Instructor’s Editorial Coach Fran

Lazy Girl Meal Prep

Franny Fran here! Y’all might not know but I’m a recovering lazy girl working on living a healthier lifestyle inside and out! ….Kidding…. I’m not a recovered lazy girl, I’m STILL a lazy girl. haha I’m down with finally embracing it. Taking “lazy” back from being a bad thing when it really just means I don’t want to work so damn hard at EVERYTHING ALL THE TIME!

I was never a very active child, and, to be honest, I have a habit of trying hobbies and then quitting, can anyone else relate? Even when I got into health and wellness, I felt like it was something I just couldn’t stick with long term. That’s because everything I tried felt overwhelming and complicated. The worst was with nutrition. I tried fad diets, quick-fix cleanses, diet pills...AND kept failing.

Eventually, I found a way to make eating more nutritious foods more sustainable and enjoyable. It worked! But meal prep was a neverending. Pinterest boards that I never acted on, this was NOT how I wanted to live my life (OR how my brain worked). Spreadsheets and meal prep containers and complicated recipes were TOO MUCH. So I asked myself... How can I make this doable FOR ME? How can I make this FUN?!?!

Meal Prep began. And out of that the “Ditch the Diet” Method I help my private clients with. Now I’m EXCITED to help you embrace this mindset that you can do this in an EASY way too!

5 Tips For Easy Meal Prepping

1. Find Meal Prep Time-Savers

A) Pick 1-2 days / week to prep all the things

B) Double your servings when making daily meals to have extra for the next few days

C) Buy already prepped food (like rotisserie chicken or prechoppped or frozen veggies). If you’re able, try a meal-prep service

2. Discover Your Meal Prep Style

This is where Lazy Girl

A) Buffet style - Cook a bunch of different things separately (chicken, sauce, veg gies, roasted potatoes, hard-boiled eggs). Then throughout the week, you can mix and match dishes like you’re at a buffet.

B) Guided recipesPick a few of your favorite recipes and double the servings to enjoy all week!

C) Menu style - Make a menu for each day, jot it down quickly, and cook that day! Don’t forget to find SUPER QUICK things to create though! We’re lazy girls, remember?

3. Work with the Time You Have

Don’t have 2-3 hours to spend doing a full meal prep? Ain’t no body got time for that! (or patience). Instead, find pockets of time and use it to your ad vantage. Got 45 minutes while watching Grey’s Anatomy or kids are napping? Great, it takes 45 minutes to cook that chicken you’ve got sitting in your fridge that you need to cook before it goes bad! Make it happen, lazy girl! Whenever I make a meal, I double or even TRIPLE the serving so I can have it for a few days. We do yesterday’s dinner for the next day’s breakfast/ lunch all the time!

Get creative and try new foods once and a while too! If you’re a buffet-style gal, try a new recipe here and there to keep things fresh!

5. Just Do It

You know that cheesy saying of “Be prepared, or prepare to fail?” It’s true! If you want to get healthier, work on your weightloss goals, improve energy, build muscle, or basically ANY health goal, you’ve gotta work on your NUTRITION! You get out what you put in, so put the odds in your favor and make it work!

4. Stop Making It Extravagent

Not every meal has to be IG-worthy. I’d rather my food taste good than be pretty. Plus, making it pretty usually means MORE WORK, AND I’M NOT ABOUT THAT LIFE #worksmarternotharder It doesn’t have to be just chicken and broccoli though!

My favourite lazy girl meal prep ideas:

• Egg Bowl- 1-2 cups of sauteed veggies (you can literally use anything, I usually use leftover veggies from dinner). Put it in a bowl with 2 over-easy eggs on top and a slice of avocado toast or some roasted potatoes. This is a chance to get creative and have something different every day, while keeping it simple!

• Spaghetti Squash Pasta- Cut off the stem ends of the spaghetti squash and stab it all around with a fork. Place it in a pan and cook for 400℉ for 45- 60 minutes or until soft. Cut it open and let it cool then scrape out the seeds. Fork out the squash into a container and add sauce when are ready to eat. That way you can use the squash for another dish like your breakfast bowl or even a stir fry #buffetstylemealprep

• Honey-Mustard Chicken - Use any part of the chicken (leg, thigh, breast). Place in a pan and drizzle with olive oil. In a bowl, mix 1/2c dijon mustard, 1/2 c honey, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp paprika (double it if you are making a large batch of chicken, you want them nice and saucy!). Drizzle over chicken and sprinkle with salt and pepper on top. Cook at 375℉ for 40-45 minutes.

BONUS: MAKE A SMOOTHIE - The WHY

They take less than 5 minutes to make They can work for breakfast, lunch, or a snack (especially if you add a ton in them) They are an incredible way to sneak in nutrients (fruits, veggies, healthy fats). They are portable for your busy AF life THEY TASTE EFFIN AMAZING!

Here’s my favorite mix;

• 1/2 c fruit

• 1c spinach

• 1 tbsp coconut oil

• 1 tbsp almond butter

• 1 c almond milk

• 4-6 ice cubes

• 1 scoop of collagen

• 1 scoop of vanilla protein powder

***If you want to prep to have it later in the day, blend all ingredients EXCEPT protein powder. Add that in later to keep it fresh!