Meal prepping can help you shop smarter, cook ahead, save time and reach your weight loss goals.
It’s a win-win for anyone who eats.
“That is, unless you’ve prepped meals and snacks ahead of time.”
“Knowing you spent time prepping nutrient-packed ingredients makes grabbing takeout far less enticing.”
Here are eight ways meal prepping helps you eat healthier for weight loss.
Research supports this concept that people have overall healthier meals when they preselect their food in advance."
Restaurant meals are typically much higher in sodium, fat and calories and lower in fiber.
If you eat out day after day, the extras can really add up.
With meal prepping, you’re free to weigh and measure your portions.
Plus, you control the ingredients and can check that your calories are coming from mostly nutrient-dense whole foods.
“It’s also known that oversized portions have become the norm at restaurants.
By cooking at home, you might serve yourself more reasonably.”
It can make a huge difference for people who have busy mornings, too.
Premade meals can be stored in individual grab-and-go containers and are ready to go when you are.
That means you might make room for more vegetables, fruits, whole grains and healthy fats.
“We always hearand say, as health expertsthat eating a variety of foods is important.
That’s why many people turn to fast food or takeout.
That’s one less thing you have on your to-do list.
Remove those worries by bulk cooking on Saturday, Sunday or another day of the week.
If the first week is tough or confusing, keep going.
“The more you flex that meal-planning muscle, the easier it gets,” Horton adds.
Meal prep gives you that choice.
“When you meal prep, you inevitably eat ‘cleaner,'” Wilk says.
Whole foods like lean protein, grains and fruits and vegetables are among the healthiestand cleanestfoods you might eat.
Meal prepping makes eating those convenient.
“Having this master list will make planning your weekly menu so much quicker and easier each week.”
“Many want to eat healthier but find that preparing dinner from scratch is often a roadblock.”
Prepping ahead, however, helps you meet and beat that barrier.
“An effective meal-prepper does a chunk of the work at one time,” Nighbert says.
“For example, once I return from the store each Sunday, I begin my meal prep.
Start Small
If meal prepping for a week feels daunting, don’t think about seven days.
Focus on three or four instead.
This way, you still only need to cook twice a week, not every single day.
“Start with just prepping for two or three days or meals,” Garcia says.
Repeat
Featured Recipe:Couscous & Chickpea Salad
You don’t have to reinvent the wheel every week.
Instead, get into a cycle of planning for a week’s worth of meals and repeating it later.
WATCH: How to Meal-Prep a Week of Healthy Family Dinners on Sunday
