Bodybuilding Meal Prep – Smart Techniques to Reach Your Goals

Bodybuilding Meal Prep is All About Planning Weekly Meals

When you’re holding a regular job, finding the time to shop and cook every other day isn’t easy. A better option is bodybuilding meal prep where you’ll go shopping for groceries and cook your meals over the weekend. Divide the food into the right portion sizes and pack them away in containers in the fridge. Most meals will keep for at least 4 to 5 days. And, you can also bring them to work to ensure you eat healthy, nutritious meals all day.

Given that athletes and bodybuilders must have small meals 4 to 5 times a day, plan your portion sizes and snacks accordingly. Aim to cook at least 10 to 12 meals so you can eat healthy all through the week. It’s okay to have a little fun on weekends and eat out as long as you’re watchful of what you order.

Planning Your Meals Ensures that You Eat Right

Having cooked food ready when you’re starving has a whole range of positives. For instance:

• By cooking your meals, you’ll know the exact fat content in them in addition to the kind of fat that goes into each meal. The result? You’ll choose healthy fats that are necessary for normal body functioning but won’t add unnecessary calories to your meals.
• You can avoid eating out and filling your body with fast food that has questionable hygiene and ingredients.
• Choosing high-quality food will give you more stamina and productivity levels.
• You can opt for healthy bodybuilding meal prep techniques like for instance, baking, grilling, roasting, and boiling. Stir-frying is a great option that brings out the flavors of the meats and vegetables. Try using butter which is a healthy dairy product and adds natural sweetness to the vegetables.
• You can cut back on the fat content in your food by swapping more of spices for the fat when cooking. The lower fat content will be barely noticeable.
• You can ensure that your meals have the ideal macronutrients optimization.
• You get to play around with recipes and have gourmet meal preps when the mood strikes.

Optimum Bodybuilding Meal Prep Starts at the Grocery Store

The secret to eating healthy for best pro or amateur bodybuilding results is shopping healthy. When you’re planning your bodybuilding meal prep, keep these pointers in mind at the grocery store.

• Choose foods that are free of artificial ingredients, chemicals, GMO, and additives. Go with organic as far as possible. Natural foods will maintain metabolism levels and keep your body free of toxins.
• Shopping over the weekend may help you economize on nutritious foods that you can buy in bulk. Many supermarkets have marked down prices on certain foods.
• Check labels carefully. Fewer and simple to understand ingredients is typically a sign of healthy food.
• Shop for adequate amounts of food items that can serve as healthy snacks in between meals. Or, when you need a fix of fast-digesting calories 30 minutes before your workout. Look at options like cottage cheese, pineapple, yogurt, bananas, and eggs that you can hard-boil and store. Also, try tuna, celery, organic peanut butter, and mixed nuts (peanuts, cashew nuts, almonds).
• Choose lean meats, fish, chicken, and other poultry for protein. You’ll need at least 0.4 to 0.5gms of protein per kilo of body weight with each meal. So, buy supplies accordingly.
• Make sure to include adequate carbohydrates in your bodybuilding meal prep. They’ll provide you with the energy you need. Look for sweet potatoes, rice, quinoa, and yams.
• Stock up on all the vegetables possible. They’re great for you. Think asparagus, broccoli, brussels sprouts, beans, peppers, cucumbers, carrots, peas, and anything as colorful as possible.
• Sauces and condiments add flavor to the food without calories so make sure you get Sriracha, barbecue, mustard, Tabasco, and stir-fry sauces.
• Tossing in some salt, pepper, garlic, and other spices is another smart bodybuilding meal prep idea. So stock up on them.
• Breakfast is the most important meal so add items like oatmeal, whole wheat or multigrain loaves of bread for toast. You can always combine them with eggs, yogurt, and cottage cheese for the morning meal.

Let’s Talk Portion Sizes

If you’re not sure about how to measure out portion sizes, try these tips to guide you.

• 1 oz. Meat: Size of a Matchbox
• 3 oz. Meat: Size of a Deck of Cards or Bar of Soap
• 1 oz. Cheese: Size of Four Dice
• 2 tbsp. Peanut Butter: Size of a Ping Pong Ball
• 1 cup Pasta: Size of a Tennis Ball
• 3 oz. Fish: Size of a Checkbook
• 1 medium Potato: Size of a Computer Mouse
• Average Bagel: Size of a Hockey Puck
• 1 tsp. Cooking Oil: Size of the Tip of Your Thumb
• Serving of bread or grains: Size of a CD case

A simple rule to follow during your bodybuilding meal prep is to include 40% proteins, 40% carbohydrates, and 20% fats in every meal. Once you have the portion sizes sorted, pack them in individual containers and refrigerate. When you’re ready for a meal, pull out a portion, warm, and serve.

Or, Sign Up with a Meal Delivery Service

Shopping, planning meals, searching for recipes, and then cooking them isn’t something everyone can do. However, you need not worry about eating healthy if you cannot cook. Simply sign up with a convenient meal delivery service that can provide the balanced meals you need. Arrive home from work each day to freshly-cooked meals delivered at your doorstep. Or, receive them once a week and reheat and serve when needed. Eating right has never been so easy!

For more information on how to plan and balance the optimized meals you need, contact us at Meal Prep Delivery. Our expert consultants are standing by to respond to your queries.

Have you tried a meal delivery service? How were your experiences? Would you like to recommend the concept to a friend or family member? Let us know your thoughts.

References:

Food – The Art Of Meal Planning!

Evidence-based recommendations for natural bodybuilding contest preparation: nutrition and supplementation