Believe it or not, the new year is upon us, which means New Year’s resolution season!
With gyms closing across the country due to COVID-19, your fitness goals might have suffered as a result. Weight loss goals for 2021 will probably be more popular than ever before, so find out what to know before you start meal prepping.
Have the Right Kitchen Utensils
First things first—you need to make sure you have all the right kitchen supplies at your disposal, because meal prepping means cooking on your own. Invest in a quality cutting knife, a cutting board, pots, pans, and any other items that might be missing from your kitchen. Having a kitchen with the essential tools will set you up for meal prepping success.
Establish Your Prep Days
Meal prepping is one of the best ways to adopt a diet because it allows you to have healthy meals ready to go instead of facing the temptation to eat something that could set you back. However, in order for you to take advantage of meal prepping, you need to find time in your schedule to cook your food. You might want to prepare your meals for the entire week, but start off by breaking it up between two days so that it doesn’t get overwhelming.
For example, you could decide on Sunday and Thursday as the days you want to cook. This way, you have your meals ready to go for the next few days. The key is to be consistent with your cooking days, and designating days can help.
Be Aware of Food Expiration Dates
Having meats sitting in your refrigerator for too long can be dangerous. This is another reason why you should break up your cooking into two days at first.
A diet can get monotonous pretty quickly, and eating old chicken won’t help. Stay away from eating any cooked meat in your fridge that’s more than four days old. As for veggies and rice, these can last up to a week.
Consider Grocery Delivery
The final thing you want to know before you start meal prepping is that it can be a lot, from getting the food to actually cooking. It can be a hard thing to stick to, which is one reason why many people fail. Make it easy on yourself and cut some corners if you have to.
Going to a grocery store can be a pain, especially now. The good news is you can take advantage of a ton of services that will deliver groceries right to you instead. If you play your cards right, meal prepping doesn’t have to be as time consuming as it may seem.