Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Ep: 47 - The Meal Prep Paradox: Your Fridge is Full of Good Intentions, But your still Calling for Takeout by Wednesday (Here’s Why)
41 Plays25 days ago
If meal prep worked the way people say it does… you wouldn’t still be ordering takeout halfway through the week.
You plan, shop, prep—your fridge is full of good intentions.
And then real life hits. You’re tired, overwhelmed, short on time… and suddenly nothing you made sounds good or feels doable.
So you grab something quick, skip meals, or order takeout—again.
In this episode, we’re breaking down why meal prep often fails (it’s not a discipline problem), and how the way we’ve been taught to do it simply doesn’t match real life.
Because it’s not about being more organized—it’s about creating a system that works on your busiest, most chaotic days.
What We Cover
- Why traditional meal prep doesn’t hold up in real life
- The biggest planning mistakes (overcomplicating, overcommitting, rigid schedules)
- How decision fatigue and mental load derail your week
- Why “having no time” is often a systems problem—not a you problem
Where to find us:
IG @whatsmyageagain.podcast / FB - What’s My Age Again Podcast
Email us at: wmaapod@gmail.com
Where to find Tanya:
IG @tlcholistic / FB @tlcholistic
Book with Tanya:
Join the TLC Community: https://www.patreon.com/tlcholistic
Where to find Kim:
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to 'What's My Age Again' Podcast
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome to What's My Age Again, the realest podcast for women who are done chasing trends and ready to feel empowered. Hi, I'm Kim. And I'm Tanya, holistic nutritionists and childhood best friends who've been there, done that, and bought the collagen.
00:00:16
Speaker
more than once. Each week we provide actionable steps that you can start today to help you thrive through every decade to come. We're cutting through the wellness noise to bring you honest conversations about aging, hormones, health, beauty, mindset, and everything in between.
00:00:33
Speaker
You see, we're also on a mission to age gracefully one WTF moment at a time.
Why Meal Prep Fails
00:00:39
Speaker
Backed by research and real life, we're here to share what actually works, what's a waste of time, and how to truly thrive through the messy, magical midlife transition.
00:00:49
Speaker
We're so happy you're here. Let's dive in. If meal prep worked the way people say it did, you wouldn't still be ordering takeout by Wednesday. And if it was really about being more organized or more disciplined, you wouldn't keep starting over every single week. So what's actually going on here?
00:01:08
Speaker
Meal prep is supposed to save you time, money, stress. It's supposed to help support your health goals. So why does it often end up doing the exact opposite?
00:01:18
Speaker
You spend hours planning, shopping, prepping, like your fridge is full of good intentions. You know what has to be done because you've already listened to our meal prep podcast.
00:01:30
Speaker
But then... Real life hits, you're tired, you're overwhelmed, you didn't defrost something, you don't feel like eating what you've made. And suddenly, here we are ladies, we're grabbing something quick, we're skipping meals, we're ordering takeout, or here's the popular one, we're standing in the kitchen saying I have nothing to eat even though the fridge is full.
Adapting Meal Plans to Real Life
00:01:55
Speaker
So it's not that meal planning doesn't work. It's that the way we've been taught to do it maybe doesn't match our real life because the problem isn't time. I think it's how we're thinking about it. We're trying to create somewhat structured, plans in a life that is, let's face it, unpredictable, busy, and constantly changing. So instead of asking, how do I stick to a meal plan?
00:02:22
Speaker
We need to be asking, how do I make this work on my busiest and most chaotic days? How do I create time when I feel like I have none? And that is exactly what we are diving into right now.
00:02:38
Speaker
Welcome back to What's My Age Again. I know personally, Kim, you are raring to go because you have received so much feedback about this very topic from an Instagram story you did earlier in the week.
00:02:52
Speaker
Yeah, Tanya. Oh, I'm so excited to dive in today because just as you said in that intro, it's perfect. How do we create time when we don't have time? That is one of the biggest struggles of all of us women and my clients and your clients included.
