WRITTEN BY:
Fernando ContrerasÂ
1/1/2022
Robbins Madanes Institute Certified:Â Intervention CoachÂ
NASM Certified:Â Personal Trainer
HOW TO EAT HEALTHY ON THE ROAD
Planning is one of the most effective techniques to follow through with a goal or a lifestyle. In life however, not everything goes according to plan, so having back ups and familiarizing yourself with nutrition is key to making the necessary adjustments when things don't go as planned!
However, Meal Prepping has been a form of planning that has ensured me of healthy and proper nutrition for me on the road. I'll share with you some ways to go about meal prepping and hopefully you can take something from this article that you can apply !
HOW LONG DOES MEAL PREPPING TAKE ? I DON'T WANT TO SPEND A WHOLE DAY COOKING.
Meal prepping can be as fast or as time consuming as you want. It really depends on your lifestyle and what you like to eat. For example, someone who is ok with eating chicken, lentils, and vegetables for 4 days in a row is probably going to get the prep done faster than someone who wants to have different meals every day.
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I usually average about 2 hours of meal prepping depending on what I want to take for my trips. The way I usually gt the preps done faster is by using the oven, an instant pot, or the charcoal grill (my favorite). I'll talk a little bit these methods:
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Using the oven is GREAT because you set the temperature and a time for the specific food you are cooking. in the meantime while it's cooking, I get other things done that I need to do ( laundry, iron uniform, spend time with loved ones, etc..) I do highly suggest to look up suggested time and temperature for different kinds of food to ensure they are properly cooked (chicken, meat, etc), and also not over cooked cause that makes the food on your overnights get BORING.
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I like using the instant pot mostly to cook my legumes. It also works based with time and temp, except these are mostly. preselected to it's even easier!
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The charcoal grill is my favorite method because the food tastes amazing when cooked just right. One of the cool things about meal prepping while. grilling is that you can do it while you're doing a family or friends BBQ and just throw the extra food for your meal prep in there. Efficient while having a good time.
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Remember, these are just my preferred methods that have worked really well for me. If you can knock out a meal prep in pots and pans in na reasonable time, then totally go for it! It just takes me a lot longer and I have to be constantly watching the food. So I'd rather use the other methods.
HOW DO YOU PACK YOUR MEAL PREP?
After you've completed a great meal prep, how do we store it and take it on our trips? There are a variety of ways on how to pack your meal prep and the right way is the way that best suits your lifestyle.
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The two most popular ways to pack your food is with containers or food bags. There are pro's and cons to both, but either way you're still bringing your own food which is the important part. Let's start with the container method:
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The pros:
Easy to wash
Food is already organized
Easy to heat and take
The Cons:
Too heavy (especially if glass containers)
Less room to fit additional food
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While containers do make it a bit easier, and less time consuming, to heat and eat while on the go. You may want to consider if this is good option for how much food you want to take for your trip! Also, how heavy of a cooler bag do you want to be carrying around, especially if you commute.
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The food bag method: I use silicone reusable bags because it's good for the environment and you spend less money on food bags:
The pros:
Save space and pack more food
Lighter weight
The Cons:
Time to transfer food from bag to container
Takes a little longer to wash
May leak if you don't get good food bags
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Containers still have a presence in the food bag method. You need to transfer the food from your bags to the container, heat it up and eat. Now, to maximize the amount of food with bags, it's highly recommended that you place the same kind of food per bag. For example, all chicken in one bag, all veggies in other, all quinoa in another. This allows you to bring more quantity of food, if desired, and then the proportion can be adjusted by transferring the food from each bag to the container so you have a meal that will satisfy if you're very hungry or just a little hungry.
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If you'd like to see some of my videos about the differences of meal prepping, click the "View" button below !