Nutrition, nutrition, nutrition. Yes this is a post about diet, however it is more of a personal account rather than a guide or fact fest. Being a Leading Personal Trainer in Twickenham, London, I am constantly on the go, with no set schedule. For a long time this has become my excuse for letting my nutrition slip. I was constantly telling myself “I don’t have time” or “I can’t carry all that Tupperware around”. I was wrong and I was lying to myself. Today marks the start of week 2 in my meal prep adventure. I thought I would share my experience as many of you may find it relatable.
Life Before Meal Prep
Generally speaking I would wake up, put some coffee on and sit down to bowl of cereal. I would always try to get decent cereals and or limit my intake but it didn’t always happen. My morning coaching would normally end with a trip to Costa for a top up then into a supermarket to grab some lunch. As i would loosely track my food intake via MyFitnessPal I would make decent (ish) choices to limit refined carbs and keep my protein intake high. The afternoon would either include university or more coaching (+ more coffee) and may well include a snack such as a Grenade bar or similar. Evening meals where better, with myself or my partner generally cooking some form of meat + veg and either cous cous or something similar.
A few points here:
- 2/3 coffees at £2.50 a pop = £7.50
- Supermarket lunch approx = £4 – £5
- Snack (Grenade Bar) approx = £2.50
So all in all around £15 a day on just my food while out of the house. Then the cost of food and electricity (I know this will be minor) for morning and evening meals!
Starting Slowly
The current routine has allowed for some freedom whilst gradually introducing meal prep and more structure to my diet. Now our Sundays is spent prepping a minimum of 1 meal for every day of the week. We will bulk cook the meats, carbs and veg separately then combine in different variations. Additionally I prep my breakfast each night (this literally takes 5 minutes or less) and it looks a little like this:
- 90g of porridge oats
- 1 scoop of protein powder
- 200ml milk
- tsp of chia seeds
- tsp of milled linseed and mixed berries
- Mix in a container, put the lid on and pop in the fridge overnight!
My Takeaways So Far
When I say takeaways I’m not referring to Dominoes!! I will do a couple more blog posts following up on whether or not I stick to the prep and how it evolves. For now, these are my opening thoughts.
It’s way cheaper! Buy in bulk, cook in bulk and carry in bulk. Buying healthy food has this stigma of being expensive, it’s not, as long as you’re sensible. Plus, each meal I’m making probably works out at around £2-3 at most and feeds makes enough for me to take one container and graze throughout the day! This combined with the price of a bag of protein and bulk buy porridge oats compared to restocking cereal each week quickly adds up.
Make sure you mix your food combinations up. Week 1 involved a lot of rice and chicken. This week it’s safe to say the cous cous and sweet potato combinations are more than welcomed. By starting at 1 or 2 meals a day you can get a feel for what works and what doesn’t, without it becoming overwhelming.