Preparing meals is a great mid-week hack to make life easy after a busy day, but it’s also a game-changer when you’re trying to lose weight.
The secret is to avoid prepping the same meals so you don’t bore your tastebuds and lapse back into unhealthy eating habits.
Variety is the spice of life, as they say, and it’s also an important part of your weight loss routine.
Here, we look at five easy ways to make meal prep delicious and healthy so you can lose weight and savour the flavours.
Mix up the meat/meat substitutes
Protein is a must-have in any diet, even if you are on a plant-based diet.
If you eat meat, purchase what you need for your recipes and if you’re not using them in the next two days, portion them out and freeze.
Your recipes should include a selection of different meats including fish, chicken, lamb, pork and beef each week. So that you have an interesting choice of meals, try not to eat the same meat within at least three days.
If you are on a plant-based diet you have the ease of using canned proteins, which are cheap and have a long shelf life.
These include chickpeas, lentils, butter beans, kidney beans, peas, mushrooms, edamame and tofu. Use a diverse range of recipes so you can enjoy a different flavour combination during the week.
Pack your snacks
Snacking is perfectly healthy and even key to losing weight. Snacks keep us feeling full and content between meals, but it’s what you snack on that’s crucial.
There is abundance of flavoursome snacks to sprinkle throughout your weekly routine.
These include nuts and seeds, yogurt, fruit, cut-up veggies like carrots, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, capsicum, protein balls, boiled eggs, tuna, cottage cheese and crackers, nut butter, hummus, olives, and popcorn.
Frozen is fine
Fruit and vegetables play a big role in anyone’s weight loss journey. Frozen fruit and vegetables are just as nutritious as fresh and are great to have in the freezer when you’re too busy to get to the shops.
Depending on the season, you can find just about every vegetable in the frozen section of the supermarket and they are excellent for stir-fries, casseroles, soups and stews.
Frozen fruits are best for smoothies. Try them with a plant-based liquid such as cashew, almond, hemp, flax, soy, coconut or macadamia milk.
Don’t skimp on fatty foods
Healthy fats are essential for overall health, so make sure your prepped meals and snacks include
olive oil, oily fish like tuna, mackerel and salmon, avocados, cheese, eggs, nuts and seeds.
Ready meals
Life is busy and there’s often not enough time in each day for the basics, which is why ready meals are a win.
These prepared meals are dietitian and nutritionist-approved, and made using a seasonal mix of fresh, high-quality ingredients.
A huge advantage for those watching their weight is the fact that ready meals come perfectly portioned, so you can relax knowing you’re eating the right amount – not too little, not too much.
You can order them to eat for all your main meals or for just a few as freezer back-ups on hectic days.
Using a wide range of foods in your weekly meal preps is key to keeping your tastebuds satisfied and your weight loss goals in check.
To enjoy freshly cooked, nutritious meals while also winning your time back, try the healthy food at Dineamic.
