How I Overcame My Dislike of Vegetables

Eat More Vegetables

A few years ago, my idea of eating vegetables was having a leaf of lettuce and a tomato on my daily sandwich. Like many people, I had no idea where to start when preparing vegetables and, quite frankly, they never sounded very appetizing to me.

This changed when I moved into my first apartment and taught myself how to cook. Each week I went to the grocery store I would pick out some new vegetable to try. I used google and an old recipe book I picked up at a bargain bookstore to figure out different ways to prepare what I had purchased. Gradually, my repertoire of vegetables expanded. I even found dishes that I really loved to cook and tasted great.

These days, vegetables make up the bulk of my daily eating. I have incorporated vegetables into all of my regular meals and even miss them when I travel and don’t eat them for a few days. In this article, I want to share some of the strategies I have used for eating more vegetables. My two basic approaches are to simplify preparation and add more vegetables into meals you already eat.

Salads

Salads are an obvious way to include more vegetables in your diet. Salads allow you to cram loads of vegetables into a single meal while providing enough flexibility with flavors and textures to prevent food boredom. If you get bored with salads, you probably haven’t spent enough time experimenting to find a few combinations you truly enjoy. You can add just about anything to a salad. Different types of greens, leftover vegetables from last night’s dinner, canned vegetables, and chopped raw vegetables all work well.

Salads are a great option for healthy weekday lunches. Add a protein source to make a complete meal. If you are worried about your greens getting wilted, store your dressing in a separate container and add it to your salad just before you eat. You can also make a side salad with just veggies to go with dinner.

Use Templates to Make Vegetable Sides

When I want a quick vegetable side dish for dinner, I turn to one of three templates. I love meal templates because they allow you to keep the steps of a recipe the same while still providing room to change up the flavor or feature different ingredients. Once you master these simple techniques, it will be much easier for you to throw together a healthy side.

Template 1: Steamed Vegetables

This is the easiest template of the three, but also the most plain. To steam vegetables, simply chop them up into smaller pieces, place them in a pot or steamer basket with an inch of water, and cook on high until desired softness. My favorite veggies for steaming are broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, brussels sprouts, and asparagus. Add plenty of seasonings or a bit of fat to the finished veggies if you want some extra flavor. This article from The Kitchn gives more detailed information on how to steam individual vegetables.

Template 2: Veggie Medley

A medley is made by chopping up veggies and sautéing them to desired doneness. My medleys usually feature zucchini or another summer squash with onions, mushrooms, and bell peppers. You can also saute dark leafy greens like spinach or kale. Cook them in some butter or oil or use an olive oil spray if you are watching your calories. Add plenty of seasoning.

Template 3: Roasted Veggies

Roasted veggies are the perfect healthy comfort food for cold winter months. Roasting is a great way to soften up heartier veggies and starches such as broccoli or cauliflower, potatoes, squash, carrots, onions, and other roots and tubers. Cut the veggies into even pieces (softer veggies like zucchini should be a bit bigger), distribute evenly on a sheet pan, coat with oil and spices, and cook at around 425 degrees for 30-60 minutes. Check out this great article from The Kitchn for more information on how to roast any vegetable.

Snacks

Raw vegetables are a low-calorie, healthy snack that won’t go bad when left out of the fridge for a few hours. Carrots, tomatoes, celery, cucumbers, bell peppers, radishes, broccoli, and cauliflower all make great snacks.

If you have a weekend meal prep day, you can chop up raw veggies and distribute them into bags to take to work. Leave these in your office fridge or at your desk to help you out if you get unexpectedly hungry in the afternoon. You can also munch on veggies while you are cooking dinner or watching tv at home.

Smoothies and Greens Powders

If you are already making smoothies on a regular basis, you can easily add in some extra servings of vegetables. Consider trying a smoothie recipe that features more vegetables, such as this one. Celery, cucumber, fresh herbs, and spinach are vegetables that work in smoothies. Be sure to add in a scoop of protein powder (vanilla flavor works best for veggie smoothies).

You can also add frozen spinach to just about any smoothie. I used to make post-workout chocolate cherry protein smoothies and I always added a heaping cup of frozen spinach. I liked the thicker consistency I got from using more frozen ingredients and I couldn’t taste the spinach at all.

