Flavor your food adventure with tasty twists
A Guide to Meal Prepping
Go to choosemyplate.gov to figure out good portions and caloric intake for you based on your weight, height, and physical activity level
By Erin Peters
When you’re looking to eat healthier and be more intentional, stay away from diets that will dictate and restrict what you eat. Find ways to modify eating what you already enjoy, and create a plan that you can stick to and feel good about!
Consider all your food groups when you meal prep.
Meal Prep Tips
When it comes to meal prepping, make sure you are organized and have an idea about what you want to make. Meal prepping is a great way to save time and effort, avoid unhealthy meal or snack patterns, and better plan for grocery store trips. First decide where you want to start. If you are in the pattern of grabbing fast food for dinner on weekdays because you’re exhausted from work, maybe that’s where you need to begin. Figure out if you want to prepare meals for weekdays, or weekends, or if you want to prep snacks in between meals. With any system or strategy, we will all have different approaches, but here are some universal tips to get you started.
Start slow by prepping one or two meals rather than all three so you can figure out your system
Consider all of your food groups
Make a grocery list and stick to it
Shop the perimeter of the grocery store to avoid processed foods
Seek out other successful food-prep meals online (Pinterest)
Portion your food in containers ahead of time
Consistently set a time to meal prep
Getting started is the hardest part, but once you get into the routine it will become easier. As you continue to figure out what works and doesn’t work for you, make notes as you go. Write down recipes you enjoy so that you can come back to it at a later date, or pin it on Pinterest so you don’t forget about it. Remember that meal prepping is not about scaling down how much food you’re eating, it’s about creating a balanced diet that will treat your body well and help you feel good.
Stop by The Dalles Farmers’ Market on Saturdays to get some fresh produce!
You Can’t Out-Exercise a Bad Diet
Even if you exercise daily, you can’t out-exercise a bad diet. If you get home from the gym and eat processed or greasy foods, you probably won’t be seeing the results you are hoping for. Your fitness goals are unique, and therefore the foods you’re eating should be too.
For example, if you want to gain muscle, you’ll want to increase your protein and healthy fat intakes. Caroline Buchert who teaches bootcamp and dance classes at the Gorge Athletic Club says, “a small caloric surplus is beneficial for muscle growth and repair.” If you are trying to lose body fat, you should be drinking more water and incorporating more fiber into your diet. Meal prepping can be a huge help in figuring out your health goals. Just remember to give yourself grace, and do what is healthy and makes your body feel good.
Moderation
Everything you do in life should be in moderation. So when you decide that you are going to meal prep super healthy meals with lots of fruits and veggies, make sure you realize slip-ups happen and moderation is important. Yes, shopping the perimeter of the grocery store is a good tip to remember so you can eat fresh foods rather than processed foods. However, making a diet so restrictive can cause huge slip-ups, or it can even cause you to abandon ship completely and eat way less healthy than before. So treat yourself occasionally, be prepared for mistakes, and as always, do what makes your body feel good.
If you are working on trying something new, working on gaining muscle, trying to lose fat, or just trying to save time with meal prep, remember to be kind to yourself and allow mistakes to happen. Every new process takes time and adjustments, and once you get into the rhythm you’ll feel great!