00:03:08
Speaker
And it's not that we don't have the intention. We have the intention. We get the meal plans. We get the groceries at the beginning of the week. And I love how you said, Tanya, our fridge is full of those good intentions. But then we hit Wednesday and things fall off track. And then we hit the end of the week and we have rotting produce in our fridge. We've all been there. We joked about it at the last podcast.
00:03:29
Speaker
And the feedback, like you said, that I've got from the Instagram, I did a little Instagram poll saying, okay, guys, some market research here. What is the most difficult thing about meal prep or meal planning for you?
00:03:43
Speaker
And what so many people said is the planning piece and the time piece. The first, the two biggest things. Yeah. And that makes perfect sense. We see memes about it. no shoot yeah You're talking about memes. Last week we talked about digital detox, but you're still on the gram. I am within reason though. But like there's memes where people are like, Hey, just spent $400 at Costco. Now spending $50 on takeout because don't know what to do with all the food at Costco because so-and-so's baseball practice changed and we're out of the Yeah.
00:04:21
Speaker
Totally. And I think, you know, that is one of the biggest pain points for so many of us is that our lifestyle is unpredictable, right? It would be so, and we did talk about this in the meal planning. Absolutely. When you're like, when you're planning your meals, take a look at your schedule, take a look at the schedule for this week, which might be different than next week, which might be different than last month. We did get into that, but at the end of the day, our schedule can change in a day by day thing.
00:04:51
Speaker
right? Social plans can come up, kids' schedules changes, you know, our work hours change, and it gets us very, it makes it difficult if we have rigid plans to stick to it, right? When our life changes, our plans don't adapt.
00:05:06
Speaker
Exactly. And that even happened to me this week, actually. And now the dinner that I was thinking in my mind, that I was planning in
Simplifying Meal Planning
00:05:13
Speaker
my mind to have last night, I'm actually having tonight instead because something changed and I needed something fast and ready, planned to sub in last night. Or guess what? I would have been like, well, no takeout comes to where I am, but I would have been like, hey,
00:05:27
Speaker
We're skipping a meal. So life changes and the plan doesn't always adapt. So that's kind of one of the things that we're looking to talk to today. We're not talking about meal planning again, per se, and meal prep again. You have those tools, but we're talking about the obstacles on having those tools and getting to do those tools because planning a full week ahead Can be complicated. And we talked about not everybody spends a whole day in the kitchen or whatever, but we do, most of us try to plan for the week ahead, right? Ideal meals, the things that are going to fit in, like you just said, Kim, to the schedule, that's always changing. But...
00:06:11
Speaker
By midweek, our energy might run out. Our ingredients might go unused. You might've had to push a couple of dinners and you're like, well, the chard I wanted to use is now rotten. And the plan collapses. Then you have rotten sh char you throw a chard, you throw it out and then the plan has just collapsed. So you're like, I know that I needed to pre-cut my Swiss chard and I did, but now it's rotten. So now what?
00:06:36
Speaker
Yeah. And we're going to dive into that one too. A hundred percent, Tanya. Yeah. The other big one that we notice in our practices is this over ambition. And I am a victim of this too. I found all these new recipes because we're not going to go with the boring meals that we usually do. Got all the ingredients. And as you said, Tanya, things shift. Maybe the motivation is no longer there. Don't have don't don't look and see that it's actually a a meal that'll take an hour and plans change and I don't do it. The energy runs out.
00:07:06
Speaker
All those ingredients go unused. The plan collapses. Right. And then what happens on the other end of the spectrum when you have all these beautiful ingredients, right? You knew what you wanted to pick up and what's supporting of your diet right now and everything like that. And...