You can also add a scoop of powdered greens to your daily smoothie. There are lots of greens products on the market. Greens powders are a great way to get your daily dose of veggies in when you are on the road and don’t have access to fresh food. You can also take a daily serving of greens powder during the winter months or other times when you are particularly vulnerable to illness. This isn’t a substitute for whole food, but it can help you cover your nutritional bases.

Sneak More Veggies into Other Meals

One of the easiest ways to eat more vegetables is to find ways to add them into meals you already like. The possibilities here are endless. Making pasta? Add a can of diced tomatoes and some fresh mushrooms, spinach, and bell peppers. Scrambled eggs? Add in some leftovers from the veggie medley you made the other night or chop up some onions, mushrooms, and spinach. If a recipe already includes vegetables, double or triple the suggested quantity.

Some meals work especially well with lots of veggies. Anything you cook for a long time, such as a stew, soup, or chili, allows you to add in loads of veggies. Other one pot meals such as stir-frys, curries, and casseroles rely on veggies for a lot of their bulk. I’ve found that using frozen or canned vegetables works well with these kinds of meals. You don’t always have to have fresh produce on hand to make healthy choices and get in your daily dose of veggies.

Be a Little Adventurous

Eating more vegetables may require you to get out of your comfort zone. Ease into this process by choosing one new vegetable to try every week. Do a quick google search of the easiest way to prepare the vegetable on its own or add it into a dish you already make. This article from Precision Nutrition offers some great advice on the best ways to prepare common vegetables. If you like what you make, add it into your regular meal rotation. You can also give a vegetable a couple tries to see if you prefer it prepared a certain way. After several months of doing this, you will have expanded the number of vegetables you like to eat and know how to prepare.

It’s not always easy figuring out how to make healthier choices. That’s why I created Eleven Easy Meal Templates, a free PDF guide to help take the guesswork out of healthy home cooking. Sign up using the box below.

June 5, 2017October 23, 2018

Stock Your Pantry and Freezer for Easier Cooking

It’s Wednesday night at 9pm. You’ve just come home from the office after an unexpectedly long day and you’re totally exhausted and ravenously hungry. You open your fridge and see that there is nothing inside. You realize you didn’t buy enough food at the grocery store over the weekend and it’s too late to run there now.

What do you do? If you are like a lot of people, you pull up GrubHub and search the for the fastest, closest Chinese food or pizza. Doing this repeatedly costs a lot of money and will wreck your efforts to eat healthy or lose weight. The good news is you can easily prepare for situations like this and ensure you always have healthy options available.

If you want to make easy, delicious meals at home, invest some time and money into stocking your pantry and freezer. Having a fully stocked kitchen makes it easy to put meals together on the fly, even when you don’t have time to go to the grocery store. It also allows you to experiment with different flavors so you don’t get bored with your food.

In this article, I share my essential pantry staples and how you can use them. It can be expensive to stock up on all this stuff at once, so buy just one or two things each time you visit the grocery store. After a few weeks, you’ll be well on your way to having a fully stocked kitchen.

Spices

One of the biggest complaints I hear from people trying to eat healthier is that they get tired of eating bland food all the time. With the help of spices, making good food choices doesn’t need to be a death sentence for flavor. Stock your pantry with plenty of spices to add variety to your meals. In addition to tasting great, many spices provide health benefits.

My essential spices are salt, black pepper, and granulated garlic or garlic powder. Other common and useful spices include cumin, paprika, coriander, oregano, cinnamon, rosemary, and thyme. Look at the recipes you make most frequently and buy the spices that repeatedly pop up.

I am also a big fan of spice blends. Stores like Penzeys, The Spice House, or your local spicer will have many different blend options to chose from. Spice blends are great for people who are short on time or don’t really love to cook because they allow you to add complexity to a dish with little effort. Simply chose the blend that matches the flavor you want, apply liberally to your food, cook, and enjoy. You can purchase blends that work well for certain cuisines, cuts of meat, vegetables, preparation methods, and more.

Oil and Acid

Next on your pantry shopping list are oil and acids, such as vinegar and citrus juice. These items are very versatile and can be used to cook food, make salad dressings, and add flavor to a variety of dishes.

My three go-to oils are olive oil, avocado oil, and coconut oil. I use olive oil and avocado oil to make salad dressings and I cook primarily with coconut oil. Sesame oil is handy to use for stir frys.

