When Meal Prep Is Actually Your Best Friend… And When It’s Not.

Ask anyone who has been following a low carb, ketogenic or paleo lifestyle for any amount of time about what drives them the most crazy, and 9 times out of 10 that person will answer ”meal prep.”

Keeping it 100, I have absolutely been that guy. There’s nothing worse than standing in your kitchen on a Sunday afternoon, surveying the damage both to your chill time and your formally spotless countertop, and feeling totally grumpy about it. Meal prep can be incredibly time-consuming, it creates a mess in your kitchen, and can result in a certain amount of food boredom. And food boredom, along with not planning ahead with prepped meals, can contribute to some folks veering wildly off-track of their macro/nutrition goals.

Meal prep got to a point for me where it seemed like it was SO much more trouble than it was worth. It was not adding value to my life. So when is meal prep actually your BFF? I’m glad you asked. Like pretty much everything in life, I discovered there’s a happy medium…

Meal prep simply for the times you have no time. I never meal prep for a full 7 day week, and rarely even meal prep a full day of meals. As a nurse, I’m pretty blessed with a 3 shift-per-week schedule. But my shifts are 12+ hours long, and those are the days that I have ZERO ability to cook my meals. I’m either *TMAD or OMAD at this point in my journey, so I use intermittent fasting to my advantage. For my 3 work days per week, I prep 3 meals. And that’s it. If I decide on having an evening meal, I’ll have something simple and easy, like Teton sausages from Costco or I’ll make myself a cheese and salami plate with a few nuts. We also have a killer shish kebab place that delivers. If you have a traditional Mon-Fri work week and you’re TMAD or OMAD, prep your 5 meals and keep really easy stuff to reach for (or order!) if you decide you need a second meal when you get home. You will be SO surprised how much difference it will make.

For those times that you DO have time… Grill that ribeye, bake the frittata, and roast those brussels sprouts! Use those occasions to put variety and freshness back onto your plate! The objective is to use meal prep to stay on track with your goals, not to add more stress to your down time!

*TMAD = Two Meals A Day, OMAD = One Meal A Day