0:00
welcome back to the lose weight by
0:02
eating podcast I Audrey John's and this
0:05
week we're going to talk all things meal
0:08
prepping and to kind of double down on
0:11
my love for meal prepping I want to let
0:14
you know that this week's free meal
0:15
planner is a 100% meal prepped meal
0:19
planner so I do love the theme kind of
0:21
couldn't help it so let's talk about
0:25
meal prepping for weight loss success
0:29
there are different types of meal
0:30
prepping and I have found that everyone
0:34
has their favorite so if you have not
0:35
found your favorite way to to meal prep
0:39
yet I've got a few different ideas for
0:41
you here so obviously there's the
0:44
traditional what everyone thinks of when
0:46
it comes to meal prepping either meal
0:49
prepping all of your meals or all of
0:51
your lunches or all of your dinners on
0:53
either Sunday or Monday where you
0:55
basically you meal prep for the full
0:58
week you get all of your cooking done
1:00
ahead of time and this is really the
1:02
traditional way to meal prep and it's
1:05
great it's especially good during the
1:08
warmer months when maybe you don't want
1:09
to turn the oven on every single day you
1:12
can go ahead and just do it all in one
1:13
day it's great for people who just do
1:17
not have time to cook on a nightly basis
1:20
um and it's also just great for really
1:22
busy schedules or for people who just
1:23
want to get it out of the way maybe if
1:27
cooking there's also batch cook cooking
1:30
which has become really popular in the
1:32
last couple of years and if you don't
1:34
know what batch cooking is um I do have
1:37
several different recipes in my uh in my
1:40
lose weight by eating instant pot
1:42
cookbook um it's called lose weight with
1:44
your instant pot and batch cooking is
1:47
what when you basically take one protein
1:50
so let's say for instance chicken
1:52
breasts and you cook a very large batch
1:55
of them get it batch cooking and then
1:59
you spread across your meals for the
2:01
rest of the week so this is great for if
2:04
you love to have salads at lunch and or
2:08
you know soups at night you can
2:11
basically take this one large batch of
2:15
protein and spread it across the week so
2:17
here are some ideas for that say Monday
2:19
night you could put the chicken or
2:21
obviously pork or beef or tofu or even
2:24
hard-boiled eggs on top of a salad the
2:28
next day you could add some mix it up
2:31
salsa and he reheat it then you've got
2:34
some tacos the next day you could put it
2:38
of your favorite soup that just slowly
2:41
sinks in and heats up the next night you
2:46
could add it to a wrap with some
2:49
vegetables you happen to have in the
2:50
fridge do you get where I'm going with
2:52
this batch cooking is great for someone
2:55
who maybe likes to cook a little bit
2:57
every night or really does not like left
3:00
overs which is a real problem for a lot
3:02
of people who want to learn how to meal
3:04
prep if they don't like leftovers they
3:07
don't want to eat the meal prep so batch
3:09
cooking might be perfect for you
3:12
basically you've done the hard work and
3:13
it's just a matter of assembling your
3:15
dinner every night another one is the
3:19
one I do well actually I do both of the
3:21
next ones I store leftovers as I go and
3:25
if you follow me on Instagram you
3:26
probably saw my lunch from uh earlier
3:30
where I cooked a really big batch of
3:33
rice vegetables and tofu and I put one
3:38
portion in a bowl to enjoy that day for
3:41
lunch and the other four portions into
3:43
meal prep containers and I put those in
3:47
the fridge because I know I'm going to
3:48
eat them this week for lunch but I also
3:50
make sure to choose items that freeze
3:53
well just in case of say for instance I
3:55
go out to lunch tomorrow with a friend I
3:57
can put it in the freezer I don't have
3:58
to worry about it going B so storing
4:01
leftovers as you go is really great if
4:05
you tend to overcook like I do Italian
4:08
woman I really can't help it so whenever
4:12
you have leftovers instead of you know
4:15
putting them all in one big container
4:17
and shoving them in the fridge and then
4:18
nobody wants to eat them or you end up
4:21
catching yourself eating them an hour
4:22
later or in the middle of the night
4:25
store them in individual containers and