Don’t be overwhelmed by the wide variety of vinegars at the store; the basic three are apple cider vinegar, white vinegar, and balsamic vinegar. Vinegar is great for dressing salads and you can also add a splash to stir frys, soups, and other dishes.

Other acids include lemon, lime, and orange juice. You can buy bottles of lemon and lime juice to keep in your pantry, but these must be refrigerated after opening.

Canned Goods

Canned goods sometimes get a bad rap in the health food world. However, I believe that for the average person the benefits of convenience outweigh any loss of nutrients. I use canned goods on a regular basis for salads, soups, stir frys, and chilis.

I recommend always keeping a few cans of protein on hand. My preferred canned proteins are chicken breast, tuna, and salmon, but any protein you enjoy will work. Vegetarians (and people who enjoy them) should keep plenty of canned beans on hand.

Canned vegetables are a great addition to soups, chilis, curries, stir frys, and other one-pot dishes. I usually keep some tomatoes, green beans, corn, olives, and stir fry vegetables in my pantry. I also use canned pumpkin in my daily oatmeal.

When buying canned goods, always try to chose items packed in water instead of syrup or oil. This helps you keep calories in check.

Dry Grains and Legumes

Dried grains and beans are a cheap way to fill out any meal. You can keep these items in the pantry for a very long time. Keep in mind that many dried beans and grains take a while to prepare and may work best cooked in large batches and then saved for later. If time is a concern, you can also buy instant rice or other grains that you can cook quickly in the microwave. Many cooked grains can be frozen and saved for several months.

I always keep bags of oats, jasmine rice, and basmati rice in my pantry. Some of my other favorites include couscous, lentils, and quinoa. You can experiment to figure out which grains and legumes you enjoy and work with your body.

Frozen Foods

The pantry isn’t the only place you can keep food on hand for easy meal prep. I recommend keeping a few key items in your freezer for when you can’t make it to the store or need to fill out your favorite dishes.

First, keep a bag or two of frozen protein that you enjoy. My favorites are chicken breast and shrimp. Most grocery stores now carry a wide range of frozen fish that is often higher quality than what you can grab at their fish counter. If you are concerned about the environment as well as your health, check out http://seafood.edf.org/.

Keeping a few bags of frozen fruits and vegetables in your freezer is also a great idea. Frozen fruits make great additions to smoothies or oatmeal and frozen vegetables can be added to omelets, stir frys or simply popped in the microwave for a quick and easy side dish.

Other Pantry Items

You may notice a few of your favorite items missing from my previous lists. Things like nut butters, honey, dried fruit, pasta, and nuts are staples in many people’s pantries. I encourage you to think honestly about your relationship to these items; for many people, these foods are no better than having candy or cookies lying around the house. People start eating them and aren’t able to stop. If this sounds like you, I recommend keeping these items out of the house. If you don’t have a problem with these foods, feel free to enjoy them sparingly as treats.

pantry

Having a well-stocked pantry and freezer makes it much easier to cook healthy meals that aren’t boring or bland. It also means that you will never be unable to prepare something healthy because you didn’t have time to run to the grocery store. Instead of ordering a pizza when you get home late and don’t have food, you will be able to quickly throw together a healthy meal that tastes great.

Need more help putting together easy homemade meals? Check out Eleven Easy Meal Templates, a totally free PDF guide to creating fast, tasty, nutritious meals without the hassle. Sign up using the box below.

May 22, 2017October 26, 2018

Essential Kitchen Tools for Easy Home Cooking

When I was in college and first learning how to cook for myself, it always seemed to take forever to prepare meals. Over time, I learned the importance of having the right kitchen tool for the job. For example, it took me way less time to chop vegetables for scrambled eggs with a nice chef’s knife instead of trying to cut everything with tiny steak knives. This also carried over to the quality of the food I prepared. I didn’t have to suffer dried oven-baked chicken breast anymore once I discovered the wonderful power of the George Foreman grill and the slow cooker. Stocking my kitchen with the appropriate tools made it much quicker and less daunting to prepare healthy, tasty food at home.

Failure to cook most of your own meals is one of the biggest obstacles to healthy eating. For many people, cooking and preparing food is a cumbersome and frustrating process. Even with decent cooking skills, a poorly-stocked kitchen makes meal preparation much more challenging. If you want to make it easier to prepare healthy, home-cooked meals, invest in a few key pieces of equipment. This article gives you my go-to kitchen tools for easier home cooking.

