Healthy Meal Prep 101

Are you scared? Cuz' I was... MEAL PREP?! 

2 babies in 3 years wasn't too kind on my used-to-be-super-hot-bod. With the equivalent of a large child to lose in excess weight {{OUCH}} by October 2017 {{hello FREE VACATION}} I've decided to try meal prepping to keep me on point during the weekdays. With a threenager, a newborn, and an international home-based business - it may be the only way to ensure I am eating clean, healthy, nutritious meals while maintaining a healthy, realistic, long-term weight-loss plan. 

Where to start?

Inspiration 1

Inspiration 2

Inspiration 3

Pinterest of course! Inspiration city baby! I found lots of amazing ideas by searching for 'meal prep', 'healthy meals', 'clean eating', etc. After pinning my favorite ideas I went to work with my P L A N. You all know how much I love a good plan. (For more on becoming a badass planner, check this out). 

1. Determine your calorie needs. To do this, I used the app 'MyFitnessPal'. Because I am currently breastfeeding, my daily calorie goal will be between 1800-2000 per day to maintain my milk supply. For the average woman, the base-line is usually somewhere between 1300-1600 calories per day (to lose about 1-1.5 lbs. per week). Plug your weight and activity level into the app to find your personal caloric needs. 

2. Create your meal plan. I decided which meals and snacks I wanted to prep and plugged them into 'MyFitnessPal' to see if they met my calorie and nutrition goals. Not only did they fit, but I had room to spare, so I added in some yummy snacks! #win

3. Prepare to prep. Heehee. Time to get your supplies, groceries, and prepare... to prepare. :) To be as efficient as possible, I wrote out my recipes in my meal bank and then created my grocery list. I always try to sort my shopping list by food type so that my trip to the store is fast. (ex. produce all together, freezer isle items, fruits/veggies, etc). You also want to take inventory to be sure you have plenty of tupperware, freezer bags, and storage for your meals. 

4. Get COOKIN' cutie! My advice is to pull out the recipes and figure out which recipes call for the same ingredients so you can cut down on time. For example, if two of your recipes call for chicken you can cook enough for both meals at once. Check out my FULL MENU for week 1. To prepare 4 days of food for one person it took me 2.5 hours - start to finish. Not too shabby Abby.

5. Sort, label,and store! Once finished, I sorted my meals into breakfast, lunch, and dinner containers, labeled, and dated everything. I also pre-cut my snacks and fruit so there wouldn't be ANY excuses to indulge. Cleaned out one whole section of my fridge and organized everything by day. {The less I have to think with my crazy schedule, the better!} 

6. ENJOY! Now that you are finished, pat yourself on the back! You have a full week of healthy, delicious meals that are going to not only keep you energized but also help you lose weight! WOOHOO! Remember, its a life-style not a diet. Let's do this! 

Check out my full menu for week 1! 

What's your favorite healthy meal? What meal prep tips do you have to share? Comment below! 

Note: please check with your doctor for specific weightless guidelines as I am NOT a professional nor nutritionist and am only providing insight based on my personal research and goals. Affiliate links are used in this post and while I may receive compensation all opinions and referrals are simply because I refer what I love! Enjoy!