4:28
then you either have lunch for tomorrow
4:29
tomorrow or you have dinner for when you
4:31
need it or throw them in the freezer
4:34
obviously if their freezer safe like a
4:37
salad would not be good in the freezer
4:40
but say It's a pasta dish or the rice
4:42
bowls I was talking about you can throw
4:44
them in the freezer and then you have a
4:46
freezer dinner like a TV dinner a
4:49
healthy version ready for you anytime
4:52
and finally meal prep for picky eaters
4:56
or children so often as a single mom
5:01
especially if I'm doing a smoothie week
5:03
or if I'm working a lot and I'm you know
5:06
not quite sure that I'm going to be able
5:08
to get a healthy meal on the table for
5:10
my kiddo every single night I will just
5:13
cook for her so I will cook a really big
5:17
casserole of say for instance my my low
5:19
calorie high protein mac and cheese I'll
5:22
make a huge casserole dish of that for
5:24
her and then every night when it's time
5:27
to to give her dinner all I have to do
5:29
is add scoop of that to a bowl either
5:32
zap it in the microwave or I can throw
5:33
it in the oven for a few minutes and
5:35
then I chop up some some raw vegetables
5:37
because she does love them um you know
5:40
carrots or celery or bell peppers and
5:43
cucumbers are her favorite and I put
5:44
those in a little bowl and she has her
5:46
little bowl of protein mac and cheese
5:48
and she has her little bowl of
5:49
vegetables and it takes me all of five
5:52
minutes to get this done this is great
5:55
if your kids eat differently than you or
5:58
if you were trying to to say for
6:00
instance do my detox week and you have a
6:02
couple of smoothie dinners coming up or
6:05
if you just happen to you know cook
6:07
something a little bit fancier for you
6:10
and your significant other and maybe the
6:11
kids won't like it meal prepping for
6:14
just the kids is a really great way to
6:17
be able to keep yourself on plan as well
6:19
so there's are four different ways that
6:21
you can meal prep and let's just go over
6:23
them really quickly there's the
6:25
traditional cook everything on Sunday or
6:27
Monday the batch cooking storing
6:30
leftovers smartly and meal prepping for
6:36
eaters next I want to talk about how you
6:39
can actually meal prep for weight loss
6:42
because one of the easiest ways to lose
6:44
weight and or maintain weight or just
6:47
start eating healthier would be to meal
6:51
prep so say for instance you are driving
6:57
drivethru you've got the kids in the
7:00
back you're coming back from soccer
7:01
practice you're exhausted they are loud
7:04
and you just you just want to make
7:06
tonight easier it's so easy to go
7:10
drive-thru but is it healthy no and holy
7:14
moly have they gotten expensive these
7:17
drive-throughs so knowing that you have
7:20
something waiting for you at home makes
7:23
it so much easier to stay on plan so
7:27
prepping is really a great great way to
7:30
kind of hold yourself accountable your
7:33
time is valuable your time is money
7:36
nobody can give you more a time nobody
7:38
can give you your time back so when you
7:41
put time into something it's almost like
7:43
and I know I've already used this
7:44
analogy before but it's kind of like the
7:47
people who Who start running and they go
7:50
out and they buy themselves a really
7:52
expensive pair of running shoes and they
7:54
do it they actually continue running
7:57
they actually stick to their plans cuz
7:58
they just spent 50 bucks on shoes they
8:02
have to get their values worth out of
8:05
those shoes well your time is valuable
8:08
your time is money and when you put time
8:11
into meal prepping when you've got it
8:13
all done you are much more likely to eat
8:20
recommend when you first start meal
8:23
prepping try to meal prep foods that
8:26
freeze well because if you find that
8:29
you're not eating them as often then you
8:33
can easily put them in the freezer and
8:35
then you've got them for next week so
8:38
you're kind of getting
8:40
ahead and these leftovers can really
8:43
save you on busy nights maybe for
8:45
instance on Sunday nights you always
8:48
cook it's a big family thing but then
8:50
you know it happens to be spring break
8:52
and the kids are off and they're at a
8:54
sleepover and you know you went to the
8:56
gym and you're so proud of yourself but