00:07:23
Speaker
You feel all of a sudden that you have a lack of planning habits, right? That meal planning, when we look at it, is essentially a system. And our lives are full of different kinds of systems. And some systems we excel at and some systems we don't excel at. And meal planning is essentially a so a system that But most people actually don't build a system of meal planning. It's not something we learn in school, unfortunately. It should be, but that's another podcast. So without this system, this repeatable kind of routine, sometimes it feels like it becomes a weekly scramble. Instead of something that becomes, that comes easy to us or automatic to us. Again, we know we need to roast the chickens and make the tofu and wash your strawberries. And then you're like, but where's, what's the plan? What's the plan for these things? Where am I using them?
00:08:21
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. And that's our hope today too, is to talk about how you can make some of these systems automatic. After a few weeks of practice, practice, you know, practice and implementing them into your life. How do we make some of these things easier and more automatic for us? And a big one for me included is the time in our kitchens. We joke all the time. It's like, what are we supposed to do? Spend eight hours a day in our kitchen? Holy geez, to make things from scratch.
00:08:48
Speaker
And also the mental load. For me, the mental load one is the biggest thing. The planning, the deciding what's for dinner. The deciding what ingredients we need, the looking at times and being like, okay, when can I make this meal? and that that that that That, the time and mental load seems to be one of the biggest pain points for us.
00:09:08
Speaker
Kim, I love the word mental load. I think that this is one of the well the words, one of the strongest two words right now that are affecting so many of us. When we think of mental load, it's not the things that we're actually doing. So right now, example, we are doing a podcast.
00:09:29
Speaker
You are listening to a podcast. You might be sitting listening to a podcast, but thinking, did I let the dog out? Who is picking up my kid from here What is for lunch? Shoot, I didn't make snacks for the bake sale tomorrow. So the laundry is still in the dryer.
00:09:48
Speaker
oh my gosh, I didn't take out something for dinner. This is just a small example of mental load. And in today's world, it's becoming heavier and heavier and heavier. So again, it's it's not a podcast about mental load, but That is a big one. It's probably the big one that we're going to talk about. That needed a drum roll, right? have plates that are overflowing and the small tasks that stack up day by day by day, I'm sorry, during the day, hour by hour by hour, leave us at dinner.
00:10:20
Speaker
Just we're done. Like the brain feels fried, especially after a long day and especially in this magical season of life, perimenopause, menopause, postmenopause.
00:10:30
Speaker
For sure. And I think like where to start too on this is, first of all, let's just recognize all of the things that are on our plates, no pun intended, and the mental load as women we have, as you said, our pickup schedule for our kids. Like we have the mental load of thinking through what's happening each day for work, for life,
00:10:54
Speaker
And so I think the mindset that we need to get into for meal planning, if that's your goal, because obviously if you turned this episode on, you're interested in meal planning, you want to make this happen in your life. And I think maybe the first place to start is considering meal planning a system, like Tanya said, just like the other systems you have in place for your calendar. You know who's picking up your kid and who's dropping you off your kid on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday. So Thinking ahead of time about our meals is where you want to start. And whether that be, as Tanya said, you thinking every Sunday and planning out your week, that works for you as a starting point.
00:11:36
Speaker
Great. But I think getting into the habit of thinking through what's happening tomorrow, what's happening at the next meal, all of those certain things is a great place to start in that planning side.
00:11:49
Speaker
I agree. And where you're starting, I like to stay for most things, start small. It's no no surprise. I don't like aggressive big things right at the beginning in life, actually. I like to be gentle with things. So keep your plans simple at the start, right? When we are making these massive,
00:12:13
Speaker
elaborate meal plans. And I get it. We're excited. And that's me and Kim see that excitement. And I know you've said this before, Kim, you will never not be encouraging and excited and supportive of people that are wanting to do better with their lives.
00:12:30
Speaker
Absolutely, 100%. But are we capable, with all of our mental load and everything else we just talked about, to go from zero to 1,000?
