Time is critical for anyone. That's why I need to start making my meals in advance.

Current sitution is that I'm up at 6am and start my cardio for 30-40mins and then jump in the shower and get dressed for work. Now the part that kills me is that I need to prepare and eat my breakfast as well as pack 4 meals for me to take to work.

This process takes alot of time since I'm deciding on what I want to eat throughout the day right on the spot. This process is working but it has caused me to become late at work and I just don't feel organzied.

So now that I know what I need to do, I wanted to seek my forum friends on what your preparing week by week.

What I want to know exactly is what foods can be made and then put in the fridge and still be fresh at the end of the week.

I like to put everything in containers and then throw each days worth of meals in grocery bags for me to grab and run to work.

My typical day consists of:
Meal #1: 1 cup Oats, 1 cup Soy Milk, Whey Scoop, Frozen Rasberries
Meal #2: 2 Rice cakes w/ Nat Peanut Butter or Spinach Salad w/Virgin Olive Oil
Meal #3: 4-6oz Grilled Chicken w/ String Beans or Broccoli
Meal #4: Apple or FF Non-Flavored Yogurt w/ Frozen Fruit
Meal #5: PWO shake consisting of whey and water
Meal #6: 8oz chicken or fish w/ broccoli

I do vary this on some days, but just wanted you to get the jist. Now could I prepare all of this on say Sunday, but then could I eat all this throughout the week without it going bad?

I want maximize the amount of meals that I can make at one time since I have all the food out on the island.

PS. Just wanted to say that this place is AMAZING. I have been reading and reading and have gained so much from here. I started a little under 3 months ago at 28yrs old, Male, 6'3" 252lbs/34.3%BF and today I'm at 228lbs/28.5% BF. I lost alot of weight the first couple of weeks but have slowed to 1.5-2 lbs a week and now have gained strength due to a 4 day weight training schedule along with a 5 day cardio.

Thanks to all :claplow:

Nobody preparing their meals for the week?

Nobody preparing their meals for the week?

the reason you didn't get a response may be due to the fact that this question has been asked and answered many times before... however... I just didn't see the question :p

I cook upwards of 40 eggs whites (scrambled) and portion them into ziplock bags, steam brocolli, green beans and spinach and cook chicken almost every Sunday and the food keeps just fine in the fridge.. however, I would suggest purchasing a good cooler to carry around with an ice pack inside to keep your food from going bad during the day... while your carrying it around ;)

I keep a big tub of oatmeal in the kitchen here at work along with measuring cups and measuring spoons, natural peanut butter and flaxseed oil is in the office fridge... if your office has a fridge keep a supply of any refridgerated items, like natural PB, flax oil, yogurt, etc. right there so you don't have to travel with them ;)

my hubby.. Bluestreak, bought a mini-fridge for his office so he can keep a supply of food right there in his office

yeah, sunday i cook all my chicken, sweet potatos, broccoli, and rice for the entire week.

and IMO - your combining rice cakes with peanut butter is a horrible idea.
Replace the rice cakes with some lean protein/meat source.
Give the remainder of your rice cakes to your dog or the neighborhood squirels.

and while we're at it... where's your protein in meal 4?
protein in every meal, even if it's a whey protein shake.


EDIT: i also bought a mini fridge for my office :)
my food was taking up almost the entire "community fridge" at work.

EDIT: i also bought a mini fridge for my office :)
my food was taking up almost the entire "community fridge" at work.

that's why I only keep a few items in the fridge... the PB and flaxseed oil are the only thinks I keep in that fridge, everything else travels with me in my little cooler... it has a nice shoulder strap and everything

I prepare the weeks meals for my husband and myself on Sunday (He gets to do the laundry) Until I started cooking on Sundays, we had a huge habit of grabbing something on the way home from the gym. A typical Sunday consists of the following:

10 small containers w/ 2 T. Peanut butter and 12 almonds
1 large greek salad
1 large mixed fruit bowl
2 cups wild rice
6-8 Chicken breast
2 deboned and deskinned rotiserrie chickens
2 different fresh vegetables-depends on what's in season

The other things I have learned to make large quantities of are healthy chicken spagetti, regular spagetti, meatloaf, roast, beef stew, and chili.

Before anyone goes off on the carb/fat thing, we don't use ground beef for anything, we use ground buffalo wich is considerably leaner and I think it tastes better. Hamburger patties are another quick and easy one. I have also set up an excel spreadsheat where I can plug ingredients and macros and get total calories for a given dish. Then we can decide how many portions based on our current meal size.

I know how many meals we need for the week (36 total if you don't count PB/Almonds) and how many portions most things I cook will make. It all keeps for up to a week, as long as it is in the fridge.

fire up the grill, grill about 10 chicken breast, a nice big grass-fed sirloin, 4 burgers, boil up some steel cut oats, mix up 5 cups of cottage cheese/PB/honey/whey for right before bed

It takes 2 hours door to door for me to shop for my food for the week, which I do on Saturday. I cook for about 2 hours on late Sunday afternoon.

