OVERVIEW
I understand that following a nutrition plan for the first time can be pretty scary. I mean, I’m asking you to do things that you’ve never done before, like preparing food in bulk and using a food scale! But fear not, I gotchu! I’m here to ease your nerves by walking you through the process of your weekly meal prep.
So you’ll notice that your nutritional plan is broken up into a couple of different segments. You have meals, snacks, and a daily protein shake…
MEALS
Let’s start with your meals. You’ll combine options from the first two categories of your meal plan to create a meal. In the early stages of your meal prepping journey, I recommend buying 2ish protein sources, 2ish carb sources, and 2ish vegetables per week to acclimate you to the process of meal prepping. So from your list of options, pick two items from each category to add to your grocery shopping list. For the sake of this example, im going to choose a lean cut of steak and shrimp from the protein list, potatoes and rice from the carb list, and asparagus, onions, and bell peppers from the veggies list.
SNACKS
Now let’s move on to snacks. From the list of snacks provided in the sample meal plan, im going to choose… fit crunch protein bars andddd premier protein cereal.
And finally, my protein shake…since I’m fairly lactose intolerant, I’m going to stick with a vegan option and buy Ghost Nutrition's vegan protein powder. Note that:
A) you’ll need unsweetened almond milk for your protein shakes, so add a gallon of that to your shopping list and,
B) protein powder can be purchased easily online, through Amazon! So don’t stress about having to make an extra stop at a supplement shop!
GROCERY SHOPPING
Now that I have my grocery list constructed,I am going to hit the store to buy our ingredients for prep! As a general rule, if you work Monday- Friday, you’ll want to grocery shop and meal prep on Sunday! Once you get really good at the process, you can knock out both your shop and your prep in just a few quick hours! Make sure to carve out time in your weekend schedule to prep! Now, back to it.. Knowing how much of each thing to buy at the store can be tricky. After all, a lot of foods weigh less after you cook them! As a general rule, purchase about 0.5-1lbs more meat than you need for the week.
You should have made a grocery shopping list, so shopping shouldn’t take all that long. Remember to use seasonings and sauces from the “food flavoring guide” to make your food flavorful. Look through that list and add a couple of things that sound like they’d compliment your food choices well to your grocery shopping list! Navigating your way through the store will get quicker and easier over time, once you learn where everything is.
MEAL PREPPING
Now that we have grocery shopped, it’s time to start meal prepping. Im going to cook my rice in a rice cooker… my asparagus in the air fryer with my potatoes, my onions and bell peppers in a skillet with my shrimp, and my steak on my blackstone grill. If you don’t have any of these cooking items, improvise. You can use your oven to cook just about anything. :)
I’ve chosen to use Montreal seasoning to flavor just about all of my food, including my asparagus, potatoes, shrimp, onions, bell peppers, and steak. In addition, I bought salsa and low sugar bbq sauce to further flavor my food!
STORING YOUR MEALS IN CONTAINERS
Once everything has been cooked, I’m going to put meals in separate containers. I’ve decided to have my snacks for breakfast, my shrimp, rice, bell peppers, and onions, for lunch, my steak, asparagus, and potatoes for dinner, and my protein shake after each workout on days I train, and whenever I can fit it in on days I don’t. I’m going to use my food scale to weigh out my meat, my potatoes, and my rice, and I’m going to eye ball my veggies… since they are so low in carbs anyway. I put the Tupperware container on the scale and turn it on… I’ll add my protein first and weigh it… then I’ll hit the tare button to zero out the weight and add my carb… then I’ll eye ball my veggies…. And I’ve made one meal. I’m going to do this for all of my meals…
Then I’ll let them sit out to cool for 15-20 mins before storing them in the fridge.
And boom, you’re all set. I know the hardest part is getting started, but I hope that this video gave you the assurance that you need to take the leap of faith by proving to you that, while this process is scary, it’s not all that difficult! Now go out there and get your results!!