Anyone who knows me knows I am solidly Type B. Let me explain. If a container of Tic Tacs accidentally empties into my purse, I might eat them out of the bottom of my purse from then on. I am the queen of good enough. I don’t have any of those perfectionist qualities my fellow Virgos often claim, haha.
This has its pros and cons. Ask my husband, and he’ll tell you he’s annoyed that I often put the lettuce container back on the “wrong” shelf in the fridge, lose the toothpaste lid, or baffle him by crawling into an unmade bed and falling asleep in two minutes flat. If I lose a sock in the dryer, I shrug my shoulders and assume it will eventually turn up even though I currently have about six stragglers in my drawer. So there’s room for improvement.
On the other hand, perfectionism never stopped me from publishing blogs, putting myself out there, training clients, or starting my own business. So it begs the question: Is being Type B a flaw, or is it a superpower? I always just do what I can and see what happens.
Real meal prep from my kitchen.
Meal Prep Sounds So Type A
I’m telling you all this to talk about meal prepping, which sounds so Type A, right? You know those Pinterest-perfect meal preppers and fitness influencers on Instagram with special, identical food-prep containers, spending hours in the kitchen on Sunday with ingredients and spreadsheets, chopping, baking, and roasting? None of that appeals to me. Not the drawn-out prep, not eating the exact same thing every day, not micromanaging calories and macros.
When Meal Prep Feels All-or-Nothing
Taking time to prep food in advance can absolutely help us make choices we feel good about during the week. The catch is that people like me look at those prepping marathons and nope out. It’s another manifestation of all-or-nothing thinking. If I don’t have the time, energy, or desire to spend four hours in the kitchen on Sunday, then I won’t do anything and end up relying on DoorDash or drive-throughs when I’m tired and hungry.
If you love making macro spreadsheets and perfectly portioning your sweet potatoes, broccoli, and chicken breasts into six identical portions, by all means, I’m proud of you. I kind of wish I were you. But I’m not, so I define meal prep a bit differently. (Though maybe not quite as loosely as Doug the Pug below).
Protein Prep: Cook the Chicken Once
I like to Protein Prep. If I’m going to cook chicken anyway, I might as well cook it all at once. It’s usually two to three pounds at a time. I shred it and store it in the fridge (it lasts about four days, so anything we won’t use goes in the freezer). Then, anytime I want a salad, tacos, a bowl, wrap, or a quick meal with veggies, I can pull it together in under five minutes. Of course, this works for any protein you enjoy.
Chop Once, Eat All Week: Prepping Vegetables
When I cut up mini peppers for my salad, I chop the whole bag at once and store them in an airtight glass container in the fridge. They’re ready to toss on a salad for colorful micronutrients, add to my eggs in the morning, or cook in a stir-fry. This doesn’t have to happen the same day I make my chicken. When I’m cutting peppers, I cut them all.
Make Extra on Purpose: Leftovers and Crockpot Meals
When I make dinner (OK, you got me, my husband cooks dinner around here), we (in the royal sense) make enough for several meals, so we always have leftovers. One of the easiest ways to “meal prep” is to intentionally make more than you need when you’re cooking anyway, then store the leftovers in the fridge (or the freezer if you don’t like eating the same thing back-to-back).
Sometimes we make crockpot meals and eat them for several days. Chicken, vegetables, potatoes, and seasoning, cooked slow and low (🎶that is the tempo🎶) can save time all week long.
Leftovers count as meal prep
Fast, Low-Effort Meal Ideas
Other quick ways to put together meals: rotisserie chicken from the grocery store, single-serving frozen microwave vegetables, or quick-cooking protein, such as tuna steak (a couple of minutes per side in a frying pan, and you have a high-protein, lean main course). Tuna packets and rice cups work too, and I mix up my proteins through the week for variety.
I don’t think we ever spend more than fifteen minutes preparing dinner, and we almost always have a nourishing and delicious meal. We think in terms of protein and a vegetable and/or a carbohydrate, have a few things prepped in the most Type B way possible, and combine them with quick, healthy convenience foods (and yes, convenience foods can be healthy too). Suddenly, for us, meal prep isn’t so tedious or overwhelming.
Don’t Forget: Prep Food You Actually Want to Eat
This might be the most important point of this post: Think about prepping food you’ll want to eat. It sounds obvious, but sometimes Sunday-You feels great and is thinking about how “perfectly” you are going to eat this week. But Wednesday-You might be tired, cranky, and want something totally different, and Wednesday-You is the one who has to eat it. If the food sitting in the fridge isn’t something you like and want, it ends up in the trash (and hello, DoorDash and waste). So be sure to prep foods you enjoy; future-You will thank you.
Start Small: The Simplest Version of Meal Prep
I know that it’s a bit easier for me because there are only two people (and one dog) in this household with similar preferences and values around food. (Dale the dog is not a picky eater).
It gets a lot more complicated when you’re juggling multiple people’s preferences and needs. It still doesn’t mean you can’t do anything. I invite you to focus on what you can do rather than what doesn’t work. You can experiment with bulk cooking or prep. Perhaps asking other family members to prep what they like to eat. It doesn’t have to be a week’s worth of meals. It can be one meal made in advance, or one side dish that makes mealtime a tiny bit easier.
So, to my fellow Type B-ers out there: you don’t need identical portioned containers or a spreadsheet to make mealtime easier. Maybe it’s doubling the meal you’re already cooking, chopping the whole bag of peppers, or tossing a bag of frozen veggies or pre-made protein in the cart. What is the smallest version of meal prep you could try this week? Good enough totally counts.
Lea
Lea Genders is a board-certified health coach, personal trainer, and workplace wellness consultant based in Fort Worth, TX. She offers corporate wellness programs for employee health and productivity, as well as in-person and virtual training / coaching for individuals worldwide. Her blog shares expert guidance on strength training, running, and sustainable nutrition @fortworth_trainer
Meal prep sounds so Type A, but here’s how a self-proclaimed queen-of-good-enough does it: protein, veggies, and dinner without the Sunday prepping marathon, plus why the best meal prep food is the kind you’ll still want to eat on Wednesday.