Happy Monday friends!!!!! Alrighty, I have gotten a few questions lately about how meal prepping works. First, I have to make it clear that I am by no means a dietician or nutritionist, but I do support overall wellness! I have chosen foods and meals that I feel adhere to my lifestyle and support MY overall wellness.  I have to mention is the first step to any meal prep endeavor.  I call it an endeavor for a reason....

Let me just bring you back to my very first experience meal prepping because it is hilarious. I chose to really start focusing on my eating in August of 2014. I sat down and identified proportions that matched my weight goal and exercise regime to be sure I was getting enough calories to lose weight but also eat enough to fuel my body. This was the easy part......

Next up, I gathered food combinations for each day for my meals and snacks and from that created a grocery list (Can't forget a pinterest board either). Lists are my jam so this was the second easy/fun part, and now after all this work I am COMMITED. I then went to the grocery store and stayed on the outside perimeter of the store for the most part for my foods.... except my coffee because it is my life! My cart was full of spinach, eggs, some organic meats (because I couldn't afford them all which was okay), and way too many bags of broccoli.

Here comes the funny part....After getting alllllllll these healthy foods in the house and unpacked I began my cooking process. I cooked 4 bags of broccoli and began thinking "um this is way too much broccoli for me to eat." I asked my boyfriend at the time "Babe, um this isn't right is it." He then asked me how was I measuring the food. I replied "Well the bag says this many ounces and there are 8 ounces in a cup sooooo." Now, I have never been good at math...ever. So he laughs at me and says, "That is the weight but you are measuring with volume, use a measuring cup and measure one cup and that is your serving."

At this point, covered in broccoli, I slammed it all down and started crying....literally crying....I had made this hard decision to adjust my eating and it was emotionally just way too hard at that moment. I am not kidding when I said I had emotionally committed to eating broccoli and grilled chicken for my snacks twice a day. It took me about 15 minutes to recollect myself and get my head back in the game because like I said this girl was COMMITTED.

The first few days of this process was the worst! My body was detoxing from all the processed, modified, enriched, refined crap I ate mindlessly. Insane headaches..... But I kept on going! Another important point I almost forgot was a food journal.  I know they are annoying but listen they keep you accountable and mindful. Will you eat that cookie if you have to acknowledge it and write it down? You still might! But you will see later on where your goals aren't being met!

Making this transition is difficult at first. Food is tied to a lot of emotion. Sometimes you might want to give up, but DON'T.  Once you make your health a priority stick to it. Again, COMMITTED. I could go into a whole other tangent about gut brain and what happens when you stick to it but I will save that for another blog!

To summarize the art of effectively meal prepping:

1. Identify your health goals. You hear me talk about goals a lot but they are super important for you to stay mindful of what you want to accomplish in life! Goals give you drive and purpose!

2. Pick a healthy eating plan that matches your health goals. include the times of day you will be eating. Also remember to consider if you have any health conditions.

3. PLAN. Failing to plan is planning to fail! Plan your list, meals, shopping day, and cook time. Also plan to eat!

4. Make a menu/grocery list. Remember pinterest! Lists are important because they keep you on track in the store. Aisle 7 cookies and crackers is not on the list!

5. COOK COOK COOK! Pick a day of the week to cook either all your food for 5 days or just a few days and then cook again.  

6. Eat and journal. Journal what you eat to be sure you stay on track and your body is getting what it needs. My Fitness Pal app is free and awesome! Set alarms for food times until your body adjusts and automatically reminds you to eat.

7. Repeat!

I hope this helps you guys and provides some insight into the process and also gain an understanding that it might be tough and yes you have to commit to probably 5-6 hours per week to make this happen but it is so worth it! Be well!