Pots, Pans, and Cooking Utensils

There are three essential pots and pans you can use for all your cooking. The first is a frying pan. This is my go-to pan for day-to-day cooking. Frying pans can be used to scramble eggs, sautée veggies, and make one-pot meals, including stir-frys and curries. You can also use them to cook certain cuts of protein including steaks, seafood, and pork chops. A cast iron pan is especially versatile since you can use it in the oven as well.

Second, you need a large pot and a small pot. Both can be used to steam, boil, or blanch vegetables. I use my small pot to cook grains such as rice, oats, quinoa, and couscous. The larger pot is more versatile, allowing you to make homemade soups or chilis, boil a dozen eggs at once, poach chicken breasts, and more.

Although you can purchase these three items separately, it often makes more financial sense to purchase a pots and pans set. Any store selling housewares (Target, Walmart, Kohls, Amazon, etc.) will carry these. Look at several brands, read reviews online, and choose an option that works best for your budget. Smaller sets are best for those just starting out with cooking or who have limited kitchen space.

You should also purchase one silicon spatula, one silicon ladle, one silicon slotted ladle, and one wooden spoon. These may come with your set of pots and pans or can be purchased in a separate set. These four tools will cover all basic cooking needs.

Sharp Knife and Cutting Boards

A single, high quality chef’s knife is all you need for most basic kitchen tasks. It is safer and less time-consuming to cut meat and produce with a chef’s knife than a steak knife or another small knife. Chef’s knives can be pricey, so read reviews and find an option that works best for your budget. If you have a larger budget or are a more advanced cook, you can purchase an entire knife set. Just remember that this isn’t necessary for people who just want to make basic, healthy meals.

To keep your preparation space sanitary, you should purchase one cutting board for raw meat and a second cutting board for everything else. Choose the largest cutting boards that fit on your counter so you are not cramped. There is no real advantage to different materials for the beginner cook, so pick the option that works best for your budget.

Slow cooker

The slow cooker is the ultimate appliance for people who want great tasting, healthy food but don’t want to put much effort into cooking. For a delicious dump-and-go meal, add a big hunk of protein, a bit of salt and other spices, some heartier vegetables or legumes such as carrots, onions, potatoes, and beans, and set to low for 8 hours. The long cook time brings out tons of flavor from even the toughest cuts of meat and requires little hands-on time.

If you don’t already own a slow cooker, I recommend splurging for a large size (6 quarts is ideal) that is programmable. Larger sizes allow you to double or triple your recipes, leaving you with plenty of food for leftovers. A programmable slow cooker allows you to put in the ingredients and then leave for a long period of time with peace of mind that your meal won’t be overcooked. This is also a great option for cooking meals overnight.

Grill pan or George Foreman Grill

Indoor grilling is another great way to prepare fast, delicious meals. A grill pan or a George Foreman grill allow you to capture some of the delicious flavor and texture of grilled meat indoors, all year round.

Grill pans are generally made of cast iron and sit on top of your stove. The George Foreman grill is a plug-in countertop appliance that uses a lid to cook both sides of the meat at once. The grill pan has a longer cook time and works better for thick cuts of meat such as steaks and bone-in chops. The George Foreman is a bit faster and is ideal for boneless cuts of meat and burgers. You can use either of these tools to quickly cook large batches of protein. Simply preheat the grill, season the meat, and cook until it hits the desired level of doneness.

There are many different sizes and costs for both grilling options. Be realistic about how much meat you want to cook at once and purchase an appropriate size so you don’t end up extending your prep time because your grill is too small.

Blender

My final appliance recommendation to round out your well-stocked kitchen is a blender. Blenders combine multiple ingredients into smoothies, shakes, sauces, spreads, and soups. Smoothies and protein shakes are an especially valuable time saver for people with hectic mornings. If possible, I recommend investing in a high-end blender as cheap blenders tend to break down with frequent use and end up costing you more in the long run.

Tupperware and Freezer Bags

If you prep large amounts of food, you need a way to store the leftovers or take food on the go. Invest in a high quality food storage set (such as Tupperware or Rubbermaid) for effortless storage and more portable meals. Choose a set with various container sizes that are BPA free and microwave-safe. In addition, quart and gallon freezer bags are great to freeze leftover meals or raw ingredients to ensure you always have healthy meals available if you can’t make it to the grocery store.

