Healthy Meal Prep Strategy Guide

Thanks for downloading ourHealthy Meal Prep Strategy GuideHi, we’re Nick and Julie.

We’re the creators of Saltwater Fit, an online community where we share inspiration and simple strategies for a healthy, lean, and happy lifestyle. If you want to learn more about us and why we love to help people just like you, click here to read our story. (http://saltwaterfit.com/aboutus/).

Through helping our clients achieve their fitness and fat loss goals, we’ve learned the power of prepping food before the start of a busy week. A few simple strategies in the kitchen can make your life a whole lot easier while simultaneously decreasing your waistline, increasing your energy levels, and saving you time.

So read the information below and we’ll check back in with you at the end.

Enjoy!

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Meal Prep BasicsKeep it simple. When it comes to healthy eating, simple is always better. There is no need to overcomplicate or over think the meal prep process. Just focus on the foundational components of a healthy meal, so when you are tired, busy,

or strapped for time, you’re prepared and not left to the whims of the moment.

Healthy meal components are: Protein + Veggies

Do a little planning. We usually spend 5-10 minutes thinking about our week and what we have going on. How many meals will we be eating at home? Are any days particularly busy where we know we’ll be time-crunched? How many nights are we eating out? We put this all on our mental calendar to get an idea of how much food to prep for the week. You’ll find a little planning goes a long way.

Focus on protein. Having already-prepared protein is one of the foundational components to a healthy meal and fat loss. It is also one of the most important pieces of meal prep. Think about which sources you’d like to eat during the week, so you can figure out how much you need to buy at the grocery store. A brief guide on the next page will help you calculate.

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Protein Prep GuideHere’s an easy way to think about how much protein to buy for the week. For the ladies, a good target to aim for is about 4-6 ounces of protein for each meal. For men, it’s around 8-10 ounces.

Protein Prep Calculation = # of people X # of meals X # of ounces (4-10 ounces, depending on man or woman)

As a reference point, the size of your fist will be around 4-6 ounces.

To calculate the amount of a protein source you’ll need for the week, all you have to do is multiply the number of people, by how many meals you’d like to eat, by the number of ounces per person.

For simplification: if you have both men and women in your family choose a number of ounces somewhere in the range of 4-10 for your calculation. This will give you a solid estimate of how much to buy.

Let’s run through a quick example.

Nick and I want to eat 3 chicken meals for the week. I’ll eat around 4-6 ounces per meal and Nick will eat around 8-10 ounces. Let’s average that to 8 ounces. So, applying that above calculation, we have:2 (people) x 3 (#of meals) x 8 (average ounces per person per meal) = 48 ounces.

16 ounces = 1lb, so 48/16 = 3 lbs.

So, we know when we go to the grocery store we’ll buy 3lbs of chicken. Easy enough, right?

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Prep proteins and veggies ahead of time to make simple and quick meals.

Our strategy is to have easily assembled ingredients on hand in the fridge, pantry, and freezer that can be put together to make a meal is less then 10-15 minutes.

We spend 30 minutes twice per week to prepare proteins and veggies so we have readily available snacks and the base (foundational components) for lots of yummy meals. Once you do this easy prep work, meals become super simple to put together.

We always prep a few of these essentials each week:

n 1 large bowl of greens OR 2 containers of store bought pre-washed greens (arugula, spinach, kale, swiss chard, whatever you prefer)

n 1 large bowl of grilled, baked, or steamed veggies (zucchini, squash, broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, or whatever you like) – Recipe here

n Hardboiled eggs – easily eaten on their own, cut up in a Cobb salad, or turned into egg salad.

n Tuna fish salad – Recipe heren Marinated, grilled, or baked chicken – Recipe heren Lean cuts of steak - Recipe heren Brown rice, sweet potatoes, or quinoa ready to reheat

(optional).

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Focus on go-to meals. A go-to meal is a meal that can be assembled from your food prep efforts that is healthy, quick, and easy.

It’s the perfect meal to prepare when you don’t know what to eat, don’t have much time, or are tired. The beauty of having a few go-to meals in your back pocket, is in the moment, you won’t have to even think about what to make and you’ll feel confident knowing you’re eating a nutritious meal that is aligned with your fitness and fat loss goals. Nick and I have a few go-to meals, which I will list below. These are ours, but you can create your own go-to meals that satisfy your tastes and preferences.

