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.
