Set yourself up for success with meal prep!

Have you ever reached a point where you were so hungry that you could (and maybe did) eat anything in sight even though you knew this was not the best choice? Especially when we have a certain goal in mind it is critical that we set ourselves up for success and create a supportive environment.

A few ideas to help you succeed:

1. Keep your environment clean & trigger free

Let’s assume eating healthier and/ or weight loss is your intention, the first step to assist yourself is to eliminate all food items and drinks that are not supporting you in reaching your goal. Make it easy on yourself and a) eliminate (give away) the foods that you have in the house that could tempt and trigger you by knowing that they are in the house; and of course, b) do not buy any foods that are not supportive of your goal. If we have trigger foods in the house, they eventually will end up in your mouth so it is best to not even have them around to make it easier for yourself ;-) 


2. Meal prep

             

       

Pick a day and time in your schedule where you have 1 hour. I find it best to do meal prep either on Saturday or Sunday. During that 1 hour you can get a lot done and have breakfast, lunch and dinner prepared for the next few days. Make it fun, put on some music, maybe get your partner or kids involved, or watch a show while you’re prepping your food. I found it very helpful to have my prepped food in glass containers so I can see the fruit, salad, soups… which makes it easy and enticing to quickly put a meal together. 

Here are some ideas:


BREAKFAST:

Overnight oats (e.g. blueberry-banana; carrot-cake oats; apple-cake oats; 

 chocolate-cherry-oats) 

Simply place ½ cup of oats and some plant-milk in a jar, stir and add 

the  fruit you chose (e.g. grated apple, maybe a few raisins, cinnamon, 

a few walnut halves chopped up), seal and store in the fridge. 

    

LUNCH - salad:

  • Base: Prep lettuce or pre-washed lettuce mix, peel and dice some carrots, cucumber, celery stalks, bell pepper, and wash cherry tomatoes. 
  • Protein: Prep your protein of choice – e.g. Tofu, Tempeh, Fish, egg(s), chicken
  • Legumes: Maybe roast some chickpeas with some of your favorite spice – they add protein and crunch to the salad
  • Dressing: Make a dressing you like (e.g. an herb-green-goddess dressing or Ranch dressing) and make extra so you have enough for the next few days. 
  • Have some fresh herbs to add to the salad: Parsley, Cilantro, Dill, Basil, or whichever herb you enjoy.
  • Place the salad in either Mason Jars or glass containers that you can take to work. 


DINNER: 

  1. Cook your favorite starch, e.g. boil and/or bake some (sweet) potatoes, cook rice or millet.
  2. Roast or steam some veggies
  3. Have a sauce, hummus or some Pico de Gallo to add to your starch and veggies. 
  4. Either store separately or already assemble a meal (starch, veggies, sauce) and store in the fridge until ready to eat. 
  5. SIMPLE VERSION: in a pot place some water/veggie broth, onion, garlic, and veggies you like, and a potato or sweet potato and cook until soft. Either puree or leave as is and store in a sealed container until ready to eat. 


     

For more information, to receive a detailed meal-prep sheet & recipes send us an email at info@healthadvocate.com and write meal prep sheet in the subject line.