Meal Prep by Austin Gray
Meal Plan and Food Prep - Why Should You Do It?
By Coach Austin
First things first, the most effective way to make changes in your fitness and get closer to your goals is to eat right. Learning how to meal prep can help change that dramatically. The reason is simple:
If you have food available, you will want to eat it. If you don’t have food available, you are going to look for the easiest and quickest thing to eat. Which might mean the Top Ramen in the cupboard or going to your favorite fast food restaurant for a quick bite.
Having meals planned ahead of time and the food prepared before you get hungry will prevent eating something not conducive to accomplishing your goals.
Okay, so now hopefully you understand why this is important. But HOW does one do it?
Step 1: Figure out what you want to eat.
Step 2: Gather the ingredients for the meal(s)
Step 3: Cook the food
Step 4: Store the food
Starting with Step 1: Figuring out what to eat
This does not have to be complicated. Just take what you already like to eat and find a good way of cooking it! If you already cook your food then this will be a breeze for you, but if you don’t it might be tougher. And that is OKAY! We have all been there.
When I started my food prep journey I had little experience cooking actual meals (still sort’ve true honestly) but that didn’t stop me from prepping. So what I did was the easy thing. I took one meal, Breakfast, and figured out a meal that is easy and doesn’t require much effort. My breakfast is eggs, rice, hot sauce (cause it’s the best), and some avocado.
*Now before I go more in depth, I am not telling you that this is exactly what you have to do to prepare effectively. Ask anybody around who preps and they will tell you little different things that they do. But this is what works for me when it comes to breakfast meals.*
Step 2: Gathering the ingredients
On Friday I will make a list of things to get from the Grocery Store. And then Saturday I will go to the Grocery Store and get my things.
Step 3&4: Cooking and Storing the food
Sunday is when I will prepare most of the food. Here is how preparing my breakfast goes:
I will cook as much rice as my rice cooker allows me to on Sunday, which will usually last me most of the week.
After the rice is done cooking I will put it in some tupperware and into the fridge it goes.
For the eggs I do things a little differently - I only prep for the day before, not the whole week - Sunday evening I will cook my eggs for Monday morning. After my eggs are done cooking (scrambled in a buttered pan, seasoned with salt and pepper) in a tupperware they go!
I then add rice into the egg tupperware. Now I should have a tupperware with eggs and rice!
I will then take some hot sauce (because again, it is the best) and douse the eggs & rice until it feels right.
For the avocado I will slice it open and take out the avocado meat then mash it up in a little bowl-shaped tupperware. After it seems mashed enough, I will put a lid on it and into the fridge it goes.
That is how I prep breakfast. Alongside that I will make a protein shake that comes to the gym with me in the morning for after I workout, but I don’t think that needs much explaining. The nice thing when doing that and cleaning up after myself is now in the morning all I have to do is put my tupperware in my bag and into the fridge at the gym. Then I can eat it in between classes when the morning hunger starts to kick in!
4/9/22
WOD
"Marston"
AMRAP 20 minutes of:
Deadlift, 1 rep @ 80-85%
10 toes-to-bars
15 bar-facing burpees