Preparing meals in advance

monkey8

I'm going to start back eating 6-7 meals a day and the plan is to prepare all the meals the night before.
Anyone do this and if so what meals do you prepare?

Did this before but some meals just don't take to being microwaved the next day. They become too dry etc.

conzy

What kind of calories are you going to eat?

If you are at a deficit I find 6-7 meals painful as you never get a decent satisfying meal. The last few months I have been following an IF / leangains style approach where I eat all my food in a 6-8 hour window. I find my calories get distributed over 2-3 satisfying nutritious meals that are easier to prepare / keep. And for me atleast I find I am less likely to cheat as I'm always full during my eating window and you just don't eat outside the window.

Meals that microwave well:

Lean mince based meals like Bolognese / Chilli
Scrambled Egg
Porridge

Handy Cold Meals:
Tuna Salad
Chicken / Rashers in a salad
Nuts
Hard Boiled Eggs
Cottage Cheese

monkey8

conzy wrote: »

Meals that microwave well:

Lean mince based meals like Bolognese / Chilli
Scrambled Egg
Porridge

Handy Cold Meals:
Tuna Salad
Chicken / Rashers in a salad
Nuts
Hard Boiled Eggs
Cottage Cheese

Great info, just what I was looking for.

I'm looking to bulk up again.
Would eating small and often not be better than 3 very big meals?

Dathai

It really depends on the amount of calories you're aiming to hit. Personally, I eat maybe 4 times a day (not including shakes). Carrying around 6 or more tubs of food just isn't practical, unless you're going for the Mr.O or have to be extremely strict.

Striploin and chicken breasts cut up are your best friends for keeping in tubs / lunch boxes. Cheap as well.

meijin

monkey8 wrote: »

I'm going to start back eating 6-7 meals a day and the plan is to prepare all the meals the night before.
Anyone do this and if so what meals do you prepare?

Did this before but some meals just don't take to being microwaved the next day. They become too dry etc.

Salads, raw/steamed veggies, baked/roasted meat, rice, fruits, nuts - none of this needs to be microwaved. It's perfectly fine cold, straight from the fridge :cool:

cmyk

monkey8 wrote: »

I'm going to start back eating 6-7 meals a day and the plan is to prepare all the meals the night before.
Anyone do this and if so what meals do you prepare?

Did this before but some meals just don't take to being microwaved the next day. They become too dry etc.

A couple of bigger lunch boxes can help too. I usually cook up quite a bit of food (1lb mince/chicken/meat with veg, herbs, spices, rice and eat half the box for lunch and other half later etc. Quicker to cook...quicker to box up.

runawaybishop

monkey8 wrote: »

Great info, just what I was looking for.

I'm looking to bulk up again.
Would eating small and often not be better than 3 very big meals?

Not really, just get your calories into you - the difference between 3 and 6 meals is minimal, if any.