1. I prepare six salads which go into small plastic containers and six protein meals for lunch which go into baggies, an assortment from the following: chicken thigh and breast, fresh tuna with a sliver of a brie type cheese, ultra lean pork, herbed sauteed bay scallops, large steamed shrimp (I buy those already cooked.) I keep in the fridge 4 different delicious organic refrigerated bottled dressings from Cindy's Kitchen, which are for the most part sugar-free (I buy them at Whole Foods). I bought from the Container Store a dozen tiny round plastic containers with flip lids that hold exactly 1 oz of dressing and I fill up six with assorted flavors.

2. I prepare a large vegetable melange dish (peppers, onions, mushrooms, baby carrots, snow peas, a couple of roma tomatoes, herbs, and a "green vegetable" for the week: brocolli, green beans or zuchinni, etc., and mix in a prepared "homemade sauce" purchased from a variety of vendors at Whole Foods, a different one every two weeks (I use half a jar each week). This dish will serve six dinners which I pack in small round rubbermaid containers.

3. I cook a sweet potato or a small pot of multi-shades of brown and wild rice with scallions & mushrooms and pack them into small portion size containers to eat on certain days.

4. On Sundays,Tuesdays & Thursdays, I cook a dinner protein that will also serve for dinner another night. I pack in my dinner for the nights I work late: (Mondays and Wednesdays) They are an assortment from: very lean beef, lamb, or lean fish or herbed chicken breast. All the proteins take between 5 & 10 minutes to pan "fry".

5. I buy jars of good pre-mixed seasoning to sprinkle on the proteins just before I cook them: Mrs Dash, Paul Prudhomme, Emiril and some others that I come across at Whole Foods.

6. Breakfast consists of either organic eggs or organic sausage. I prepare those fresh every morning.

7. I prepack the combo of powders for my PWO on weight days. I pre-pack about 5 protein powders for my protein shakes and 5 tiny tupperware containersf for flax seed oil, for the days I have to pack my food for the whole day. I keep protein powder and flax seed oil in a fridge I bought for my office and also in my home.

8. I keep a tiny tupperware container both at home and at the office to measure easily flax oil and drink, and I purchased a Braun hand mixer, one for home and one for the office to mix up the protein shakes. I tried all of the cheaper ones at bodybuilder.com and they either broke down in a few months or just didn't work as well. The Braun mixer is a single beater that comes with its own container with volume markings. The best price for it I found was at Amazon.com. for $25 It is raved about by regular cooks: See here (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00004S9GX/qid=1127198836/sr=1-8/ref=sr_1_8/102-5483634-6006552?v=glance&s=kitchen) Ooops, it just went up $5 since Sunday at Amazon to $30, still worth it. (I purchased another unit for me and a friend of mine.)

9. I keep a case each of two types of waters I like drinking and use in protein shakes in the office. I keep a case each of both types of waters at home, as well as a case each of 2 types of sparkling waters I like for variety. I also keep assorted arrangements of small throw away bottles of the waters I drink always cold in the fridge ready to grab when I am on the run. or to put in my cooler bag for when I pack my food all day.

10. I pre-cut up a lemon every morning to squeeze in water I drink so I can just grab a slice throughout the day.

Each portion for each meal is pre-measured so that I know precisely what my macros are for each day and each meal. Then each morning I select what combo appeals to me that day, which takes about 5 minutes.

It reduces cooking time tremendously getting pre-made sauces, seasonings and dressings. The trick is to find ones that taste as good as if you made them yourself. I do all my shopping at Whole Foods and go as organic as I can. They have great selections of prepared sauces, etc. The food bill is about 20% higher than if I shopped elsewhere but the food is so much more delicious, I am more motivated to do it and I save a lot from not eating out that more than makes up the difference.

:nod: :cool: :nod:

When I don't prepare my meals on Sunday, my food is terrible for the week as I can never catch up until the next weekend. And that happens more often than I woudl like.

Justitia, will you do my cooking? :)

I usually make Monday - Wednesday/Thursday, and then another round of cooking later in the week. Things start to taste like they've been in the fridge for too long after a few days, and that really makes me... think of better things to eat!

Justitia, will you do my cooking? :)

Things start to taste like they've been in the fridge for too long after a few days, and that really makes me... think of better things to eat!


:lol: :lol: :lol: Well my cooking plans are more honored in the breach than in the execution but I am getting better at the discipline,,,

With regard to things not tasting that great after being in the frigdge a while... I certainly can relate... I find that by going to Whole Foods on Saturday, when the bulk of their rucks come in an demanding that they give me the most fresh (I look at the sell by dates and I have learned froom the butchers, the fish mongers and the veggie people how to get the most fresh...being female doesn't hurt either ;) ) that in fact the food stays wquite tasty through out the week. I have never gotten as fresh foods at any other store or even at open air markets. Unless you KNOW they pulled it out of the ground that morning, even most open air markets I have been to are really selling commercially grown foods that are already several days old by the tine they reach the market. I have not had that with Whole foods. If I shop Satyrday afternoon or Sunday morning, I can definitely get 7 days of freshness. Not so on other days or times.