Meal Prep For a Crazy Schedule!

Healthcare workers have some of the wackiest schedules! It can be anything from 3-12 hour shifts each week to 7-10 hour shifts one week off the next week. Even when I was in nursing school my schedule was crazy between class, studying, and work. It was hard to imagine finding time to do everything I needed to get done on top of feeding myself and working out!

When I first found these programs I was the person who did NOT stick to the meal plan AT ALL! I always thought I didn't have that kind of time and it wasn't for me. Well... when 80 Day Obsession came out I decided I was going to go ALL IN since I was in the coach test group. I needed to learn real quick how to meal prep so that I could stay on top of my work, school, and being committed to this program. For those of you that don't think nutrition is a factor in weight loss... try committing to eating better for 1 month, I bet you'll see a MAJOR difference! I instantly became hooked on meal prepping and trying to stay as healthy as possible food wise. That doesn't mean I don't indulge and enjoy myself sometimes though.

I find time on my days off to meal prep, that could be once a week or twice a week. I schedule it down in my calendar ahead of time so I stay committed. For me the process can take about 1 hour. HOWEVER, I've had practice! Hopefully this information helps you a bit so you can make meal prepping as quick and painless as possible!

Meal prepping is a work in progress always, however, I have some major practice doing it with school, work, and now just working. I wanted to share my tips and tricks to meal prepping on a wacky schedule!

Game Changers

1. Crockpot

2. Cooking in bulk

3. Aldi

4. Calendar

5. Planning to meal plan

6. Nutrition guide

7. Grocery list & Ads

8. One meal as a "non-cook" meal

As most of you know I am doing a home workout program that gives me a nutrition guide with the types of foods I should be eating and how much. It has been a complete life saver when it comes to planning a grocery list and prepping meals (if you want more info press the chat box and message me!). Anyway, having a simple laid out nutrition guide has been most helpful with lifting and running because I know how many proteins, carbs, fruits, veggies, and fats I need in a week to prep for. While I do need to change things up a bit, I can generally cook the same foods in different ways to keep it different.

Always make a grocery list BEFORE going to the store and try to stick to the outer edges as much as possible. Fresh and frozen are MUCH better than canned and preserved! The only reason I ever go down the aisles is for coffee, PB, honey, bread, oats, and household items. Eating healthier and meal prepping does not mean you have to spend more OR eat things you don't like. Stick to items that are on sale that you can enjoy through out the week! Utilize ads, Aldi has their ads weeks in advance which makes it VERY easy to prep for sales. I usually shop every 2 weeks for fresh items and about every 4-5 weeks for meats and such because I separate portions and freeze them. *note this might only be possible because I am cooking for one person right now.

My "Always" Have List

Spaghetti squash

Almond Milk Unsweetened Original

Almond Milk Coffee Creamer

Coffee

Orange Juice (100% natural)

Eggs

Kodiak waffles or pancakes

Whole Wheat bread

Bananas

Rice Cauliflower

Zoodles

Spinach

Tomatoes

Peppers (frozen & fresh)

Onions (frozen & fresh)

Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Seasonal fruit

Chicken Sausage

Turkey Meatballs

Ground beef/chicken/turkey

Beans (black, kidney, garbanzo)

Potatoes (yellow or russet)

Avocado

Now that is not a comprehensive list! Haha those are my go-to's that I know I will use almost always. For meats, seasonings, or other items like fresh hummus... I look at ads and see what's on sale to determine what to buy and then that also helps plan out the rest of my week. This is also why I buy extra when things are on sale and freeze them, just in case I'm feeling extra picky that week I have a back up!

When I get home from the store I always wash and cut my fresh produce. This way it's ready when it's needed, whether for cooking or for snacking! Then I split up my meat into reasonable portions and freeze some and then bulk cook!

So, Ashley... bulk cooking, what is it? Well, I cook my meats, veggies, and whatever else I'll need for the week all at once (not in the same pans or pots). Then I put all of them in separate tupperware containers vs putting each meal I want into a container. Either way is a good way to meal prep though, just depends on your style. I prefer bulk cooking because then throughout the week I can mix and match my lunches or dinners as I see fit and not get too worried about getting "sick of" the same thing everyday.

i.e. I cook all of my ground beef in a pan and put it into a tupperware, same with chicken, peppers, onions, and riced cauliflower. All of these separate so say I want a serving of ground beef and peppers one day, I'll throw that together (in the right proportions and off I go). Tomorrow lets say I want ground beef, chicken, peppers, and onions, I can just mix all of that together and go. I prefer this method because I am known to get picky and bored easily. If you aren't then you definitely save time by preparing all the meals and putting them in tupperware for grab and go with no extra work!

Freezer crock pot meals are my favorites! Once a month I go through and prep crock pot meals. Things like beef stew, chili, pulled chicken, roast, whole chicken etc. I put all the ingredients needed into a gallon freezer bag, label, date, and freeze flat! With exception of the roast and whole chicken where just the veggies and seasonings go in the bag and the meat freezes separately due to the difference in thaw times. When I'm really in a crunch or just need something quick and easy I then pull out one of these bags 1 day ahead of time and put it in the fridge to thaw. Then before shift or school dump that bad boy into the crock pot, turn it on low, and BAM! 3 second meal! There are SO many options you can do with a crock pot and if you don't have one you should invest on Black Friday or Cyber Monday! I will make a post of recipes at a later date :) The longest portion of the crock pot prep was really just cutting up the veggies. Nothing needs to be precooked (except ground beef for chili in some recipes) and it saves time both prep and cook!

I do utilize google sheets as my way of writing down some of the meals I want to plan. Below is a sample calendar that I made for the purpose of this blog post. I wanted to keep it simple and not overwhelming, especially for anyone new to this! I have repeated meals every other day to make life and cooking simple and fast! This is similar to how my meal plan looked when I first started doing this, it was easy, and fast to do until I got better with shopping, prepping, etc. Practice makes perfect! As you see Sunday is more open because I used it as my one of my "days off" and a day to make something fresh from my fridge because I there's time!

You'll also notice I don't use the words "breakfast, lunch, and dinner" that's because on shift work... my brain doesn't process that. I just know that I have 4 meals and pre-workout meal to eat in a day!

Now some people might also have less meals -- this is just what works for me on the program I'm doing. What works for me might not for you but this is an example that you can go off to find what works for you! Maybe 5 full meals is better, maybe 3 meals is better, maybe 3 meals and 2 smaller meals, maybe you need a different for days off. Whatever it is.. this post and video is a guideline not a do or die post. I want to teach you, answer questions, and adjust and grow with you.

In my group I do provide one on one training and personalized help with meal planning based on your schedule. So that is also option if you are still finding you are having trouble.

I hope that this post was somewhat beneficial. If you have any questions please comment or message me. The link to the video is located here !

#nurse #newnurse #gradnurse #mealprep #mealplan #fitnurse #student #studentnurse #nursing #nursingstudent #study #foodprep #food #meals #timemanagment #healthynurse