The pros and cons of meal prepping

Benjamin Franklin said: “If You Fail to Plan, You Are Planning to Fail,” and this is definitely true when you are working on your health and fitness goals. Meal prepping includes many benefits, and this blog post will explain why we feel it’s important to meal prep.

#1 Save money

In tough economical times, this is an extremely important factor to consider. Most people have the idea that a healthy lifestyle is much more expensive than living in the moment. We don’t agree. If you plan your week ahead, only buy the groceries you need, and stick within your grocery budget, you’ll see that you might even save money.

No last-minute cravings to bust, or what to eat tonight, or loadshedding interrupting your perfect meal, because everything has been made and bought in advance.

#2 Save time

Meal prepping helps you to save time. How? Because you don’t have to think about what you want to eat tonight. No need to go to the shops last minute because you’ve planned ahead. You also don’t have to spend hours and hours in the kitchen, because you’ve already prepared.

Use the extra time you save to focus on your workout regimen.

#3 Consistency

For you to reach your health and fitness goals, you need to eat nutritious food and follow a workout routine. But you need to be consistent. Knowing that your meals are ready will just make it easier for you to stay consistent and make the right (healthier) lifestyle choices. It’s very easy to fall off the bandwagon when you don’t have a meal ready at home, it was a long day at work and Eskom just announced stage 4 loadshedding. But if you’re prepared and you’re ready to just heat and eat – you won’t feel like sticking to your routine is an issue.

#4 Combat decision-making fatigue

Ever heard about decision-making fatigue? According to research, the average adult makes up to 35 000 decisions per day. Add “what am I eating for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks” and boom! DECISION FATIGUE! Meal prepping helps you to combat decision-making fatigue. You can just heat and eat. No thinking – just enjoying your delicious meal.

Unfortunately, there are a few cons when it comes to meal prepping too.

#1 Mental health

For some people who previously struggled with eating disorders, prepping meals can be triggering. They tend to overthink and analyze every calorie. If you find that meal prepping triggers you, and meal prepping has the opposite effect on your health, we suggest you don’t use meal prepping. It’s also very important to voice your fears, challenges, and thoughts to a trusted person or psychologist.  

#2 Feeling restricted

Some people feel that meal prepping restricts them. They’re limited to eating what they prepped on a Sunday. Some even get used to the meals very quickly. And let’s be honest – sometimes you just don’t want that meal in your fridge, but you crave something else. We get it! We’ve all been there. We still feel that this is one small con compared to all the benefits of meal prepping mentioned above.

Let’s wrap it up

 There are pros and cons of meal prepping. What do you think? Do you believe that meal prepping gives you the tools to stay consistent and reach your goals?

Meal prepping will provide you with enough freedom to still have time to exercise and focus on other things that you enjoy, while also keeping you on track with your goals. Meal prepping can make life easier!

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Resources:

https://incafrica.com/heidi-zak/adults-make-more-than-35000-decisions-per-day-here-are-4-ways-to-prevent-mental-burnout.html#:~:text=It's%20estimated%20that%20the%20average,than%2035%2C000%20decisions%20per%20day.