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If you haven’t read upwards of 25 articles on “10 Ways Meal Prepping Saved My Life” or “8 Ways to Meal Prep Yourself to Financial Freedom,” congratulations because you have successfully avoided the internet.
It seems to me, among the dozens of other ways I am not living my best young professional life, the internet (Buzzfeed) believes that because I don’t meal prep, I am essentially setting fire to my savings account and unknowingly getting fat from packaged snacks. Okay, shaming me may not be the explicit intent of this prose, and rather may aim to be helpful and informative – but still I feel personally victimized.
I don’t pack my lunch, I have never meal prepped, and I am consistently baffled by the entire Instagram obsession with transferring sliced turkey from one package to five different packages and photographing it.
Side note – if I have to see one more collage of photos including but not limited to colorful Tupperware filled with chicken breasts, zucchini noodles, and “make-ahead” vegetarian lasagna I will lose it. DO NOT even begin to get me started on overnight oats or Mason jar salads. The only thing I’m soaking overnight is my liver in vodka – I’m not proud of it but it’s the damn truth.
If you are one of these unicorn meal preppers, please help me understand. Where do you find the time or motivation to meal prep on a weekly basis, does food that is not corned beef really taste good from a crockpot, and how on God’s green earth do you not forget your lunch in the fridge four out of five mornings a week? If I had a pre-made salad for every time I have left a packed lunch to mold in my kitchen – I’d have at least 20 pre-made salads (like I said, I don’t pack my lunch very often).
Last week my coworker tried to convince me to meal prep not the night before, but a week in advance. “Don’t be silly!” She practically screamed through instant messenger, and proceeded to send me no less than 4 links on “Sunday Meal Prepping for the Busy YOPRO.”
First things first; no. I refuse to spend half of my Sunday shopping for a week’s worth of food, cooking it all, and then deciding that I don’t, in fact, want soggy brussels sprouts and spaghetti marinara five days in a row. This is simply a waste of food.
Additionally, who has that much Tupperware?!?! When I moved into my new apartment 8 months ago I ordered a box of Tupperware from Amazon and let me tell you, I lost that shit in 3 weeks. I left one at my friend’s house when we used it to make Jell-O shots, threw two away because they were moldy, ruined one because I made sangria in it and I think it is now highly flammable, and the last one is currently a candle holder.
Don’t get me wrong, the fact that meal prepping is a money saver and may lead to healthier weekday choices is not lost on me. It simply is not even close to being one of my priorities, and if that is another reason I’m a trash millennial post-grad, I’ll take it.
Maybe my aversion to roasting two pounds of cauliflower on the weekend instead of nursing a valiantly earned hangover makes me poorer than my 22 year old office mate Cindy who enjoys Pinterest and setting me up on blind dates, but I can promise you this: I will never poison your Instagram feed with a picture of 5 baked sweet potatoes in a row and that should count for something..
Image via Shutterstock
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CallMeVictoria
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I ordered an XL pizza on Sunday and didn’t eat all of it. That meal prep will help me have a stress free next couple of days.
You should be stressing about your inability to eat a pizza.
I don’t do the meal-prep for the whole week on sundays – rather 3x a week, I cook dinner with more than one serving, and use that for lunch the next day. It’s healthier, and I get something different most days. Salmon, Chicken thighs, tomatoes with salt & pepper, spaghetti, taco salad. Sticking with easy dishes works for me.
I do the same thing. I just eat what’s leftover from previous nights.
I usually meal prep by not eating for 2 day’s a week and then making my takeout or leftovers last longer than they should. I call it the Millennial Diet
I just make a turkey and cheese sandwich after cleaning up dinner and shove it in a baggie. Done. “Meal Prepped.”
When you’re drowning in student loan debt and get invited out to lunch, “nah I packed my own lunch” sounds a lot better than “I’ll overdraft my account if we go anywhere that doesn’t have a dollar menu.”
“I can only afford places with a drive-through” is a line I have said before
It’s not for everyone, but it saves me so much time and money. Plus, I know exactly what ingredients are in each meal, so I know what I am eating is not filled with unhealthy ingredients while pretending to be healthy.
I love it when you talk about mindful dietary habits like that
Sup
Meal prepping is just a humblebrag about packing a lunch
Do my 5 PB&J’s a week count as meal prepping?
My bank account and waistline are begging me to meal prep, but my sanity begs me to get out of the office for lunch everyday to clear my head and people watch.
I’ve never related more to any statement
I meal prep every Sunday and it takes 20 min. Couple pounds of chicken breast, cut them all in half so they cook faster,rub a little season all, 20 min at 400. Divide that into 5 baggies and get a couple packs of Dannon Light Greek Yogurt and you’re done. Dont make it harder than it has to be.
Chicken breast is convenient but it’s not the best flavor and way overpriced. If I’m feeling super macho I’ll butcher a whole chicken, but if not I get thighs. They’re half the price and way more tasty.
#thighguy
HEB does my meal prep for me.