5 Reasons To Meal Prep

“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”

– Benjamin Franklin

In this post, I want to share with you how we got into meal prep and how it’s worked for us. It seemed overwhelming at first, but after we got the ball rolling, it became a normal part of our life. This will give you a glimpse into our life, a little of our health journey, and also show you how doable meal prep can be for you!

At the beginning of summer 2019, we started working out. With that, came more attention and focus to our diet. The more we went to the gym, the more clear it became that we needed to eat more and better. When working out, your diet affects about 80% of it. The other 20% is exercise.

As we set gym goals, Ruvim came across a fitness YouTube channel that really inspired him to start meal prepping, or at least try it. We wanted to do a 90-day plan to help us kick start it. And just as we were getting into it, I went to the emergency room.

In June 2019, I had a vagal response during my menstruation cycle. Forgive me for being so open about it, but this was the worst “symptom” I’ve ever had during my period. I’ve struggled with my cycles through my teen years and came to a point where it was normal to experience these symptoms every month: black outs, cramps, headaches, fatigue, bloating, bowel issues, nausea and vomiting.

About a month before this incident, or period episode, we met a health coach who interviewed on Today with Marilyn and Sarah (where we work). As part of my job, I reviewed her book and learned a lot that I could apply to my health. Little did I know that I’d end up reaching out to her for more.

The ER experience was a pivotal point in our life and the beginning of an intense health journey that affected us both. We reached out to Chelsie Ward and purchased a 90-day health protocol to find the root-issue of my menstruation problems. This aligned with our original plan to do a 90-day health plan, with meal prep and all. So while I went through the health protocol, Ruvim created a health and fitness plan for himself, too.

How Meal Prep Saved Our Life

“The secret to getting ahead is getting started. Today is the day for new beginnings.”

In a few minutes, I’m going to reveal to you five ways meal prep has saved our life. Honestly, the heading is a little exaggerated, but I want to emphasize on how helpful it is. To be even more honest, it’s difficult. It takes time and effort to make it a habit. But it’s SO worth it and rewarding.

This may or may not be for you, and either way, I hope to encourage and inspire you to look at your lifestyle to decipher which healthy choices YOU need to make. Scroll down to find some tips for starting meal prep!

5 Reasons To Meal Prep!

Meal Prepping Saves Time

The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot.

Michael Altshuler

This might seem counter-intuitive. But if you calculate how often you eat throughout the week and add the time spent on choosing what to eat and how long to wait before you eat, you’ll see how meal prep can save time for you. We spend time meal prepping on Sundays. Depending on the meals, it takes anywhere between 2-5 hours to prepare two sets of meals for our work week (Mon-Thur).

We meal prepped for five days at first, then changed it to four days to allow some flexibility and creativity on our weekends. Breakfast is simple to prepare, so we leave that for our morning routine.

Meal Prepping Saves Money

You must gain control of your money, or the lack of it will forever control you.

Dave Ramsey

Before we got into it, buying groceries was random and disorganized. If we didn’t have food at home, it was easy to drive out and order some fast-food. And at times, it felt like we had no choice but to eat out. It helps you budget your meal plan for the week and helps you plan when you should eat out.

There are thousands of blogs and websites with meal prep plans and recipes, which makes it easier on you to create your grocery list!

Meal Prepping Saves Energy

Your energy is your currency. Spend it well. Invest it wisely.

If you like to get things done and checked off the list, meal prepping is definitely for you! My favorite part about it is that it saves your energy. You won’t spend so much time wondering about what’s for dinner or if you should eat out for lunch again tomorrow.

It sets your meals in place and gives you space to think about other things in your life.

Meal Prepping Boosted Our Confidence

Put all excuses aside and remember this: you are capable.

Zig Zagler

Meal prepping boosted our confidence to make choices. Before, we would go back and forth on what we should eat, if we should eat out with friends, or even if we could budget-wise. Now, we understand our budget, our time and energy, and can confidently choose on what we need to do.

Your needs become more prevalent and obvious, while your wants become secondary.

Meal Prep Sets You Up For Success

Control the things you can control.

Last, meal prepping gives you the power (or dominion) to consciously choose what goes into your body. You have complete authority over what you put in your body, so this can set you up to live a healthier lifestyle. If you’re constantly on the verge of going out to eat, not having prepped meals at home, and even struggling financially, meal prep could be a good fit for you.

It will set you up for success because you’re in complete control of what goes into your body.

Tips To Start

We’ve been meal prepping for over a year now, and it makes us wonder, what on earth did we eat before?!

Along with these five reasons for you to consider trying it, meal prep helped us focus better on our 90-day health plan. Through the health protocol, I discovered how my diet affected my menstrual cycle and the other health problems I had come to terms with. Though I still have ways to go in discovering complete health for myself, meal prep played a huge part in helping me get on the right track!

If you’re interested in meal prep, sign up to stay tuned for more posts like this one! You can subscribe with your email or go to my contact page to message me.

Some practical tips to start meal prep:

1. Buy meal prep tupperware/containers and a lunch box (Amazon or Walmart).
2. Pick a “meal prep day” that works best with your schedule. (Sundays work best for us, but maybe Wednesdays or Fridays work better for you).
3. Pick one meal to prep (breakfast, lunch, or dinner) (I recommend doing breakfast or lunch).
4. Find a meal prep recipe that sounds best and doable for you (check Pinterest!).
5. Create a simple grocery list (don’t forget to add some snacks like fruits and veggies).
6. Meal prep for 2-3 days at a time (ex. if you’re prepping on Sunday, cook for lunches Mon-Tue or Wed, that way you have time to see if this is comfortable for you and how the food turned out).
7. Research! YouTube, Pinterest, and social media are super helpful for advice, tips, and tricks.
8. Reach out to people who already meal prep and ask questions!
9. Do your best! There were several weeks where our meal plans didn’t work out but it didn’t hurt us to try it out.
10. Do what works best for you! You know yourself best. Your food palate differs from others. Your priorities differ from mine. So do what works best for you.