8:58
now you're too tired to workout when you
9:00
have those frozen meal prep dinners it's
9:04
really easy just to grab them and eat
9:07
healthy and meal prepping also gives you
9:10
more time to do the things that you love
9:12
so getting that work out of the way
9:14
especially if you don't love to cook
9:16
will give you more time to work out if
9:19
that's a goal of yours or spend more
9:21
time with your kids or take a walk or
9:25
you know start a podcast so you can
9:29
give yourself more time by getting all
9:31
of this stuff done ahead of
9:35
time so now I wanted to talk to you
9:37
about actual tips for doing the meal
9:39
prepping so if if you are a pro some of
9:43
these are going to be very familiar and
9:46
if you have more tips I would love to
9:48
hear them because we are always trying
9:50
to learn and grow and evolve over here
9:52
at lose weight by eating but meal
9:54
prepping if you find that you
9:57
don't have time to meal prep say I don't
10:01
have time on Sundays or Mondays and no I
10:05
just I can't get that done I get it from
10:09
now on what I want you to do is I want
10:11
you to double the amount of servings
10:14
dinner and I'm not saying eat the extra
10:17
servings what I recommend doing is when
10:20
you serve yourself and your significant
10:23
other or your kids or your family say
10:26
for instance you have three plates out
10:29
for you your kiddo and your significant
10:31
other add to that an extra one to two
10:35
meal prep containers and you just serve
10:39
all of those right so you would have the
10:41
three plates and maybe say two meal prep
10:43
containers and you just make all your
10:45
servings leave the tops off because you
10:48
want them to cool before you put them in
10:49
the fridge or in the freezer and serve
10:52
dinner enjoy your dinner then you do the
10:55
dishes and by the time the dishes are
11:00
portions are now cool enough to cover
11:02
and either refrigerate or put in the
11:04
freezer so the easiest way to meal prep
11:07
is just make too much food I it's so
11:10
easy it's kind of like why didn't I
11:12
think of it before another thing you can
11:14
do is you can just add it to your
11:16
schedule I love making a to-do list and
11:20
if you're at all like me I love being
11:21
able to check off I will add the
11:23
smallest things to my to-do list I have
11:25
clean the cat box on the to-do list like
11:28
that should be a given every single day
11:30
right I have take a shower take my
11:33
supplements the smallest little things
11:34
on there because I really love to be
11:36
able to check mark everything off or
11:37
cross everything off so add it to your
11:40
schedule even if all you're doing is
11:43
making two to three extra servings for
11:45
dinner tonight you can still add in make
11:48
dinner that's one that you can cross off
11:51
and then meal prep for Laton and what I
11:54
love doing with these two to three extra
11:57
servings is I love just they're just in
12:00
the freezer maybe I don't actually
12:02
schedule them for dinner this week or
12:04
for lunch this week maybe they're just
12:07
in case of emergency meals and I don't
12:09
have time to get a healthy meal at this
12:12
time in my freezer back there I have got
12:15
I know I have some roast chicken with
12:17
vegetables in a meal prep container I
12:20
know I have some of the protein mac and
12:21
cheese in a meal prep container I know I
12:24
have some tofu and rice bowls in the
12:27
freezer in a meal prep container and
12:31
kiddo is just Mom what's for dinner and
12:34
I tell her and she's not interested I'll
12:36
say well open up the freezer and see
12:37
what else is in there so it's great to
12:39
have lots of different options in there
12:41
don't feel like if you're freezing it
12:43
that you have to eat it this week
12:45
obviously if it's a salad and you're
12:46
putting it in the fridge you do need to
12:48
go ahead and eat it this week another
12:51
great tip if you are making large
12:54
batches of salad and you add the
12:59
dressing on accident to all of them
13:01
they're going to get a little bit soggy
13:03
right my favorite tip for old soggy
13:06
salad I know that sounds so strange but
13:10
put it in a wrap there's something about
13:13
taking a salad a leftover salad either
13:15
from a restaurant or a salad that's
