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The Importance of Meal Prep

Boiled Eggs Seafood and Veggies

 

“Planning is bringing the future into the present
so that you can do something about it now.”
-Alan Lakein

 

Here at MacroNutrition we are firm believers that having a plan is key to achieving success; and when it comes to healthy eating, things are no different.

It’s true, forecasting and preparing our daily eats in advance will support us in staying on track – essentially empowering us to conquer our healthy lifestyle aspirations in the days ahead. We’re sure you’ll agree that having nutritionally sound meals ready and waiting when hunger strikes is never a bad thing, and can help pave the way for us to achieve our health and fitness goals. But while establishing goals to plan ahead is generally very straightforward, following through with new health promoting habits (and staying consistent) can be tricky – and this is the most important part.

With these strong intentions and our common difficulty following through in mind, we’ll cover some practical tips in this blog. But first, to properly set the stage before we talk strategy, let’s examine exactly what meal prep is for a second:

Fundamentally, ‘meal prep’ (as it’s commonly referred to) involves implementing strategies
to save time, control portions, and assist us in consuming a nutritionally sound diet regularly
without getting overwhelmed about the idea of improving our diet.

 

Sounds great right?


Without meal prep, we increase our chances of eating convenience foods on the regular, especially if we get busy or caught out-and-about without food (this one occasionally happens even to the most prepared foodie among us, trust me). When your meals are tentatively planned and sufficiently prepped ahead of time it will make enjoying a healthy meal an easy decision. After a full day, having a nutritious meal at the ready is something so many of us appreciate.

Now, meal prep exists in many different shapes and forms, so it’s important to find a routine that works for you. It may take some trial and error to establish the meal prep habits that suit your lifestyle and preferences – so don’t expect perfection right away. You’ll need to give yourself some time to find that right fit.

For example, if you always find yourself to be rushed in the morning and your breakfasts tend to be half-hazardly thrown together, having breakfast ready to go in the mornings will help you. Similarly, if getting a balanced dinner together is a challenge, you should focus on pre-planning this meal. As long as the routine saves you time and makes it easier for you to eat nourishing foods during the week, it’s a keeper in our books.

There’s little debate that meal prep can be our saving grace when we’re working to establish health promoting, sustainable eating habits; and maintaining a healthy lifestyle doesn’t have to be time consuming or difficult! With a little bit of planning and preparation you’ll be amazed at what you can accomplish.

With this said, we understand time is a valuable commodity. It is no secret that many of us fully appreciate the concept of meal planning to support a nutritionally balanced intake each day, but when it comes to execution… well… that’s a whole different story. If you (or someone you know) is one of the many people out there today who simply don’t have the free time to plan, cook, portion, and clean-up after your meal prep production – don’t fret. There are food prep companies that can do this for you.

Our Registered Dietitian at MacroNutrition Coaching prides herself in providing nutrition information and advice you can trust. And as meal preparation is such a useful component of a health promoting lifestyle, she feels it’s important to put forward a healthy solution for the extremely busy among us. After sourcing out some food prep options here in the Vancouver and Lower Mainland area, our go-to has been Movement Food.

 

This company is a high quality meal preparation service that fully cooks, artfully assembles, and promptly delivers an impressive variety of calorie and macronutrient balanced meals. We absolutely love that the delicious eats provided by Movement Food are made with premium quality, free range, hormone & antibiotic free ingredients. And they’ll deliver it right to your door.

And maybe best of all, they offer dishes to suit a variety of appetites (small, medium, or large) and lifestyles (including vegan, paleo, gluten free, and low carb). Movement Food also includes the ingredient list and all the nutrition information – with a scan of the barcode it makes tracking these macros a breeze. With our support Movement Food has kindly provided us with a discount code for their site which we’d like to pass along to any readers in the area that would like to try them out:

MACRONUT10

 

For the time strapped among us, enlisting meal prep support can be a serious game changer. We feel that this dynamic meal prep service will afford you the time to truly enjoy your meals while meeting your goals – be it weight loss, muscle building, performance or competition based, and/or concerning general health and well-being.

Interested to learn more before trying it out? Consider checking out their informative FAQ page.

When looking to integrate some meal prep strategies into your life, the ultimate goal is to make healthy eating a quick and low-effort option so you can stay on track with your nutrition and health goals (even on the busiest of days). Whether you choose to embrace some meal prep habits yourself, and/or enlist the help of a specialized company, we truly feel you will benefit from having some nutritious meals and snacks ready and waiting.

Through personal experience and in working with the public, we’ve learned that once the nourishing option becomes the most convenient, it is very hard to turn it down. And choosing this option consistently will have far reaching effects on your health and wellness.

For more information on Movement Food check out their website.