It’s that time of the year when we all aspire to eat healthy and fill up the gym, you know, new year, new me?
Something every fitness guru and health coach is advocating for right now is “Meal Prepping”. We caught up with Kimberley Krieger, a certified health coach and plant based chef. She lets us in on what “Meal Preps” are and why they are a good idea.
What are “Meal Preps”?
Meal Prepping is very simple. It’s a form of making your food in advance for several days.
The food is usually packaged in serving sizes, making it a quick and easy meal to pull out of the fridge and enjoy in no time.
How do they work and why they are a good idea?
When meal prepping, you will take an hour or 2 out of any given day of the week and prepare yourself healthy and delicious food for the upcoming days.When keeping meals in the fridge for up to 7 days, the food might lose taste or even spoil. This is why I suggest you meal prep twice a week. Once for 3 days and once for 4 days. This will ensure that the food to stay fresh and delicious and reduce the chance of spoilage and food waste.
Meal preps are an extremely pleasant way to have food on hand whenever you get hungry. As we probably all experience, we tend to eat junk when we are hungry because we can’t wait 30 min to cook a healthy meal. This is not the case when you’ve meal prepped. You will have your dish ready in no time and won’t have any temptations of eating cheap oily junk food.
Did I mention that meal prepping will save you a huge amount of money too?! Instead of buying food every day or even going out for lunch every day you will go shopping once or twice a week to get everything you need. If you are a meal prep expert, you might even be able to create a week full of nourishing, vibrant meals for less than N$ 500.00. That’s 21 amazing meals for less than N$ 500.00 !!! Sounds unbelievable right, it isn’t…
Another pro of meal prepping is that you know exactly whats going into your food. You might think you are ordering a healthy dish at a restaurant, but do you really know how much sugar, oil or salt they are adding to the dish? This is a big struggle for many people around the world as they think they are living a healthy lifestyle but can’t seem to lose the weight or get fit. In your own meals, you will have the power to decide exactly what you are consuming.
A week of healthy food could look somewhat like this example :
Breakfast:
Oatmeal with berries.
(Adding fresh fruit like mango or apple each morning, and topping it with your favorite nut butter, cacao nibs, goji berries and chia seeds)
To ensure that the meal stays interesting you can change the flavors as you go along. Alternating between berries, chocolate, and vanilla oatmeal… the options are endless.
Pair this with a fresh green tea, a ginger turmeric tea or an almond milk matcha latte.
Lunch:
For first 3 days:
Tofu curry fried rice with green veggies and salad.
You can mix up the vegetables for each day or alternate between cabbage salad, kale salad or crunchy green salad.
Pair this with infused cucumber and berry water.
For 4 days:
Wraps with avocado, beans, and roasted veggies with a side salad and a spicy chili dressing/dip. Again, you can mix up the vegetables for each day or alternate between cabbage salad, kale salad or crunchy green salad.
(Prepare the wrap filling in advance, and wrap it up in a whole grain tortilla the day you will eat it. This will stop the wrap from getting soggy over time.
Pair this with a homemade sugar-free ice tea.
Dinner :
For first 3 days:
Lentil stuffed sweet potato, topped with guacamole, ”sour cream” and roasted garlic/lemon broccoli.
Pair this with pure water or lemon water.
For 4 days:
Quinoa, bean chili stew. Packed with flavor and nutrients. It contains corn, quinoa, beans, kale and lots of other delicious ingredients.
Pair this with a small glass of red wine or water.
What’s your favorite quickest healthy meal to prepare?
My favorite quick and healthy meal to prepare on a hot summer day is a frozen banana nice-cream bowl topped with lots of superfoods like chia seeds, cacao nibs, wheatgrass powder, hemp seeds and fresh berries. It takes about 5 minutes to make, is super healthy, tastes like regular ice-cream and keeps you full for ages.
You can find the recipes for the meals on Kimberley’s website at www.kimberleykrieger.com or follow her on Instagram for daily food inspiration @kimberleykrieger.
Check out her coaching programs under the health coaching section on the website and don’t miss out on the new year’s resolution sale!
Book a free health discovery session with her today or use her weekly meal prep service!
Contact Kimberley at +264 81 44 54 740 or send an E-mail to contact@kimberleykrieger.com
