Preparing meals in boxes is becoming more and more popular, not only for the sake of providing yourself with home-cooked, quality and potentially cheaper food, but it is also a useful strategy for long-term sustainable weight loss. However, we need to learn what a balanced meal should look like so that we are providing the body with enough energy and nutrients, but not in excess.
By boxing meals in this way, we ensure better portion control and therefore avoid eating unnecessarily large and calorie-dense portions. By preparing meals in individual containers, you can control portion sizes more efficiently. This can prevent overeating and help you stay within your calorie goals, which is crucial for weight loss.
Meal preparation allows you to plan your meals in advance. When you have healthy meals available, you are less likely to make impulsive food choices or opt for unhealthy "fast food" meals. This will help you stick to your nutritional and energy goals and avoid temptations.
Preparing meals 2-3 days in advance saves time during the week. Once your meals are ready and packed, you can easily take them out of the fridge or defrost them (if you store them in the freezer for longer periods of time) when you're busy or on the go. This reduces the likelihood of choosing less healthy alternatives, due to lack of time and potentially skipping meals if you're in a time crunch.
Food preparation gives you the opportunity to create well-balanced meals that contain many wholesome and nutritious foods. Choose from a variety of protein alternatives (chicken/turkey, eggs, cheese, fish,...), carbohydrates (potatoes, rice, cereals,...), healthy fats (nuts, oils, seeds, oily fish) and plenty of vegetables. This is absolutely the optimal strategy to achieve a proper nutrient balance in our meals, which promotes satiety but also replenishes the nutrients and energy we need on a daily basis.
When you take the time to plan and prepare your meals, you will notice and appreciate your food more. This mindfulness and what is called mindful eating (eating slowly, noticing the consistency, taste, smell of your food) will help you develop a relationship with your food and help you make more mindful and sensible choices in your food choices. This mindful eating will also make you feel full much more quickly.
While meal prepping can be an effective strategy for weight loss, it's important to keep a few pieces of information in mind:
- Ensure variety in your meals to maintain long-term sustainability in weight loss, try to incorporate a variety of foods and flavours into your prepared meals. This will help prevent boredom and ensure that you get a wide variety of nutrients.
- Food storage and safety is absolutely key to preventing food spoilage when boxing. Properly store your prepared foods in the refrigerator or freezer, depending on when you plan to consume them. Follow food safety guidelines to minimize the risk of potential health problems after eating spoiled food.
- Be flexible. While preparing meals in advance can be helpful, it's also important to be flexible and adapt to changing circumstances or tastes. Don't be too strict with your diet and allow yourself occasional adjustments, lunch out with friends, ice cream or a cookie. Such meals can be outside your eating plan, but be careful not to have them every day and thus cause you to gain weight due to higher energy intake.
Remember that weight loss is about adjusting your overall lifestyle, including your sleeping pattern, exercise and mental setup. Preparing takeaway meals is one strategy, however a very successful one.
Bring along our high quality, crispy freeze-dried fruit as a healthy snack. You can choose from a variety of fruit flavours.