13:18
maybe left over from last night or from
13:20
two nights ago that might be a little
13:22
bit less crisp than usual put it in a um
13:25
in a large tortilla or in a sandwich
13:27
wrap and wrap it up and it just kind of
13:30
holds together a little bit better and
13:31
it makes the best wraps my all-time
13:35
favorite recipe to use this for is my
13:38
chicken Caesar salad I even put the
13:40
croutons in there it's so good in a
13:43
wrap another thing that you can do to
13:46
make meal prepping maybe a little bit
13:48
more fun is involve a friend either have
13:51
a friend come over and bless some music
13:53
or you know hang out take your shoes off
13:57
and just gossip and have fun and you
13:59
know have a great time together or
14:02
FaceTime a friend you can put your phone
14:06
you know prop it up on a book or
14:07
whatever if you have one of those little
14:09
holders and meal prep with a friend you
14:12
can get your Sunday calls out of the way
14:15
if you tend to always call friends or
14:17
family on Sundays you can meal prep
14:19
while you're doing it if anything you
14:21
might actually encourage stty e
14:23
healthier maybe not by telling them to
14:26
but just by Leading by example
14:29
the next item is make it fun as I had
14:32
noted I love to put one of my favorite
14:35
movies on in the background I just can
14:37
hear it that's good enough for me you
14:40
know I can visualize what's going on and
14:42
I can be meal prepping and then go back
14:44
over and check the TV and then go back
14:46
to my meal prepping and that's a really
14:48
fun way to kind of keep it upbeat
14:52
obviously music is also a really great
14:54
option as well just make it fun you know
14:58
maybe make yourself a little cocktail or
15:00
one of my fake cocktails you know pour
15:03
yourself a nice glass of wine and blast
15:06
your favorite music and this is your
15:10
prep another great one is get good
15:14
containers I really recommend the glass
15:17
containers they will hold longer I know
15:19
that they do have um the tendency to or
15:23
I have the tendency to worry about
15:24
breaking them knock on wood I have got
15:27
to find some actual wood to knock on my
15:29
head wasn't enough um I have yet to
15:31
break one I probably will today now that
15:33
I said it but they are actually really
15:36
sturdy they hold up really great in the
15:39
dishwasher they hold up really great in
15:40
the microwave and um they they tend not
15:45
get um you know Stained on the inside
15:50
good containers are very similar to
15:52
buying that expensive pair of running
15:54
shoes you have invested the money so
16:01
them my next tip if you don't typically
16:05
meal prep but you're trying to eat
16:07
healthier or you're trying to learn how
16:08
to meal prep or you're trying to get
16:10
excited about meal prep would be just to
16:13
start with your least popular meal your
16:17
least favorite meal the meal that maybe
16:19
you tend to skip so if you tend to skip
16:21
breakfast start meal prepping your
16:25
breakfast right I mean there's a great
16:28
healthy way to you're you're getting two
16:30
things done you're you're eating early
16:33
in the morning which will boost your
16:35
metabolism and set you up for a really
16:37
successful day and your meal prepping so
16:41
if you tend to always come home and cook
16:45
and have your music on it that is your
16:47
thing and you love cooking at night do
16:50
it but meal prep your lunches or meal
16:53
prep your breakfast you don't have to
16:55
meal prep every single meal you can
16:58
choose just one so just start just try
17:02
and this week on my I'm going to click
17:05
over and look at the menu this week
17:07
we've got the low calorie breakfast
17:10
burritos which are really great you can
17:13
wrap them in parchment paper and put
17:15
them in a bag and freeze them they're
17:17
great for later on and again you can
17:20
freeze them so if you feel like you
17:21
don't want them they're always there for
17:23
you and also my low calorie protein
17:26
waffles really freeze beautifully I I
17:28
also like to put a parchment paper I cut
17:31
it into small squares and I put it in
17:32
between just so they don't stick
17:36
together the next thing I do recommend
17:39
is to batch cook protein and freeze it
17:43
so instead of say you ropes a whole
