on Sunday in a week - I find I don't mind eating something that I scheduled. As for the spontaneity, if there happens to be a last minute dinner out or something, I go with the flow and try to stay lean, clean and green. You can do this, girl! Think of meal planning and meal prep as muscles that you are training, just like those glutes and abs.
Total grocery haul for week 1: $65 (shopping for one person)
Total time spent on meal prep: 2.5 hours
xx
