04/19/2026
I think the number one determinant of a long term healthy diet is meal prep. When you start meal prepping a number of things change:
- you choose foods based on nutritive value and set goals, not just convenience
- you become intentional with portions (food stretches farther)
- you have healthy snacks (stops reaching for j***y convenience snacks)
- your appetite naturally drops when you work with food
- your cravings drop
- your impulse eating and buying drop
- your take out bills drop
- your relationship with food gets healthier
- your confidence and enjoyment in the kitchen increase
- your ease around mealtimes increases
- you see continual progress in food related goals rather than being defeated by starts and stops
It's the same amount of work to prep for 10 meals as it is for 2. The rest can be portioned and chilled or frozen. Batch cooking is key.
With meal prep you're not focusing on restriction. Instead you're being intentional with menu planning to so you don't have to think about what you "should" eat all the time.
This week I prepped roast beef with homemade gravy and herbed roast pork loin with garlic potato /rutabaga mash and green beans, as well as gluten free pasta salad with dill, chickpeas, and eggs, as well as chicken tikka masala with basmati (for son) and cauli rice (me). I also made spaghetti sauce with meatballs, onion, garlic, herbs, and kale. This is frozen so we each get a portion over our preferred pasta. Chicken bones made broth to which I add miso for my mornings. I started a new batch of continuous brew kombucha. I cut melon into grab containers and made blueberry / honey cream cheese to eat on carbonaut or greek yogurt for a dessert. Our breakfast menu is set, we just needed dinners prepped so in all I got two week's worth of food done in one day for two people with different diets (one celiac moderate carb, one dairy intolerant, low carb).
Meal prep does not need to be difficult!