Meal Prep .. Just K.I.S.S It!


Whether your day to meal prep is Sunday, Monday or another day during the week not everyone looks forward to the joys of cooking enough food to feed an entire army for the upcoming week. If you are meal prepping with the goal of hitting your macros, carb cycling, or prepping meals to match your workout schedules it can seem daunting. The good news is it can be easier if you just get in that kitchen and K.I.S.S. it!

Kiss it you ask?! How do you kiss something you loathe? Chances are you are complicating your culinary experience with intricate recipes, meals that consists of 200 ingredients, searching every search engine for meal prep ideas which adds to the time spent on prepping. My advice is STOP the madness and just K.I.S.S. it! By that I mean Keep It Simple Sweetie! Stop overcomplicating things! Trust me I get it. I used to be the master of recreating my favorite decadent meals and turning them into healthier options (which took a lot of time in the test kitchen). I should have just been K.I.S.Sing it and learning how to get back to basics and using that extra time to actually do something effective such as cardio!

The truth is chances are if you are overweight (no offense to anyone I say this only because I lived this) you love to eat, you love to savor the flavors and probably eat a lot of what you are not supposed to eat (sugar, processed foods, high fatty foods, etc.). You have a bad relationship with food and you need to reset your mind with the food connection. You too need to just K.I.S.S it! Keep it simple and get back to the basics of eating!

We all know our meals regardless of what your goals are should consist of lean protein, complex carbs and vegetables. This is all your meal preps should consist of - how easy is that?! The problem a lot of us face is we want to jazz up all these ingredients so we want massive flavor (I can’t tell you how many times I hear I need a lot of flavor in my food, I don’t eat that, I don’t like that, I need sauce and gravy – the list goes on). See, those excuses are what has gotten you over weight and keep’s you there. Change your mind so you can change your result! Keep your foods simple, allow Mother Nature’s goodness to add real flavor to your food. Learn to taste food without all the add ins. Learn to eat to live and not live to eat. So how do you get back to basics and K.I.S.S meal preps? Here are some of my tips to save time in the kitchen and getting the goods in those meal prep containers:

·         Cook smarter: Reduce your time in the kitchen by utilizing gadgets that reduce your time in the kitchen. For example throw your meat in the crock pot while you roast your veggies in the oven or steam your veggies in the microwave. Use a rice cooker for your brown rice and grains or crank up your grill and add both your meats and veggies and cook them all at the same time!
·         Keep your menu simple: Stick to the basics! Remember all you need is protein/ complex carbs and veggies (use herbs for flavoring or low calorie options such as mustard, balsamic vinegar, Mrs. Dash, Flavor God, etc.)
·         Stay away from variety: Believe it or not when we keep our meals the same we begin to crave those same meals and cut down the cravings on junk because the mind now knows what to expect.
·         Break it up: For some cooking for 3 days vs. 5-7 days at a time works best for them. It’s more manageable especially when using only fresh produce.

At the end of the day you have to do what is best for you. I encourage you to find what works and enjoy it so that you are prone to sticking to it.

No comments