This initial prep does pay off, though, since you squeeze a week’s worth of cooking and cleaning into just a few hours of work. Initially time-consuming: Before you can store all of your hard work in the fridge, you have to set aside time to plan out your meals, make your grocery list and cook.Even if you don’t track your food, meal prep still makes it easier (and less stressful) to eat healthy because you’re not as tempted to order in when there’s prepped food waiting to be consumed in the fridge. This has made all the difference in understanding my own nutrition and eating habits, which has been key for reaching personal fitness goals. Meal prep takes the guesswork out of tracking because it allows you to pre-determine the exact nutritional content of your meals. Supports healthy eating: Anyone that’s ever monitored their macros or overall nutrition knows how tedious this particular process can be.Perhaps my favorite part of meal prep is being able to confidently say that I regularly use every item on my grocery list. Less wasteful: Food waste is lost money, and that notion resonates with me and with anyone mindful of how their food budget is being utilized.I recommend purchasing foods you use often, such as oats, frozen veggies, rice and pasta in bulk quantities, which makes the per-unit cost less over time. Meal prepping ensures you only buy exactly what you need by planning out your meals and shopping lists ahead of time. Cost-effective: It’s easy to get lost among the countless food options at the grocery store and purchase more than you need or will actually eat.You can’t beat the convenience of taking a ready-to-eat meal out of the fridge and popping it into the microwave or packing it in a lunch tote for your workday. Convenience: I used to dread making dinner every night the mess and the drain on my time didn’t seem worth it, especially when what I was whipping up wasn’t particularly tasty.

Meal prep planning sheet