We’ve been in this game for years, and before we started prepping professionally we were all amateur preppers, toiling away in our kitchens on a Saturday afternoon so trust us when we say, here are 5 of the most common meal prepping mistakes and what you can do to avoid them.
1. You Don’t Plan Ahead
Procrasti-don’t. Seriously, if you want to prep right then don’t leave everything to the last minute means. You’ll end up giving up and not cooking anything, or you’ll end up half prepping. This will undoubtedly stress you out and you’ll probably end up giving up. After all, who wants to be stuck going food shopping 9pm on a Friday night!
The Solution: Don’t leave everything to the last minute. Make a plan and stick to it. If it’s easier split your meal prepping to twice a week or go food shopping the day before you prep so you’re not rushing around the shop.
2. You Don’t Take Stock of What You Already Have
Food waste is a huge problem for a lot of people when it comes to prepping meals. When you waste food, you spend more of your hard earned cash. The last thing you need is three bags of rice taking up space.
The Solution: Check the cupboards, the fridge, the freezer and make sure you know how much of everything you have and exactly what you need. Print out every recipe and go through your kitchen putting a check mark next to each ingredient you already have. Then create your shopping list.
3. You Over Prep
Again; food waste. Don’t go spending time and money on prepping meals that you’re not going to eat. How much are you really going to eat during the week? Do you have any social engagements where you’ll be eating? These are all things to consider.
The Solution: Check your schedule and see when you will be able to eat breakfast, lunch and/or dinner from prepped items. When you first get into meal prepping, start slow and build your way up once you really get to know your meal prepping needs.
4. You Divide Meals Later
Don’t wait until later to divide your meals, you’ll end up eye-balling a portions and throwing your macros off. You can even screw up your portions enough to end up without a meal later in the week…which defeats the whole point of meal prepping in the first place.
The Solution: Divide your meals into separate containers as soon as you cook them. It’s pretty simple.
5. You Don’t Have Fun With It!
Meal prepping and cooking should be fun. If you dread the thought of meal prep or you loathe the idea of cooking full stop, then maybe it’s not right for you.
The Solution: Get all your prep delivered to your door, all you have to do is build you meals online and there you go. It’s so easy! Don’t believe me -> Check it out
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