17:45
chicken um or you you cook a whole batch
17:49
of chicken thy instead of putting them
17:52
all in one big bag and tossing them in
17:54
the fridge where you're either likely to
17:56
forget about them or snack on them
17:59
mindlessly and I'm guilty of that too so
18:01
I'm not pointing any fingers at any of
18:03
you I'm pointing fingers at myself for
18:04
that either freeze them in individual
18:07
portions or in family portions so say
18:11
for instance you're going to make a
18:12
really big batch of of chicken thighs
18:15
this weekend because they were on sale
18:17
so you might as well go for it now you
18:20
can either choose to there a few things
18:22
you could do with this you can put them
18:24
in meal prep containers with maybe some
18:27
vegetables and either some rice or
18:29
quinoa or cauliflower rice and throw
18:32
that in the freezer great thing about
18:34
that is if you're using raw vegetables
18:37
and like maybe some cauliflower rice you
18:39
don't actually have to cook anything
18:40
else because it'll all cook in the
18:42
microwave for you when you do zap it
18:45
obviously that doesn't work with
18:47
traditional rice and quinoa but these
18:49
are great options you can also shred
18:53
them and then measure them out Cup by
18:56
cup put a cup and a s a Ziploc sandwich
19:01
baggie and store them in the fridge so
19:03
now you've got shredded chicken to add
19:07
to soups and salads and lunch wraps and
19:12
casseroles and all of that so making
19:17
extras of protein when you find it on
19:19
sale is a really great way to kind of
19:23
ahead and meal prep in a really easy
19:27
way and another great option is meal
19:30
prepping snacks my meal prep snack boxes
19:35
go viral every single time I post them
19:37
on any social media and recently I have
19:40
updated them and I'll make sure to put
19:42
them in my show notes um but I recently
19:46
updated them with different
19:48
modifications so these snap boxes that I
19:51
make they're about 200 to 215 calories
19:55
each so they're supposed to be a full
19:57
day's worth of snack and by that I mean
20:00
while you're at work obviously so
20:03
they've got things like cottage cheese
20:06
hardboiled eggs nuts fruits some fresh
20:09
vegetables so you can even just meal
20:12
prep snacks if you find that you are
20:15
going to the snack machines at work or
20:18
you are overindulging at lunch because
20:21
you're so hungry because you didn't have
20:23
a snack this is a great place to
20:26
start just meal prep your snack snacks
20:29
or if you have been meal prepping
20:31
everything else and it doesn't seem to
20:33
be working for weight loss then maybe
20:34
meal prepping some snacks will work for
20:36
you as well and here are some tips that
20:38
you can do that for also you can get a
20:41
big bag of nuts I love to go to Trader
20:43
Joe's I'm wild for their nuts especially
20:47
their um their cashews and their raw
20:50
walnuts oh my gosh so good so what you
20:53
can do is you can bring home the bag of
20:55
nuts open it up get out a/4 cup or a
20:59
third of a cup measuring cup and scoop
21:02
them into either small containers or
21:05
into bags and then you've got a quick
21:09
snack that you can grab and toss in a
21:11
backpack toss in your purse throw in
21:14
your car even you don't have to worry
21:16
about when it gets warmer when it comes
21:17
to nuts they're going to be just fine
21:20
you can um get string cheeses you can
21:24
portion out in these meal prep boxes
21:27
I've got Cottage cheese with different
21:29
flavors on top so you can portion out a
21:32
really big thing of cottage cheese and
21:33
you can put different flavors across the
21:36
tops of them my favorite is the
21:38
everything bagel seasoning oh my gosh
21:41
it's so good so you can also make things
21:45
like my low calorie hummus I believe
21:46
it's either 30 or 35 calories you can
21:49
make a big batch of this ahead of time
21:51
put it into small little containers and
21:54
preut all of your veggies and then throw
21:57
the small contain coner and the veggies
22:00
into a bag toss it in the fridge and
22:03
that's just a grab and grow or grab and
22:08
snack and then spread out the work is
22:12
another really great tip if meal
22:14
prepping just seems like this big messy
22:18
timec consuming job spread it out on