00:12:41
Speaker
Some of us, maybe, but you're again, you're here for a reason. Could this be one of the reasons... in your planning part of your meal prep, that you know what to do, but you're not getting there. That it's elaborate plans, more difficult to follow through. Are you being unrealistic maybe about the time that you have to give to this? And if so, start small and start simple. That doesn't mean that it's any less healing. It doesn't mean that it's boring. It just means that it'll help you build consistency.
00:13:17
Speaker
Absolutely. Like we say with everything, what is sustainable for you? And actually, as a holistic nutritionist, I made this, i'm I'm going to be honest, I made this mistake when I first started doing meal plans for clients, because I always wanted to give them new and exciting recipes. And it became too elaborate for them, right? Like, just not doable in regular life, right? So it's so I always talk about my to my clients before making a meal plan, what does their life look like? What is supportive for them? So like you said, boring, sort simple doesn't also have to mean boring. So one thing that I like to suggest is take a look at those go-to meals that are easy for you. Make sure you program into your week. And maybe if you want something different, add one new recipe, but don't add seven new recipes and expect to make them, right?
00:14:08
Speaker
Yeah. And to build onto that, I love this point, Kim. Take your go-to meals. Let's pretend it's an overnight oats. And make them different. And if you need help, call me, call Kim, call me because that is bread and butter for me.
00:14:23
Speaker
I can make overnight oats in 50 different ways with all the different nutrients. So like it doesn't have to be
Strategies for Efficient Meal Prep
00:14:31
Speaker
boring. Yes. In an ideal world, you don't want to eat overnight oats every day for breakfast forever. You know, we want that variety, but We're starting to build consistency here. So I love that, Kim. Look at the meals and add one new thing or do what you're doing well and improve on that. And that'll give you wings to kind of piggyback on the next steps. Don't make it too complicated or it's not going to happen.
00:14:55
Speaker
Yeah. And it's not going to be sustainable. it might work for one week, but then the next week you fall off. I love this. So keep those plans simple. Another one that I think is supportive for the planning piece is to build time during your week for the basics. So for example, what I mean by that is one thing that we like is nut milk in our house. And i prefer to make my own and not go to the store to buy this. So if this is important for me, I need to build it into my week because what happens if I don't is that I run out and then I have to run to the store or I don't have it So think about those things that are
00:15:33
Speaker
important to you every week? Maybe it's, you know, your broths, maybe it's sauerkraut, maybe it's nut milks, maybe it's brain breads, maybe it's your grains. What are those staple items that you have within your meals that you want to make sure that you have and that's available?
00:15:51
Speaker
For sure. And I think it's also important to talk about here that we have see all of you. We know that there are women listening that work in the house. There are women listening that work outside of the house. There are women listening that are not able to do a lot in the kitchen because they are restricted by their health at the moment. There are women struggling, you know, to have the energy to do things like that. This is going to work for all of you. Again, this is just the planning stage. So building simple is one thing, And then building the basics is another, and the basics can be simple.
00:16:29
Speaker
If you're non-negotiable like me is to have legumes because you are plant-based, then you know that every Monday at a certain time you're soaking legumes. And then when you're making dinner, you're boiling those. That's exactly it. And we're going to talk about a little bit.
00:16:43
Speaker
We'll talk about the actual execution. This is just the plan. So take the time, like you said, Kim, to plan those basic non-negotiables. What are they for you? And also take account to what your capabilities are right now and how much time you can give in that planning stage. Do not over plan yourself because then you get to the execution and that's the bridge we're trying to gap today. The plan to the execution, the disconnect in between.
00:17:09
Speaker
Yes. And part of that bridging the gap, which we talked about in the intro, which is so important, is to consider the unexpected. Right. We see clients getting tripped up all the time because, again, they have these elaborate plans. They have the meals, schedules shift, plans go out the window. So be realistic about your week looks like and look ahead a day or two. You don't have to be making the plans that last the week. Right.
