Weight Loss Meal Prep: what to include and avoid in your weight loss meal prep
Losing weight can be more effective with an appropriate diet and portion control. This can be made possible when you have adequate time to shop, prepare and store your meals properly.
Meal prep enables you not only to achieve your desired weight goal but also to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
Listed Below are tips to consider, and foods to include and avoid for your weight loss meal prep to be effective.
Tips to consider for effective Meal Prep
1. Set aside time to cook
Waking up early to cook before heading out to work can be daunting and slow you down in reaching your weight loss goal. Choosing a specific time to cook can make meal prepping easier. You may cook once or twice during the week or just set aside the weekends to prepare your meals for the week.
This ensures that meals that may take a longer time to cook e.g meat or roasted vegetables, cook well and the right portions are served.
2. Store cooked properly
If you spend all that time cooking your food but don’t store them properly, it’ll spoil quickly and ruin your weight loss goals. Foods should be labeled and stored separately depending on how perishable they are.
Easily perishable foods and fruits should be placed where they can be easily reached before they spoil. You should also have sizeable containers with compartments in them for different foods.
3. Include fruits and vegetables
To ensure that your meals are balanced, include fruits and vegetables with them. They could substitute junk food or snacks whenever you want to munch something.
Planning weight loss meals
To lose weight, you have to take in fewer calories than your body needs for maintenance so your meal prep should contain foods that are satisfying with less fat and more nutrients.
Having a list of nutritious foods will help you ensure that you have a healthy and balanced diet. Your list should have carbohydrate substitutes and other food classes such as:
Protein sources from animals such as eggs, salmon, and chicken breast and plant sources such as beans and lentils
Grains including rice and oats
Starchy and non-starchy vegetables
Dairy products
Oils and healthy fat
Fruits
Healthy snacks and beverages
You can also switch up your list and prepare different meals whenever you want.
Foods to avoid
For your meal prep to be effective, ensure that you are eating the right food. Naturally, you should avoid meals that you are allergic to and find healthier substitutes for them.
Exclude fatty or processed food and refined sugar which is contained in most snacks and fast foods. You may treat yourself to some of your favorite foods occasionally, but ensure not to fall off your weight loss journey entirely.
Replace unhealthy snacking with nutritious fruits and grains at the right time to achieve your weight loss goal.
Final Thoughts
Meal prepping is an excellent way to have nutritious and balanced meals ready in their appropriate portions all week long without the stress of regular cooking. Incorporate the guidelines above in your meal prep and you are on your way to achieving your weight loss goals and healthy lifestyle. Find out some related articles here.