The HEALTH : October 2018 | Page 23

nutrition 23
OCTOBER , 2018 | The HEALTH
nutrition 23

Being in charge of what you consume

EAL prepping has been around for ages . Take

M a step back to your schooling days and you will find your Tupperware in your bag filled with the right amount of snacks that ’ s to be eaten during break time . Over the years , the concept of meal prepping has somewhat found its way to only being related to health and fitness practitioners .

Fitness and wellness coach , Joanna Soh - a certified trainer by the age of 20 found one of the ways she had better control of her schedule was through meal prepping . Instead of spending time to find a place to eat or without having to skip a meal on a busy day , meal prepping was the solution to it all . Furthermore , she was in charge of the food she was consuming therefore not only was she in control of her schedule for the day but she also made sure to stay healthy through a busy schedule .
According to her , essentially at the end of the day , it ’ s all about your priorities , be it staying healthy or taking the first step to becoming healthy . Meal prepping helps us to choose what we consume and the whole concept also allows us to be flexible about it . For instance , you can choose to prep three to four meals a week and to accomplish that , you can do it all in a day .
The most common question that pops into anyone ’ s head is ,” Will I have the time to do this ?” Joanna goes to say that with her tight schedule , the moment she comes back home , all she does is pick a couple of vegetables and the protein of her choice , being fish and she covers them with herbs and spices and spreads the ingredients on a tray . With the food cooking in the oven for an hour , this allows her to do just about anything else , be it work , laundry or even chores .
“ The way I meal prep is very simple , I either choose to grill or steam the vegetables and since I only eat fish , I cook them in herbs and spices that it doesn ’ t taste blend .”
Baseline of meal prepping
One of the tips to healthy meal prepping is to fill half of the plate with vegetables , quarter of it with protein and the other quarter with carbohydrates as well . Although many would choose to avoid carbohydrates , she advised them against it .
Vegetables such as carrots , mushroom and broccolis will last longer when you keep them in the freezer for a couple of days . Joanna also recommends adding on more vegetables you can consume raw such as baby spinach , lettuce leaves and tomatoes . Another one of her recommendations also includes being flexible with the meals by changing certain menus such as replacing the common chicken breast with chicken or vegetable soup instead .
You do not have to be an excellent cook to begin meal prepping ; all you need is the priority to wanting to cook and eat healthy for yourself .
“ The way I meal prep is very simple , I either choose to grill or steam the vegetables and since I only eat fish , I cook them in herbs and spices that it doesn ’ t taste blend .”