Favorite go-to meals:Chicken Breast on Arugula with Tomatoes & Feta CheeseHeat up the chicken breast that you already have prepped. Add pre-packaged arugula, cherry tomatoes, and feta cheese. Bam, you’re done!

Egg Salad over Spinach and Feta CheeseTake a few hard-boiled eggs you have already prepped in the fridge. Add mayo, chopped onion, and shredded carrots. Finish with some garlic salt and a little cayenne pepper. Add this onto arugula or spinach and top with feta.

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Our original Tuna Fish recipe on a bed of spinach, topped with shredded cheeseLess than 3 minutes on this one. Add the prepared tuna salad on top of some spinach, add cheese, and drizzle with olive oil. Violá, finished!

Ahi Tuna with squash, zucchini, and brown riceWe buy frozen tuna steaks from Costco. Defrost the fish the night before. In a Ziploc bag create a quick marinade of soy sauce, ginger, and garlic. Sauté in a pan for 3 minutes each side for a nice sear. Heat up baked veggies and rice that you already have prepped. Lay down tuna steak onto bed of rice; fill half of your plate with veggies. All done.

Simple Steak or Chicken TacosYou already have the protein of choice – chicken or steak prepped in the fridge. Heat corn tortillas in the oven or microwave. Grab some shredded cheese, an avocado, and a lime. Drop the protein into the taco, add cheese and slices of avocado, squeeze of lime and you’re good to go.

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C lean Out Your KitchenWhen was the last time you went through your pantry or the fridge?

We go through ours once a week. It is a great stress reliever (ha!) but also gets you familiar with what you have and more importantly what needs to go.

If there are foods that have been sitting either in your fridge or pantry for a while, it’s time to trash them, especially items like cookies, chips, and crackers. These foods don’t provide much in the way of nutrition and instead offer temptation and empty calories.

Also, check out your condiment selection. There are a ton of empty calories in ketchup, BBQ sauce, salad dressing, etc. Mustard and mayonnaise are fine, but try to rely more on fresh herbs and seasonings to bring out the flavors in your food.

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Go Grocery ShoppingNow that you know what you have and what you need to prep for the week, you can create a grocery list and go shopping.

Here are a few of our essential grocery list items.

For the fridge:q Grass-fed butterq Pre-cut veggies (your choice)q Pre-cut and washed greens

(experiment until you find the greens you love)

q Eggsq Chicken breast or strips (pre-cooked)q Store-bought rotisserie chickenq Cheese (your favorite, we love feta

and goat cheese)q Organic deli meats (turkey, chicken, ham)

For the freezer:q Frozen berries or bananas for

protein shakesq Ahi tuna steaksq Wild caught salmon or shrimpq Grass-fed meatq Frozen veggies

Drinks:q Soda waterq Coconut waterq Almond milkq Kombuchaq Iced Tea (unsweetened)

For the pantry:q Olive oilq Coconut oilq Garlic saltq Cayenneq Sea saltq Ground pepperq Italian seasoningq Almond or other nut butterq Canned olivesq Tuna fish (Solid albacore NOT chunk

light)q Brown rice or quinoaq Protein powder (Blue Bonnet French

Vanilla is our favorite)

Snacks:q Protein bars (we love Quest and Rise)q Protein shakeq Berriesq Apple with nut butterq Humus with veggiesq Guacamole with veggiesq Deli slices with cheeseq Nutsq Beef or turkey jerky

Kitchen Basics: The basic items you’ll need for food prepq Ziploc bags for storageq Storage containersq Muffin tinsq Vitamix/blenderq Food processorq Sauté panq Baking sheetq Aluminum foil/parchment paper

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A Parting NoteGood nutrition is a habit that takes time, effort, and practice to develop. It is something that you hone and get better at, day-by-day, meal-by-meal, and choice-by-choice. And just like any thing you are trying to get better at, sometimes you have a day or a week that you are off, and that is totally ok and normal. But it is in your resilience and determination to keep practicing that you will eventually build good nutrition habits that become easy and automatic. We know if you use this information, you’ll get a head start on your week and will have a much higher likelihood of staying true to your fitness and fat loss goals.

So go get prepping ☺!

Julie & NickP.S. We’ll be checking in with you in a few days to see how the food prep is going, but if you have any questions in the meantime email us at team@saltwaterfit.com.

We’d love to stay connected with you!

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