It’s no secret that meal prepping is a great way to stay healthy and lose weight. However, there are many people who don’t know where to start. If you have ever found yourself thinking: “How do I get started? What should I eat? How often should I eat?” then we have the answers!
This blog post will walk you through all the basics for successful weight loss via meal prepping. The article will go over understanding the science behind weight loss, how many calories you need, and some of the best prepping methods to reach your goals.
Understanding The Basics Behind Weight Loss
In order to lose weight your body needs to be in a caloric deficit. A calorie deficit means consuming less calories than your body maintains within a 24 hour period. Your basal metabolic rate (BMR) refers to the number of calories your body needs to function. It varies from person to person and can be dependent of biological factors like sex, or environmental factors like how much excersise you do during the day.
There are loads of online tools where you can work out your BMR by placing your age, current weight, height and weekly activeness into a calculator. These tools will give you an estimated number of calories that you will need to consume over a 24 hour period.
Once you get your body’s maintenance calories you should look to decrease that number by 15% for the first two weeks. This new number will become your new target calorie intake, placing you in a caloric deficit. Over time you can gradually increase or decrease your calorie intake to suit your goals.
Making Sure Your Prepared Meals Meet Your Target Calories
Now you have worked out your target calories it is now time to ensure that your meals contain no higher than your target. There are plenty of apps which you can use to work out the calories of each item of food, helping you to work out if you have met your target for the day. These tools can be really helpful for helping you keep track of your diet.
When preparing your meals it is also recommended that your calories are made up of 40% Carbohydrates, 30% Protein and 30% Fat. There is a lot of information out there about this topic but this is understood to be one of the best recommended ratios for weight loss. It is also recommended that when preparing your meals, to swap carbohydrate based foods for vegetables as this will help to keep you fuller for longer and prevent cravings.
Make Sure to Mix Your Meals Up
Make sure you mix your meals up, it is key to make sure you are enjoying your meals and that you don’t get bored of eating the same thing every Monday for example. Boredom can make you lose interest and is one of the main reasons people break their diets. It is critical that you prevent this from happening.
Recipe For Results Can Take Care of All This For You
Recipe For Results has a wide variety of delicious recipes for you to try. If you find that you do not have the time to work out your target calories, or you lack confidence to prepare meals in the kitchen then we can help.