03 Oct Why we meal prep and how to make it easier!

On my journey to bikini comp I had the importance of meal prep and hitting macros drilled into me since day one of our transformation journey. Preparing your meals for the day is important as it helps you manage the amount of macro-nutrients: (proteins, carbohydrates and fats) you are eating in order to enable you to reach your fitness goals.

In our jobs, Deni and I go to a lot of events and travel abroad often, so planning and watching what you eat not only when you are out at an event but when you are abroad can make meal-prepping even harder.

PROTEIN POWDER! 

I can’t rave enough about the importance of hitting protein macros. Without hitting your protein goals you will lose muscle mass which really does suck (trust me)! 

I spent a few holidays sitting on around 40 grams worth of protein when realistically I should have been hitting 120 grams just because there wasn’t a protein option available for me.

My saviour is reflex nutrition’s chocolate protein from bodybuilding.com which I now pack in some plastic Tupperware with a scoop and use it to top up macros. Oh, and even with hand luggage you CAN get through security with protein powder… I’m the idiot who panicked that they would mistake it for drugs or something!

MORE: Best vegan protein powders 

Buy Reflex Vegan Protein here.

TRACKING!

I use my fitness pal to track my food intake whilst I’m away and if you have me on snapchat you’ll know that during prep time I always bring my scales away so when I can make food myself I’ll weigh it so my tracking is more accurate.

You can download the app free here.

BE ALLERGY PREPARED!

If you suffer with any allergies, which unfortuantly I do. Taking allergy friendly snacks is important. You need to ensure you can eat something, allergic reactions can cause you to lose muscle mass if you get ill and leave you feeling weak and depleted. I always take free-from porridge oats as apart from fruit most breakfasts tend to be full of gluten so having a little pack of oats at the ready is a great saviour especially when mixed with protein powder.

BEST MEAL PREP ESSENTIALS

I use flatstacks lunch boxes to take away with me as you can collapse the lunch boxes up once they are empty meaning they take up next to no room in your luggage and have a built in cutlery section.

You can buy the lunch boxes here.

My Fitness Pal – Download the meal prep app here.