Being healthy and in great shape requires structure to your eating.

You might have seen plenty of pictures of people’s perfect meal planning and prep.

Image result for meal prep fridge — Yep, this is definitely not our fridge

That’s not me.

I operate in a state of controlled chaos. I’ve also tried doing things like this but eventually something gets in the way and I just stop entirely because the process is daunting.

So how do I make meal planning and preparation work? By following this simple structure that shouldn’t take more than 5-10 minutes once you get over the first week or two.

Before we move forward:

Things that make this work

You need to cook or have access to cooked meals
Groceries need to be done in bulk weekly
Food is cooked daily or in bulk 1-2 days per week (Sunday and Wednesday)
Tupperware that’s accessible and isn’t a pain in the ass (I suggest glass because it’s easier to clean)

Putting it into action

Click below and download the template, print it out or save it and fill it out weekly on your computer
Plan 6 Dinners
Make atleast enough for lunch the following day, pack it ahead of time during your cleanup
Eat the same 1-2 things for breakfast

The Template (Click to download PDF)

Why?

Dinner can always serve as two meals or more and you have the most time in the evening.

Dinner is also most often a family meal so it requires more parties to agree so this can be discussed ahead of time.

You need and can tolerate a certain amount of meal repetition but dinner provides variety to keep you on track.

Things I haven’t talked about but are important

When your planning on eating out just add it to your planner on a corresponding day and make sure you have food for the next day’s lunch.

Food type and quantities are still important but having a system for not just speed dialing skip the dishes comes first.

If you don’t cook much and rely on pre-cooked meals you can still use this structure but I urge you to start.

Hope this helps, let me know if you have any questions and please share this with anyone who could use it!

P.S Ready to make 2020 your best year yet? Let’s talk about how to make that happen! Click here to start the conversation.

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About the author

Coach Jason

Jason Ingham is a personal trainer, nutrition coach, powerlifter, sci-fi geek, multi-time former fat kid, lover of Bay (Bailey), food, and lifting heavy things. When he's not in the gym you'll probably find him buried in a book, crushin' a sandwich, or exploring the cities restaurants.

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