Meal Prep 101

Save Money, Time, and Make Better Progress

Welcome Anon,

As you know (you should by now) diet is going to be the main determining factor in you reaching your physique goals. So, if adhering to your diet will have more impact on your goals than anything else, wouldn’t it make sense to do everything in your power to make that easier and more efficient for yourself?

Of course you would, which is where meal prepping comes into play. This will benefit in your favor in multiple ways, 2 of the most important are:

1. You will have a structured plan and meals ready—which will make you much less likely to go off your diet plan.

2. When making your meals, you will be able to measure out and track exactly what you’re eating. Follow the plan, results will follow.

Meal Prep is not nearly as tedious as you might think, and there are many ways to expedite this process.

Where To Start

The first thing you will want to do is obviously have some type of meal plan. However you decide to do this is up to you. I suggest building a diet around your nutritional and physique goals and build from there. (Read this for an idea of a diet plan HERE)

After this, you’ll want to find a method that fits into your lifestyle. Typically you can count on meal prep to take anywhere from 30-60 minutes depending on what you’re making, so keep that in mind. If you’re rushed in the mornings, this probably isn’t the best time for you to meal prep.

How you decide to meal prep is up to you—some people will cook their meals for the week, others daily. This will be completely up to personal preference. I personally make my meals every morning because I only need to prep 3 as the other 3 are extremely quick to make, and I’m at home to make them.

Once you’ve established some sort of routine, you’ll want to simply weigh out your portions (this is optional, yet highly suggested) and store the food in a way that you can easily take your meals with you.

Suggested Items

Food Scale: You’ll definitely want a food scale, the reasons are simple. “What gets measured gets managed”.

BowTiedOx.eth | Chad Bodybuilder @BowTiedOx

If you don’t have a food scale in your house you need one. You’ll learn a few things. 1. You’re probably eating a lot more calories than you think. 2. 1000 calories isn’t that much food. 3. How easy it is to measure your food and eat by the numbers.

Air Fryer - This will make simple things like potatoes into a delicacy in around 15 minutes. Healthy French Fries, anyone?

Slow Cooker/Crockpot - You can make all of your chicken for the next few days or even the whole week without actually cooking it. I suggest weighing your meats raw, then dividing the raw amount by the cooked amount to get accurate serving sizes correct.

Rice Cooker - This will make meal prep extremely easy if you are big into rice—personally, I think it is one of the best/easiest carb sources you can eat for your fitness goals—plus most people have no problems digesting white rice (white rice is completely fine, the difference between white and brown is extremely negligible).

Lunch Box - Leave no room for excuses. People think you’re a weirdo for lugging around your meals all day? You get to laugh at the end of the day when you’re jacked and look good naked—that’s the ultimate goal, right?

Tupperware - Quick, easy to store, and makes it easy to take your meals with you. You can get glass and avoid exposing your food to plastic and the chemicals in plastic.

Suggested Foods

To make your life easier—and probably healthier—you’ll want to stick to single ingredient meals. There is a reason why the chicken, rice, and broccoli “bro diet” is so popular. It works extremely well and is extremely easy to make.

Chicken

Rice

Potatoes

Oats

Ground Beef

Brocoli

Salmon (Wild Caught never Farm Raised)

Smaller Steaks

You can easily create meals with these that are both healthy, and have an excellent macro/micronutrient profile. This shopping list would cost you a little less than $100 a week. Below I will give you a sample meal prep plan that would compliment your fitness goals well.

Example Meal Prep

Meal 1: Proats - Oatmeal with a scoop or 2 of whey (or whatever) protein powder.

Meal 2: Lean Ground Beef and Potatoes

Meal 3: Chicken, Rice, and Broccoli

Meal 4: Salmon and Potatoes

Meal 5: Chicken, Rice, and Broccoli

Meal 6: Steak and Broccoli

You could eat anywhere between 3-6 of these meals and be fine. I suggest at least 4, as you’ll be spacing your meals and getting optimal protein intake—assuming each meal is 40-50g of protein each.

Good luck getting fat eating meals like this—it simply won’t happen unless you are drastically sedentary and/or not training.

Summary

Meal Prep like everything becomes a habit. It will become so engrained in your lifestyle that you’ll never even think about it—you’ll just do it because it works and makes your life easier.

1. Set a routine

2. Weigh out and cook your meals

3. Use the tools available to make the process as efficient as possible

4. Store your meals however makes it easiest for you to access your meals when you need them

5. Eat

6. ?

7. Gains

All of fitness can be broken down into a system, follow said system and you will see results. This is just another way you can pretty much automate this system and exponentially increase your chances for success. By doing the big things right, you are pretty much guaranteeing your success when it comes to fitness.

#WAGMI

Your friend,

- BowTiedOx

DICLAIMER

This is not Legal, Medical, or Financial advice. Please consult a medical professional before starting any workout program, diet plan, or supplement protocol. These are opinions from a Cartoon Ox.