Introduction

You already know that meal prepping is beneficial, but how to meal prep to maximize your productivity, and save you time, money, and hassle may confuse you. You probably have tried it once or twice before. You probably have also said, “This time I will meal prep and stick with it.” Then Sunday rolls around, the day gets away from you, and there’s no meal prep for it.

You are not alone. I’ve been there too. Many times. What if, instead of telling yourself all the reasons why meal prepping didn’t happen, there was a better and easier way? I’m here to tell you there is another way. You can be more productive, simplify your time in the kitchen, and feel organized about meal prepping. 

Maybe the other systems haven’t worked because they felt like a chore to you vs. a fun activity that you get to do. It’s possible to shift your mindset about meal prep and use technology to make it so much easier. I’ll show you how to simplify meal prepping to maximize your productivity in this blog post. 

Table of Contents

• Fix your mindset 
• Create a schedule that works for you 
• How to stick to the plan 
• Grocery shopping tips 
• My #1 meal prep tip

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• Meal-planning menu 
• Grocery shopping checklist 
• Food log template
• Habit Tracker
• Workout Log
• To-Do List
• Fitness Tracker
• Cleaning Schedule
• Vacation Planner
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1. Fix your mindset

Before you skip this part for being all woo-woo, don’t. To change a belief about yourself you must first become aware of it. 

I lost over 30 lbs with the help of an amazing coach, and we addressed the mindset piece weekly. So much of what we do is based on the thoughts we have in our mind first. It’s important to address your mindset before moving forward or your meal planning journey will likely look like similar ones from the past.

Here’s how you fix your mindset:

1. Become aware of it. 
2. Acknowledge it. 
3. Plan for obstacles.
4. Take action.

Now that we have addressed the mindset piece we can move on to taking action to simplify your meal planning process with technology. 

2. Create a schedule that works for you

To be honest, meal planning will take some time and effort. How much? That’s up to you. The good news is the more you do it the faster the process will likely become. 

It’s important to create a schedule that works for you. 

I’ll share what I do below, but adapt your schedule to fit your needs. Also, I’m human, and not every week goes perfectly to plan. You must have flexibility with your schedule.

My weekly meal plan schedule:

Friday or Saturday:

• Decide on what meals we are going to eat for the upcoming week
• Make a grocery list tailored to those ingredients 
• Go grocery shopping 
• Put groceries away 
• Wash and prep fruits and veggies

Sunday:

• Make muffins for the week (these are easy grab-and-go snacks)
• Meal prep the proteins
• Write the menu on our marker board

Wednesday or Thursday:

• Do a mid-week grocery pickup 
• Wash and prep fruits and veggies

Repeat Weekly

3. How to meal prep and stick to the plan

Once something becomes part of your routine you will likely do it. It might be a good idea to take a look at when you normally go grocery shopping, and when you have pockets of free time to tackle the meal prepping parts. If it works better for you to go grocery shopping on a Monday then go for it. My schedule is just a suggestion. 

4. Grocery shopping tips

I can’t remember the last time I walked into the grocery store without a list. 

Having a clear grocery list will: 

• Keep you from overspending 
• Prevent you from buying unhealthy snacks 
• Make sure you don’t leave the store forgetting an essential ingredient to one of your meals (the WORST!) 

I have two methods for my grocery list: 

1. Handwritten grocery shopping list 
2. Digital grocery shopping list using Google Keep

I may be an avid tech user, but I still like having a paper list at the grocery store. Sometimes if I don’t have a lot of time I open Google Keep and type my grocery list in there. I go back and forth between the two options. I will show you both options below, and you can do what works best for you! 

Here’s how I lay out my handwritten grocery shopping list: 

• Meals for the week at the top of the page 
• Produce 
• Meats 
• Dairy 
• Frozen 
• Non-perishable items 
• Misc. items

Here’s my digital version of my grocery list using Google Keep:

If you have not tried Google Keep to store notes, lists, or other reminders on your phone you are missing out.

5. How to Meal Prep: My #1 tip

Now that you went grocery shopping, unloaded all the groceries (in less than 2 trips because let’s be honest, taking multiple trips is the WORST!), it’s time for my ultimate meal prep tip. 

My #1 meal prep tip is to prep your fruits and veggies. 

You’re probably thinking, wait what? That’s it?! 

Yes. Hear me out. 

If you are anything like me, the motivated/ healthier version of you does the grocery shopping for the week with the intention of eating all the fruits and veggies. Fast-forwarded to garbage day, and you’re more than likely throwing out all those fruits and veggies that have started to go bad. Guilty?! Same. I feel you. 

That’s why right after grocery shopping I prep my fruits and veggies.

I wash my berries and put them in a different container. I like these Pyrex ones. Then I wash, cut, and store my veggies as well as my fresh herbs. By doing this, I find that I am way more likely to eat and use the fruits and veggies I buy because they are simply more accessible to me. And as the saying goes, failure to plan is a plan to fail.

If I neglect doing this step then I fall victim to throwing out what was once perfect produce which is not fun for my health or my wallet. 

Failure to plan is a plan to fail.

While there are many ways to meal prep and oh so many suggestions online of how to make it happen, I find that the simpler version works best for me. I personally don’t love eating the same thing every single day or reheating leftovers, so that’s why I focus on the meal ideas we are going to have for the week, prep the produce, and take it day by day from there. 

It’s also important to recognize the first week might go really well because the routine is new and you’re feeling excited, but come the third or fourth week it might slip to the wayside again.

That’s ok.

I’ve been there many, many times.

It’s all about asking yourself, “Why do I want to do this?”

Do you want to meal prep to save time? Eat at home more? Save money?

Revisit your why week after week and you’ll be more likely to stick to your plan. You can always make adjustments along the way.

If you want to simplify how you meal prep, and feel more organized, you can grab the digital habit tracker here. 

Rooting for you,

Sarah

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