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Cooking at home doesn’t have to be a daunting process. With the right tools and a bit of practice, you’ll have a much easier time navigating your kitchen. You don’t need to spend a ton of money or buy the fanciest model of an appliance. Think about how much space you have, how much you want to spend, and then use online reviews to determine the best option for you.

Appliances are an important piece of the puzzle, but how do you know what food to make? If you’re struggling to come up with easy, healthy, homemade meals, I’ve created a solution I’ll think you’ll love. Eleven Easy Meal Templates is a totally free PDF guide to my go-to meals for busy people. Grab your free copy using the box below.

May 8, 2017October 23, 2018

How to Pack Your Lunch

Most of my clients are busy professionals. The biggest nutrition downfall for this group is constantly eating out for lunch. My clients repeatedly tell me about their struggles to find time or inspiration to pack lunches from home and the huge temptation of hundreds of restaurants right outside their office. This often leads them to consume excessive calories, ultimately preventing them from losing weight or feeling their best.

Like all changes to your eating or exercise routine, bringing lunch from home is a habit that requires planning, practice, and consistent execution to master. This article summarizes the benefits of bringing lunch from home and outlines my two favorite approaches to building this habit.

Packing your lunch has several benefits. First, preparing your own food gives you more control over what you eat. You can pack appropriate portions and ensure all of the ingredients in your meal work for your body and your eating plan. This makes it much easier to make healthy choices and avoid temptation. Second, bringing your own lunch can help you save hundreds of dollars over the course of a month. You may be surprised at how quickly the cost of restaurant lunches adds up, especially if you are eating out everyday of the week. Grocery shopping gets you much more bang for your buck.

Meal Templates

Many people want to bring lunches, but struggle to develop the habit of preparing food day after day. There are two ways to make this process easier. The first is to use meal templates to eat similar meals every day.

A meal template provides the basic construction of a meal while allowing some flexibility with individual ingredients. Templates can be based on anything. Some popular ideas center around a type of dish (salad, soup, chili), ethnic cuisines (taco Tuesday, Indian food, Mediterranean food), a particular protein (steak, fish, pork), or a certain method of cooking (slow cooker, Instant pot, sheet pan dinner). Meal templates help you avoid decision fatigue while still providing diversity to avoid food boredom. The preparation and primary ingredients remain the same as you rotate seasonings, sides, added vegetables, cooking fats, or other minor components of the meal to change up the flavor or character of the dish.

My Favorite Templates

Rather than coming up with a complicated meal plan consisting of different lunches every day, choose one or two meal templates that you enjoy and are easy to put together. I have used two simple meal templates to successfully pack my lunches for years.

The first is a salad. Every salad consists of some kind of chopped lettuce or greens, protein (usually canned chicken, tuna, or salmon or leftover protein from dinners), a variety of chopped vegetables, and a homemade dressing made from an oil, an acid (lemon or lime juice, vinegar, etc.) and seasonings.

The second template I use regularly is grilled protein with steamed vegetables. I use my George Foreman Grill to rapidly cook beef, turkey, or chicken burgers; chicken breasts or thighs; or lean pork chops. I always have a few spice blends in my pantry for easy and delicious seasoning. My vegetable side alternates between steamed broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, asparagus, and carrots.

Both of these meals take minimal time to put together and allow enough variety that I don’t get bored. For example, my favorite salad is inspired by southwestern flavor and includes lime juice, avocado oil, cilantro, red onion, tomatoes, bell pepper, and chicken. Another salad is much sweeter, using spinach, strawberries, mushrooms, red onion, tomatoes, salmon, olive oil, and apple cider vinegar. The preparation time and method for these meals is exactly the same, but they taste very different.

Leftovers

Another way to easily pack lunches without a lot of extra effort is to take advantage of leftovers. Instead of cooking just enough food for one dinner, try doubling or tripling the recipe so you have enough food to take for lunch the next day. To maximize your cooking time, consider setting aside an hour or two on the weekend to cook a large dish that you can portion into daily lunches. This works especially well with one-pot dishes like soups, chilis, stews, roasted vegetables, and baked dishes. Grains like rice, oats, and quinoa are also much easier to prepare in large batches.

