Meal Prep
WOD: 04/08/19
“A Whole Lotta Tabata”
Tabata Row for Calories
Tabata Double-unders
Rest 2 minute
Tabata Toes to Bar
Tabata Sit-ups
Rest 2 minute
Tabata Ring Rows
Tabata Ring Push-ups
Do you even MEAL PREP, bro?
Guest Blog by Rebecka Weinsteiger
It took me a while to figure out meal prepping and it wasn’t until I was struggling through the learning curve of understanding Renaissance Periodization and IIFYM (If it fits your macros) meal planning – until it clicked. And it clicked. I now have more free-time in my week and my family eats healthier. I didn’t think it was possible.
I have been batch cooking and packing lunches for years, but I wasn’t tracking what I was eating. So that worked in a way that I was saving money because I wasn’t going to the Baguette to grab a couple of spring rolls for lunch, but I wasn’t seeing and gains… or losses, if you know what I mean.
Renaissance Periodization is meal plan that calculates the exact amount of macronutrients: protein, carbs, and fats you need to eat at each meal, and when each meal should be had. The only way I could figure out how to work this program into my life was to simply my meal plan. My weekly meal plan changed from recipes (throwing whatever food I had into a curry or chicken soup or stir-fry) to a meat, a veg, and carb.
Every Saturday I take meat out of the freezer to defrost. For protein, our family loves chicken thighs, burgers, steak, pork loin, pork roast. On Sunday I grill 3-4 pounds of burgers, 2 packages of chicken thighs, a steak and maybe a loin. I season and put a roast in the instant pot. For carbs, I cook a big pot of rice, steam a big pot of sweet potatoes and over the winter I pressure cooked big hearty earthy winter squash in the instant pot. I buy local frozen spinach in bulk (15 pounds at a time from the First Alternative Co-op). I also squirrel away sale frozen veggies whenever I can. Buy one get one, count me in! For seasoning I sauté market fresh forage mushrooms with onions and garlic.
Once all the cooked foods have cooled to room temp, I portion them in plastic containers with 3 cells. I measure out the suggested amount of protein, and carbs and about three handfuls of frozen vegs into about 10 containers. What about the fat? I assume that any fat allotment given, would be dedicated to the fat in the meat, but sometimes I add truffle butter to my squash or top my meals with the wild mushroom sauté. I eat breakfast, lunch and sometimes dinner at work. All left-over meat goes into see-through glass containers to store in my fridge for easy grab and go family meal prep and school lunches.
This has saved me so much time, and I have become pretty experienced grill-master. My kids eat better. Now choosing a quick meal like reheating chicken, broccoli and rice is just as easy as making mac and cheese. I use to pack a pb-n-j every day in my kids lunch, and now I just reheat rice, meat and a veg and store it in a thermos.
For extra flavor and extra food (sometimes I am HUNGRY) I add two tablespoons of sauerkraut. Fermented cabbage comes in every flavor now and packs a punch. I add to salad instead of dressing. Crazy? I know. If you are looking for a way to make the healthy option the easy option, I highly recommend you consider meal prepping!
Stay tuned for a post about Renaissance Periodization soon!
Rebecka Weinsteiger has been wodding at Crossfit Train since July 2013 and still loves it. You can find her at 6am usually and on the weekends.