Eating Healthy in College: Meal Planning and Prep in Four Easy Steps

Meal planning is hard, and prepping is even harder. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed and agitated when planning your meals and grocery shopping. We often make promises to ourselves to be healthier, especially at the end of the year. However, it takes a much lighter foot to get to McDonalds than to the grocery store. A lot of people often resort to much easier options like take-out or restaurants.

Hopefully, this blog will help you break down the process in four easy steps. Hopefully after reading this, it will save you time and money.

1. Brainstorm, or don’t

What do you eat, anyways? Think about everything that you enjoy and write it down. Consider what you like, don’t like, and even things you crave! Dissect this information and start writing down meal ideas. After writing down meal ideas, find out what you already have in the pantry. Do you have most of the ingredients? What do you not have? This will help you create your grocery list. Don’t forget snacks!

It is really hard to break what we habitually do, so making lists can help us remember things more. Making lists can help us break down information that we have in our heads and organize it in a way that is helpful. If you’re struggling with meal planning, writing lists may help you. Most of the effort in meal planning and prepping is the planning. If you create lists to subsidize all of the frustration, your efforts could turn out more successful.

2. Get Your Grocery List Ready

Make a meal plan calendar. Organize all of your meals into each corresponding day. If you get tired of things easy, mix meals up so you aren’t eating the same thing for days in a row. Even adding the snacks, you like to eat into the calendar is helpful. After this, it should be easier to organize your grocery list to make shopping easier.

Do you also hate the grocery store? Fear not, modern technology has allowed us to do anything while sitting on a couch. We can order our w groceries online with almost any grocery store and easily schedule grocery pickup for a time that is convenient. This can save us time and money. Oftentimes we find ourselves throwing random things into the cart, but online shopping has really helped us prioritize what we need and don’t need.

3. You Survived the Grocery Experience, Now What?

Now it is time to prepare meals. If leftovers aren’t your thing, consider preparing meals for 2-3 days in advance. Keep in mind you will have to do more cooking later in the week. After all of your main meals, plan a meal that is low effort and low cost. This will be a lifesaver for the days when you are tired or in a rush.

After cooking everything, throw it in containers to store accordingly. Opt for glass containers- they are not only easier to clean but also more eco-friendly.

4. Don’t Give Up

The meals have run out, you’re tired, hungry, and craving take out. Don’t give up now! Use that quick and easy meal to gain some last-minute energy. Use your remaining strength to whip out your last meal. Remember, this guide aims to assist in organizing and saving money, but ultimately, prioritize eating what you desire.