If you get food boredom easily, repurpose your leftovers into different meals for some variety. I like to use leftover protein in salads and scrambled eggs. You can also add cooked ingredients to sandwiches, soups, pasta, or grain bowls. The possibilities are truly endless if you are creative and open to new food combinations. You may be surprised at what foods work well together as you stumble upon some new favorite lunches.

Lose weight, Save Money, Feel Better

Packing your own lunch is one of the best ways to improve your eating habits and general health. You will also save money so you can spend more on truly meaningful meals and social outings or enjoy other things in your life.

If you struggle to bring lunch, start by cooking more at one or two dinners each week so you have a couple of leftover lunches. Once you succeed with that, pick a meal template to use for the remainder of the week’s lunches. Don’t be afraid to eat the same things every week or to experiment with totally new dishes and combinations of food. Remember, success with healthy eating requires you to adopt habits you can realistically sustain over the long term.

If you want more practical advice, check out Eleven Easy Meal Templates. I compiled my personal favorite meals into this totally free PDF guide. Sign up using the box below.

April 24, 2017October 14, 2019

Master Meal Prep

One of the biggest secrets to successfully losing weight or improving your health is learning to cook your own food.

Constantly eating out at restaurants gives you little control over what and how much food you consume. Restaurants want to make your meal as tasty as possible and often add in a great deal of sugar, fat, and salt, creating dishes that are deceptively high in calories. The official nutritional information published by chain restaurants is helpful, but even these numbers can be inaccurate depending on the individual meal. Eating out every day also rapidly adds up to hundreds of dollars or more spent on food every month.

Cooking more of your food at home can save you both dollars and inches off your waistline. You can spend less money, eat a larger volume of food, prioritize protein and vegetables, and ensure that your food isn’t loaded up with extra sugar and fat. All of these things will help you feel more satisfied, avoid cravings, and make faster progress towards your goals.

Cooking more of your meals can be a difficult habit to form, which is why it’s important to use a system to formulate a plan of attack. In this article, I will outline my step-by-step approach to mastering meal prep. This includes drawing up a weekly meal plan, obtaining fresh ingredients by visiting the grocery store or setting up a delivery service, and then cooking your food in the most efficient manner possible.

Make a plan

The first step to successful meal prep is coming up with a plan. There is simply no way around this, especially if you are new to healthy eating or cooking. You need to spend some time figuring out what you want to eat for all of your meals before you go to the store. This will become easier with practice as you fall into a regular routine and develop a mental library of easy, healthy meals you enjoy.

I recommend repeating meals often for the sake of simplicity. Eating the same meals every day is a great way to keep control of your calories without much extra effort. It also helps reduce your food prep time since you will eventually become very efficient at making these repeat meals. I have personally found a lot of success eating the same breakfast and lunch every day and rotating through 5-10 regular dinner options. This allows me to to minimize daily prep time while still enjoying a variety of healthy, delicious meals in the evening.

If you are the kind of person who gets food boredom easily, you can use templates to add a bit of variety without changing the entire meal. For example, I make a big salad for lunch every day. The salad always contains chicken, salmon, or tuna along with plenty of vegetables and a simple homemade dressing. I can change up the protein, vegetable selections, and dressing for just enough variety from day to day without adding any time to my preparation.

If you are relatively new to cooking or simply want to expand your arsenal of regular meals, try out one new recipe each week. Look for recipes that are simple and predominantly feature proteins and vegetables. If you aren’t up for following an entire recipe but still want to diversify your cooking, try purchasing one new vegetable or protein source each week. Look up an easy preparation method, such as steaming vegetables or grilling proteins, or add the new food to a dish you are already familiar with such as roasted vegetables, stir fry, or salad. If you like the way the food tastes and it is easy for you to prepare, add it into your regular rotation.

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Once you have created your meal plan, write down all the ingredients you need to purchase. Be specific about the amount of each item you need to avoid food waste. Do a quick mental inventory of your pantry and write down any items that are running low and may need to be replaced. These items could include oils, vinegar, spices, canned goods, rice, and other dry goods. If you are new to cooking and have a very limited pantry, try buying one new spice or other item each week.

