Meal Prep - Why you should be doing it!

I am certain you see the pictures, read the posts, and have seen information on meal prepping. You may think this is just for the super fit or body building community.  You may think this is just a fancy way of preparing to eat leftovers.  While, I don't disagree that you really are prepping for leftovers, I think this is a practice anyone can and should do.  

The best way to be where you want to be physically, is to eat properly.  This is if you want to lose weight, maintain where you are, or gain muscle.  80-90% of your efforts really do come from nutrition.  Meal prepping is a great way to stay on track.  When you have your meals already planned out and in individual containers, you are more likely to stick with that and not go through the drive thru.  Meal prepping for a week or a few days takes a little more time than just making one meal, but not that much more time.  
Meal prepping also saves you money!  Who doesn't want more money to spend somewhere else? When you eat out, not only are you getting extra food, salt, preservatives, etc., You are also spending more money on stuff you don't really need.

Here are some tips to get you started:
Have containers ready to put individual meals in.  You don't need to spend a lot of money on this.
Plan your meals and ingredients before-hand.
Make food you actually like!  Don't make bulk food of things you may like, start with what you know you'll eat!
Start with just a few days worth.  Maybe lunches and snacks for 3-4 days.

Easy things to use:
Chicken - I'll grill double what I need to save for lunches.  
Eggs - I'll hard boil quite a few to have as breakfast or snacks for a few days
Ground turkey - I'll make meatloaf muffins or just brown it to use with rice or stuffed peppers, stir-fry, etc.
Egg muffins - I'll make a pan of these (6) and have three days of breakfast
Lasagna - when I really want this, I'll make a veggie lasagna and cut individual servings out for me to eat later  in the week.
Soup - I always make enough to use for later.  I'll put individual servings together and freeze the rest for later
Snacks - even pulling single portions out helps with not overdoing it.  I'll place hummus in smaller containers with veggies cut up.  Almond or peanut butter with apples or celery work well too.

Be creative and have fun.  You can also do this with a friend or two and share each others meals.  
Try this and see if you don't save money and feel better about what you are eating!