Meal prep is a necessity for most athletes and competitors because it helps you maximize your dietary intake to fuel peak performance. Whether you’re looking to put on muscle mass, cut fat, or simply feel good, what you eat matters. For most people though the thought of spending an entire Sunday afternoon preparing meals can be overwhelming. We’ve pulled together our top tips to help make meal prep a faster, easier process.
What the Sheet
You can save time by baking and roasting your protein and veggies on sheet pans.
Bake chicken or turkey on a sheet pan with foil dividers to cook up 2-3 flavors at once. Eating the same chicken day after day can get old quickly so try mixing options like lemon pepper, honey mustard, buffalo, or italian spices. Check here for some of our favorite chicken recipes.
Roast your veggies together based on their cook time vs. separate pans. You can prep a large batch and pair the slow-roasting onions, carrots, cauliflower, or potatoes on one large sheet pan and your faster-roasting asparagus and zucchini in another. Toss both with olive oil. Pop the slow-roasting ones in for 20 min first then put the second pan in to finish cooking at the same time.
Ice, Ice Baby
Save time (and money) by buying and prepping your smoothie recipes in bulk, blend with your favorite beverage, pour into a muffin tin and freeze for grab-and-go smoothies all week. Pro tip: mix up one or two different options in the same tin to have more variety throughout the week. Looking for a great smoothie recipe? Check out our top BBcom smoothie and shake recipes.
Jar It Up
Put your dressing at the bottom of the jar then layer cucumbers and peppers. Next add in your leafy greens or grains and then put in a paper towel square at the top to absorb any extra moisture. Screw the lid on tight and you can store it in the fridge for multiple days for a quick grab-and-go option. Prepping bigger batches takes almost no extra time. Our favorite is this healthy mason jar taco salad.
Slow Ride, Take It Easy
Let your meals cook themselves overnight or during the workday with a slow cooker. You can easily add in chicken, rice, and vegetables, set the timer, and return to a fully cooked meal prep. Divide into containers and you can have lunches or dinners for all week. Take a look at our list of crock pot recipes to get started today!
Personal Chef
Our fastest and easiest way to meal prep is to NOT meal prep at all –just go ahead and get yourself a personal chef! Kidding, for most of us we can’t have our own personal chef on staff but you can use a meal delivery service like FlexPro Meals to save both time and money on your weekly meals.
FlexPro offers meal plans designed to help you lose weight, add muscle and feel incredible. Delicious meals are available in two options: low-calorie Fat Trimmer for weight loss or high protein Lean Muscle for muscle gain. It’s a subscription-based service so you can just set it and forget it. Great tasting, highly nutritious meals will arrive right at your doorstep. Meals ship out the same day you order.
We’ve partnered with FlexPro Meals to provide you with a special discount. You can save $25 off your weekly meals for the first three weeks with our exclusive deal. Get started today at https://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/flexpro-meals.
Take the stress and work out of meal prep and planning with these helpful tips. You can learn more with our Meal Prep Articles & Videos.