I’m no insta-famous fitness guru, but I am all about healthy living. Getting enough sleep, water and exercise is important for both your body and your mind. A lot of the fitness inspiration we see online is motivation to go to the gym, build your best body, never give up, etc. But what many forget is that before you even step foot in the gym, you have to start with healthy eating. Healthy meals are just the building blocks for a healthy lifestyle.
As busy, broke college students, the idea of fitting good eating into your life seems intimidating. It’s so much easier to just get Jimmy Johns, right? Okay, maybe it is, but meal prep is something that has actually saved me so much time and money, all while making my mom proud of my eating habits.
The first step to meal prepping is getting the ingredients. I’m not the best cook, so I usually stick to simple meals, like chicken, pasta and veggies. With meal prepping, my groceries only cost around $60 a week. The trick is to get recipes that overlap. For example, if you’re having chicken and pasta for dinner, you can use the leftover pasta and make mac n’ cheese for lunch the next day.
It’s also smart to designate a cooking day. Mine is Sunday—I set aside the first half of the day for cooking and the second half for homework. Putting all your cooking on one day gives you more time during the week for studying, social life or even just relaxing.
The only downside to meal prep is the dishes at the end (sorry, roommates!). But for busy college students, meal prep is the first step in the right direction to a healthier you. Having meals already cooked gives you one less thing to worry about and you can ensure that you’ll be eating right every day of the week.