Meal prep or fail. You’ve heard it before, the fitness personalities’ magic bullet to health and aesthetics. When picturing ‘meal prep planning’ it usually brings about images of bland chicken breasts, beans, and sweet potato accompanied by a lean, bodybuilding physique. We’ve seen it, we’ve tried it. It sucks.
At The Clean 5, we are in full agreeance of the important role that meal preparation and planning has on continued, long term results. No question. The issue we have is the way that meal prep is portrayed in the media and by online personalities. The ‘rules’ that people have placed on their prep is limiting its effectiveness. Our platform is all about explaining the benefits and convenience of a properly planned meal prep and removing the perception that ‘healthy’ is bland and boring.
In this article, we are going to explain why meal prep is not only effective, it is extremely convenient. We follow up by looking at the differences between beginners and more experienced trainers, meal prepping for fat loss or muscle gain, and the best ways to ensure that you stay on track.
How meal prep planning can change your life
- Planning ensures accuracy
- You will save time
- You can strategically move towards a goal
- You will save money
- Healthy habits will be created for life
- You will begin to understand nutrition
If you’re currently struggling to maintain a ‘healthy diet’, trust us you’re not alone
We’ve all been there, in a place where we aren’t satisfied with the way we look, how we feel or the goals we’ve achieved. We get bombarded with Men’s Health & ripped actors or Instagram models nearly daily. You compare yourself to these bodybuilders, but when your own habits slip, you feel useless and unmotivated. When you go out with friends, you’re worried about the calories you’re taking in, and how this will just further set you back from achieving an unrealistic goal. Luckily, it doesn’t have to be this way. Meal prep is a very effective tool we can use to create better long term habits (and still have a social life).
Setting yourself up for long-term success
There’s nothing worse than setting a health and fitness goal, then falling flat halfway through. This often happens because you’re so damn exhausted from a brutal, over-the-top workout regime, and hard dieting. You’ll slowly snap back to the way you were without even realising. The good news is, there is a better way. Meal prep is a very real tool we can use to create and sustain long-term body composition goals. It provides you with the ability to create tasty, filling meals that are full of nutrition and can effectively help you control what you’re eating.
Whether you are wanting a meal plan to gain muscle, shed fat, or to simply maintain good health, meal prep is an important tool that can help you stick to a diet consistently.
Preparing your meals: Meal prep is one of the best ways to take control of your diet, and grasp success.
Prepare to succeed
Successful meal prep requires you to source or create recipes that satisfy your nutritional needs, taste good and to ensure that you have a meal schedule that suits your life.
There’s no point creating meals that aren’t going to work for you long term. Some things to consider when designing your meals and layout include:
Storage?
At The Clean 5, we always recommend having no more than 2 meals in the fridge. This ensures that the majority of your meals can remain frozen fresh and you avoid wasting food when life throws a curveball. It also means that preparing lunch and dinner is as simple as reheating a meal, saving you valuable time every day.
Do you have access to a microwave at work?
This is important, especially for tradesman and those who are always on the move. Having access to a microwave drastically opens up your meal prep options.
Can you eat the same meals repeatedly?
Some people are happy to eat the same meal for lunch and dinner all week. But for those that like variety, we suggest that you cook multiple meals at a time (2-4) so that you can pick and choose from the freezer.
Do you need to fit in snacks?
Snacks are fine! If you prepare for them. Our recipes can often time produce up to 10 meals per batch. This can come in handy if you like to spread your meals out throughout the day. It also means that if you are a snacker, you can sacrifice calories at your main meals to use on snacks.
When will you cook?
Designate a time throughout the week to prepare your food. Remember, it only has to be 1-2 hours and your whole week is set up for success. If you compare it with the time spent sourcing out and making food at every meal, you will realise how time efficient meal preparation really is.
In the end, it is all about consistency. If you can create a meal plan that is sustainable and also provides the right amount of calories, you are setting yourself up for prolonged success. There are so many people out there that want to tell you that they have found the magic formula. Unfortunately, what fits someone else, probably won’t fit you. If you really want to improve, find out what works for you and do it for a long time!