Kamy Shah, NASM-CPT
Meal planning. Some daunting words for the busy student. Although it seems scary, I will share some instructions that I now live by that allowed me to change my thinking about meal planning. To sustain a healthy body, a healthy diet is essential! We already know the benefits of meal planning since your interest landed you onto this page, so let’s skip the why and get to the how! Let’s get planning!
1. You can’t have a meal plan without a…. plan
Take a moment and plan out what’s going on for the week you intend on having meals ready for. Ask yourself if you have any plans such as dinner plans with friends or a work lunch and note them on a meal plan template. That way you know how many meals you need to have ready for the following week. You can always freeze the meals you don’t need.
2. Note the Noteworthy
Now you know the quantity of food for the following week, make a menu! Make sure to make a menu that you know you will enjoy and can stay refrigerated/frozen for at least a week. Start simple! Take account of the ingredients necessary to make the correct servings and crosscheck with your current inventory at home. Note down what you need to purchase on your grocery list.
3. Think Inside the Box
You have a list of everything you need to buy for the meals, but where are you going to store them? Ensure to plan for your meal prep containers and for your condiments and dressings. It is recommended to have containers that are microwave/oven safe and can go in the dishwasher. Note down if you need to buy some containers on your grocery list or have them delivered to your house!
4. Grocery time
You don’t want to go to the grocery store more than once, so take that grocery list you worked so hard on with you!
5. Cook it up
You’re a busy student, so let’s reserve all of the cooking to one day. You have a plan and all you have to do is put in the work and execute. Cook up your delicious food and have fun with it!
6. Freeze
You put in the hard work, now you need to store your food. Make sure to freeze only if you can put it in the microwave/oven. For example, do not freeze any condiments like guacamole or salsa as you cannot warm those up. Store them in a separate container. If you want to incorporate salads or fresh foods into your diet, plan to have them earlier in the week so they don’t spoil and refrigerate them accordingly.
7. Warm-up Your Hard Work
Now things can come up and change in life, but try your best to stick with your meal prep. You’ve put in a lot of time and effort to make affordable and healthy meals, so use them! Follow this video to learn how to warm up your hard work.