The last step in meal planning is to decide when to eat what. Proteins such as steak and fish should be eaten earlier in the week, whereas pork and chicken typically last longer in your fridge. Certain vegetables and fruits are heartier and will last longer than others. If you know one of your meals takes more time to prepare, be sure to schedule it for a day when your schedule is more relaxed. I recommend purchasing certain items from the frozen aisle to ensure that you will have good food available whenever you need it. Keep a bag of frozen chicken or shrimp and some frozen vegetables in your freezer in case you run out of food and can’t make it to the store. Consider all of these details to ensure your weekly cooking goes as smoothly as possible.

Navigating the grocery store

Now that you have your meal plan, it’s time to hit the grocery store. If you have done the first part of planning well, this step should be relatively easy. However, I find that people often skip the planning stage and head right to the store. This is a huge mistake, especially if you are new to meal prep, prone to impulse junk food purchases, or tend to waste a lot of what you buy. You should always come armed with a list until you are very experienced with meal prep and shopping. A list ensures that you will get the best value for your dollar and gives you a buffer against cravings.

Go through the store, buying everything on your list and nothing more. Most of your purchases should be made from the perimeter of the grocery store where you will find the fresh produce, meat, seafood, eggs, and dairy items. Only venture into the aisles to purchase items you have specifically put on your shopping list. Take special care to avoid aisles that house problem foods for you including chips, candy, soda, and baked goods.

Whenever possible, don’t go to the grocery store on an empty stomach. Your hunger may fuel impulse purchases of junk food or cause you to buy more food than you actually need.

If you absolutely detest shopping or don’t have the time to go to the store, I recommend investing in a grocery delivery service such as Instacart or Peapod. These services allow you to submit grocery lists which are then delivered directly to your house. In addition to saving you time, these services make it more difficult for you to grab that bag of chips or candy bar at checkout.

You might also consider signing up for a meal delivery service for some or all of your weekly meals. These services range from delivering meals that are precooked and just need to be reheated to sending you boxes of ingredients with instructions on how to prepare the meal yourself. Many of my clients use these services with great success. There are many options available, so talk to your friends and do some research to determine which one might be a good fit for you.

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Get cooking

After you have finished shopping, it’s time to prepare your food for the week. There are two approaches to this process: (1) cook all of your food for the week in one sitting; or (2) prepare one day of food at a time.

If you know your weeks are hectic and you would rather get everything done at once, I recommend setting aside a couple of hours to do all of your planning, shopping, and cooking on the weekend. If your weekends tend to be busier than your weeknights, or if you have a small refrigerator and can’t store a ton of food, prep one day at a time. Either approach can work as long as it fits into your schedule and lifestyle.

There are many tricks you can use to reduce cooking time. Batch cooking is an easy way to prepare many meals at once; it works especially well with dry grains, beans, legumes, and proteins. For example, you can bake several pounds of chicken at once and then divvy it up for individual meals.

If you are making a one-pot dish such as a chili, soup, or stew, try doubling the recipe to leave you with twice the food for the same amount of time and effort. You can also freeze some of these leftovers for quick and easy meals in the future.

The slow cooker is another one of my favorite tools for easy meal prep because it allows you to make a large amount of food with minimal effort. Simply drop in some protein, hearty vegetables, and spices and return several hours later to a delicious and balanced meal. You can also use the slow cooker to batch cook large amounts of protein, grains, and vegetables to eat at various meals throughout the week.

If you are prepping day by day, you can still do some work on the weekend to make each day easier. Try chopping vegetables and storing them in the fridge for easy access for salads, stir frys, and scrambled eggs. Hard boil a dozen eggs for quick breakfasts or snacks. Set aside time every night or morning to do your main cooking for the day. If you can’t find time, consider switching to a weekend prep.

Meal prep your way to better results

Cooking more of your food at home is one of the best ways to take control of your health and weight.

Set up a weekly meal prep ritual that helps you get into a routine of planning, shopping, and cooking more of your meals, and stick with it diligently for several months. It takes time to establish habits and you need to get used to the numerous steps that go into this process. Once you’ve been consistent for a while, you can tweak your process to make it work better for your life. Long-term success depends on these processes becoming automatic so you can eat healthy while devoting your energy and effort to living your fullest life.

If you want some help with meal prep, sign up in the box below to receive Eleven Easy Meal Templates, a totally free guide to my favorite quick, healthy, homemade meals.