i work as a personal trainer during the day and then a bartender at night, i've found what works best for me is cook all my food on sunday and put in the fridge my food for the next 2-3 days and then wrap the rest in aluminum foil and take it out before I go to bed for the next day....also Triple Chicken Flatbread from Subway is pretty good
Yeah, I've been relying on Subway and Pollo Loco a bit too much these days.
It's offseason for now, once prep time starts that won't fly anymore though. Need to start prepping my food in advance!
I have a similar work schedule - 9 to 8 most days, and I also train early in the morning. The only way I've found to handle my meal prep is to prepare meals for a few days at a time and store them in the refrigerator. My first two meals of the day as well as the last are prepared fresh. Many people don't like doing it this way, but preparing meals in bulk is the only way I can find to stick to my nutrition plan.
I hear you, looks like prepping is something I'll have to do whether I like it or not. I only have one weekend these days and spending all Sunday cooking doesn't sound like much fun but yeah, must be my only option. Thanks for the response, knowing I am not the only one working all the damn time helps!
The microwave is your friend. I have always cooked up 3 big pans of boneless/skinless chicken breasts in the oven, and then the meat will last you 3-4 days or more. All you have to do then for a meal is heat up some vegetables in the microwave and reheat that chicken. Taste is fine too. You can also snack off that chicken or eat some tuna. Cooking shouldnt take too much time unless you cant stomach eating the same thing meal after meal.
Honestly I used to have doubts about cooked protein lasting 3-4 days without spoiling. But I guess if you all do it it must be fine. I already cook the rice in bulk so if I can take care of the protein, I should be ok. Thanks!
Basically what these guys have said: I cook 2-3 times a week and enough to feed a family of 10. Store it in the fridge and mix and match throughout the week. Cooking at different times of the week makes sure there is some variety to it (freshness, flavor, etc).
I'll open up canned veggies and beans and store them too so I can just mix, match, heat, and serve. I'll cook heroic amounts of rice at once as well.
I think mass cooking on weekends and such is really the only reasonable way to do it on a hectic schedule.
Canned beans! Brother, that helps more than you can imagine! Forgot about that and have been getting tired of rice but not much time to cook other carbs. Beans!! Thank you for that.
My oven has an automatic shutoff point that you can set to a timer which is nice to be able to walk away. The types of food you are prepping are important here obviously but if you follow a regular diet...
If you have the option of an automatic shutoff...Throw chicken breasts and some potatoes/sweet potatoes in there before you go to the gym and you can easily make 2-3 days worth of protein there. You can of course microwave the potatoes as well and look into microwavable rice options.
Steam in bag vegetables are good if you have access to a microwave at work, or before you shower fill up a large microwave safe bowl with broccoli/whatever else you like, fill with water and cover to steam them for a few minutes. Your other option is things like green beans or salads which obviously don't require any preparation.
Fats require no prep, oils, nuts etc just need to be portioned out.
A real tool could be a slow cooker... throw everything you need for the day in there before you go to bed and spoon it out into some tupperware the next day. Rice/veggies/meats etc. A similar option for that is large batches of bodybuilder friendly chili.
Prep some shakes in advance, the dry ingredients in the shaker and if you have food on the side go ahead and toss that in a ziplock bag. I always have some "emergency" meals like dried tuna packets and pre portioned cashews if I'm in a pinch. They are making flavored ones now that aren't that bad really and the macros only change by 1-2 grams of carbs and maybe 1 gram extra fat.
Things that are already "made" that can be a big help.
Protein: Tuna in pouches or can, canned chicken, protein powder, liquid egg whites, cottage cheese
Carbs: Ezekial bread or cereal(love this stuff), fruits, ground up oats for shakes
Fats: cashews/almonds/peanuts etc nut butters
So really... someone could get away with almost no food prep eating those things... it just wouldn't be the most enjoyable day.
Ha! Yeah that's the problem, not the most enjoyable thing to be eating nothing but canned tuna, canned chicken, and drinkin shakes. But I hear you, I have done that before and may have to again from time to time.
You know what though? SLOW COOKER! That is not something I thought of! There is no auto shut off on my oven but the slow cooker has got to work well for me now, so long as I can leave it unattended for a good 14 hours a day, that should do well.
I'm dropping by and picking one up after work tonight. This may be what I need! Thanks bro!
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