Our number one goal at WTE? Meal Plans is to make healthy eating more manageable for everyone! We set up our meal plan subscribers for success by doing the planning work for them. After all, they say failing to plan is the same as failing to plan!
However, having a plan doesn’t always mean that you will follow through with it. That’s where meal prep comes in!
Today, we are getting a little bit more specific! It’s no secret that the most stressful meal of the day is breakfast. We usually have precious little time to get a meal in us before rushing off to begin our day.
Many people end up skipping it or grabbing something easy that’s not nutritious or balanced. No breakfast or the wrong breakfast can lead to overeating throughout the day, sugar cravings, energy swings, and weight gain.
The best solution is for you to begin meal prepping your breakfast for the week ahead of time! There a lot of options to help you get started, so let’s dive in!
1. Be Protein Prepared
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but what you eat is just as important as eating it. We make sure our meal plans have at least 30 grams of protein at breakfast to help promote fullness and steady energy throughout the day. Protein sources you can prep ahead of time:
- hard-boiled eggs and egg whites
- bacon and turkey bacon
- portion out cottage cheese
- portion out greek yogurt
- plain protein shakes
2. Prep Oatmeal Packs or Jars
Let’s face it; not even bodybuilders want to eat plain oatmeal. But, tasty instant oatmeal is loaded with excess sugar and little protein or healthy fat. We encourage our subscribers to prep oatmeal recipes we send them ahead of time. Almost any oatmeal recipe can be made as “overnight oats” or pre-prepped in homemade oatmeal packs.
For overnight oats: the trick is to have a similar liquid to oats ratio, that way the oats absorb the liquid (and become cooked) but aren’t a floating watery mess in the morning. (Most of our recipes are already available as overnight oats.)
For instant packs: pack all the dry ingredients for your oats recipe such as oats, brown sugar, protein powder, nuts/seeds, etc. into a ziplock bag. All you have to do is dump the bag into a bowl and cook it in the microwave in the morning!
3. Prep Smoothie Packs
For our subscribers that love smoothies, we recommend making them even more convenient in the morning. Create “smoothie packs” that you just need to dump into the blender in the morning. The best way to do this is to have two packs:
- Fruit & Greens Pack – pack together any veggies and fruit the recipe calls for in a ziplock bag. You could also add any dairy such as Greek yogurt or cottage cheese to this pack as well.
- Dry-Packs – pack together any dry ingredients such as protein powder, nuts, flaxseed, chia seeds, hemp seeds, unsweetened cocoa, etc. We suggested using your smoothie container such as a mason jar to house your dry packs on the counter next to the blender.
In the morning, instead of pulling out 15 ingredients for a smoothie, you will only pull out 3! Your fruit and greens pack your dry pack and some liquid. Dump each in the blender and let her rip!
Remember, Almost All Foods Are Eligible For Meal Prep!
These are just a few examples of how to pre-prep the usual breakfast foods. On our meal plans, the majority of our breakfast recipes can be prepped ahead of time. Sometimes a recipe can be prepped ahead of time even though you don’t expect it to be “meal prep friendly.” Examples of these types of recipes would be:
- egg casseroles and egg muffins
- healthy muffins (they are even freezable!)
- healthy pancakes and waffles (also freezable!)
The possibilities are endless! So enjoy your breakfast, after all, it is the most important meal of the day!
Find out more about how WTE? Meal Plans work here or if you are ready to sign up, check out our plans and pricing page.
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