Let's Talk About PREP Baybeee... 7 Weeks of Meal Prepping, Here's what I've learned.

September 6, 2018dayleeo

8 Weeks ago the term "Meal Prep" sent me into a cold sweat... ugh, ANOTHER thing to plan…

Hi! Yeah it's been awhile.. shh let's just skip to the part about what you came here for…

I hated the idea of meal prep….SUREEE let's take all of the joy out of food, and eat the same thing every day like those Insta-famous gym people eating steamed broccoli and brown rice, day after day after day after day... Just killmenow. This is what I thought my life would be like meal prepping...

But when I looked into the price of having nutritious meals sent to my door monthly, I changed my tune REAL quick. @teamhumble encouraged me to just give it a try on my own, so I decided I’d start with a juice fast. The logic here being… “ANY food will seem awesome after a fast... maybe it won't be so horrible…”

Fasting is something I've done consistently about once a year anyway so I figured why not. This one was from a company called Veestro. I decided to go with these guys rather than juicing myself because frankly I was in too much pain (with my back) and too frustrated, tired and depressed to even start in with the logistics of making up a week of juices for myself.

I decided I'd take the mental time to really gather my brain around meal prepping, what I wanted to do and how I was going to do it. I consulted a Nutritionist through a startup called Maven got a plan, ordered some freezer boxes and here we are 7 weeks later. -- I know wild right?

Here are 7 things I didn't expect to learn through 7 weeks of meal prep.

1. I don't get sick of eating the same thing every day for a week

Of course they key here is cooking things for yourself that you actually ENOY EATING and are craving (more on cravings later) but I swear a week flies by, and when I got to the end of my first week of home made pad-thai, I was so into it that I repeated it the next week!

2. I actually really look forward to cooking day

It might sound weird but I've made prepday my day off from modding on @steemhunt and it's my time to zen out with some good ol fashioned MAKING time. It's become a little slice of the week that I have carved out for myself and I really enjoy it!

3. I'm saving SERIOUS COIN

Guys, This week my price per meal was $0.34 USD.... THIRTY FOUR CENTS! Because buying in bulk, and cooking at home is always going to be cheaper, but combined? OH BABY! If you're looking to save some cash while your cryptos are in the toilet it's certainly something to look into.

4. Meal prepping is a digital worker’s DREAM scenario

Because it saves a TON of time, but also it saves mental processes. One thing you always remember when fasting is how much of your daily effort goes into thoughts like... "what am I going to eat? when am I going to eat? how am I going to get food to eat, and from where?" With meal prep that all goes out the window. You grab a box from the fridge and you keep it moving :D!

5. I only have "willpower" one time a week

It's true! And that decision carries me through the whole week. You'll be shocked how easy it is to stick to a meal plan when A- you're not making decisions while hungry and frustrated, and B- meal prep makes eating healthy MORE convenient than not- how's that for a flip from the norm!

6. I’m learning all about “intuitive eating”

This is a recent one, but after eating a week of the same foods you really start to understand what your body reacts well to, and not so well to. It's a bit like a precise control group to determine what your body really wants. After 2 weeks of veggie pad thai i was REALLY craving red meat, and raw sushi tuna, which led me to believe there was some B vitamin or mineral I was missing, so I course corrected.. and made this! Eating what you're craving feels like you're giving your body what it wants, instead of restricting...

7. Prepping = Anticipation

Probably the most unexpected one. Instead of feeling like a chore, putting in the effort to plan meals that I was excited to eat, to gather ingredients and put the time and care into preparing them made eating those meals feel special. Like a personal chef had prepared them for me, (who just happened to be me). Instead of the norm of waiting till way past the point of hunger and then just running out to get whatever. For me preparation meant I was more present and enjoyed my food more!

I hope this encourages you to give meal prepping a try. If you’d like me to go into further detail about what I make in a week, and how I go about the whole thing I’d be happy do to that so let me know in zee comments! And if you have any questions, I’m an open book! Ask away!

I’ll be sharing some of my favorite recipes from these photos soon so stay tuned!

Thanks for stopping by my dearys
<3
Dayleeo