22:22
Thursdays you can look up recipes and
22:24
figure out what do I want my menu to
22:26
look like for next week on Friday Friday
22:28
you can make your shopping list on
22:31
Saturdays you can go shopping and then
22:33
on Sundays you can actually do the meal
22:37
also skip that Sunday meal prepping work
22:42
and still look up the recipes on
22:44
Thursdays make the shopping list on
22:45
Fridays and do the shopping on Saturdays
22:47
or Sundays and then overcook for the
22:51
week as I do and then just package up
22:54
leftovers these are all really great
22:58
ways you can get started in meal
23:00
prepping right away I also want to
23:04
remind you to make it really easy for
23:06
you this week we have a full meal
23:08
prepping plan on the lose weight by
23:11
eating website I will put a link in the
23:13
show notes it's completely free it's got
23:17
two breakfasts because I like to
23:18
alternate them it saves money and time
23:21
you got two different lunches which we
23:23
alternate and for this one I wanted to
23:25
make it super easy there is no cooking
23:27
involved with the lunches
23:28
yay and then I picked out some really
23:31
delicious dinners that are all meal prep
23:35
worthy and most of these you could skip
23:39
the meal prepping and just overcook for
23:41
them and that would work as well so
23:43
essentially you could take this meal
23:44
prep plan and make a whole month's worth
23:47
of work out of it and I've also decided
23:51
to kind of level it up since I do really
23:54
love having a theme I decided to level
23:58
up and do a click and print everything
24:00
including a shopping list so you can
24:02
also pay a very small fee and I've done
24:05
all of the work for you you can skip
24:07
having to you know print out the recipes
24:09
it's all in one PDF for you and the
24:12
shopping list is there and ready as well
24:15
as the meal plan I just make it super
24:17
super easy for you so with all of my
24:21
meal prepping tips I really want to
24:24
encourage you to take a step back and
24:28
think which meal would be best for me to
24:32
start meal prepping and typically that
24:34
would be a meal that you feel a little
24:36
bit overwhelmed and maybe you you tend
24:39
to go out so if that's lunch because you
24:42
you you're just too tired to bring lunch
24:46
with you every single day or to even do
24:49
the effort for that I get it I've been
24:51
there I assure you I went through the
24:53
Arby's drive-through way too many times
24:55
at my last actual 9 to-5 job and so you
24:58
can go ahead and just say you know what
25:00
I'm going to try for one week to meal
25:03
prep and if you slip off if you end up
25:06
going out to lunch with your friends one
25:08
day that's okay that meal prep can hold
25:10
until tomorrow so if you're not sure
25:13
that you're actually going to stick with
25:14
it make sure what you are meal prepping
25:17
can go into the freezer so that you
25:18
don't ever have to worry about any food
25:21
waste and like I said feel free to batch
25:25
cook all of your protein if you go to
25:27
the store say Saturday or Sunday and you
25:30
notice that chicken breasts are on sale
25:33
by all means buy two packs of them batch
25:37
cook them I recommend just with salt and
25:39
pepper and maybe one of your favorite
25:41
spice Blends and then you've got them
25:44
all week long and you can add them to a
25:46
number of different things and you've
25:47
got countless healthy meals for you so I
25:51
hope that this meal prepping week is
25:55
helpful for you I would love to hear
25:57
your thoughts I'd love to get your
26:01
questions I as I said I'm always looking
26:03
to grow and evolve and learn more and we
26:06
will be talking about that next week in
26:09
podcast I want to hear from you what are
26:12
your meal prepping tips because this is
26:14
a community this isn't just me giving
26:17
you tips I want to hear from you as well
26:19
so please be sure to comment and give me
26:21
your tips as well and thank you so much
26:25
for listening to the loose weight by
26:26
eating podcast I've got lots more fun
26:28
stuff for you if this is your first time
26:30
listening keep listening because we've
26:31
got some great podcast episodes already
26:36
published so I will see you guys next
26:38
week make sure to meal prep for weight