00:17:37
Speaker
what just like you look at your calendar for the next day or the next day, just to make yourself so that you know what's coming up. Think about that when it comes to meals too. Like for example, this morning, I got up and I didn't have all my veggies cut for tonight. So what I did was as I was making breakfast, I cut up my cauliflower, got it ready to go for tonight because that's what we're having with our dinner. And I put it on the fridge in the fridge. So taking a look I love that, that the
00:18:11
Speaker
before the next day i love that kim and here is another biggie that i see all the time I simply don't know what to make. And I think this is actually one of the biggest ones. And I love my clients and I love what I do. And so many of my clients are like, if you lived with me and made all the food for me, it would be amazing. Or like, even if I had you just next to me and you were, you could say, okay, so-and-so you have this, this, this, and this, why don't you make this? Like the ideas aren't coming
00:18:46
Speaker
to you to put together a meal. Hence, I don't know what to make. And to that... it's going to take time. And I know that's so frustrating, but that's my biggest piece of advice here is that so again, all layering, all of these planning things, starting with the basics and, you know, not going to elaborate. That's a big part of it. We talked about this before, Kim, I didn't know what to make either. Kim and I both grew up with moms who did everything for us out of love. And then we both got pushed out of the homes when it was time to leave the nest. And we're like,
00:19:21
Speaker
don't know how to cook anything, cutting pasta out of pans and grilled cheeses and mac and cheese. And if you had given me 10 ingredients, I would have looked at them and been like, don't know what to do with that here.
00:19:33
Speaker
That does come with time. So having recipes is so important, but in my personal opinion, slowly also gaining knowledge about what to do when you don't have recipes. So when you do get caught on the fly, you can still say, okay, I have chickpeas, I have cucumber, I have lentils. You know what I mean? I have olive oil and lemon. This is what I can put together. It's going to come.
00:20:00
Speaker
For sure. But inspiration takes a long time. So starting with the basics and maybe adding a simple recipe a week, or just looking at food blogs, or maybe watching a food show now and again, it starts to get you to understand how to use these ingredients together. And when all else fails, there's nutritionists like Kim and I, who can really kind of show you how to basically put food together. And you know why I know it works?
00:20:29
Speaker
Because I see it work every single day in my practice. I see what where clients started. And then I see the meals that they're putting together that they're sending me that they're putting on their social media. And it's proof that practice comes with doing the simple things.
00:20:47
Speaker
Yes. And I loved what you said at the beginning, that example of the overnight oats. Go take that go to meal that you are good at and just start to adjust it. Start to experiment with different flavors. Another one that's super easy is those sheet pan meals, putting on different veggies, putting on different proteins and and and trying out different herbs and spices that you might like.
00:21:13
Speaker
And I know a lot of you out there that have children are like, oh my goodness, it's what to feed my family. And I think one of the biggest, um the the best advice I could give is just keep trying and introducing them to new flavors. And sometimes, like, I promise you, everyone always sends me messages over Instagram, like, oh my gosh, I can't believe your kids will eat that. Oh my goodness, I can't believe Well, let's be honest. Sometimes my kids don't. And usually one loves it and the other one hates it.
00:21:42
Speaker
That's just the reality. But we still, i but I don't stop feeding them those nourishing foods. I just experiment and try something else. So start, as we said at the beginning, simple with what you know, and just start changing those ingredients slightly. And as Tanya said, get inspired by people like us. You know, check out Tanya's Instagram has tons of great ideas. Reach out to me. um Yeah, finding a nutritionist to support you can be super helpful.
00:22:12
Speaker
So this is amazing. We've talked about breaking down planning because that's one of the biggest obstacles, but you're probably like, okay, Tanya, Kim, that's great. Remember how you talked about the time piece? Remember how you talked about the mental load?
00:22:27
Speaker
This all sounds great. Ideally, how are you bridging the gap girls? Well, One of the number one hacks that I can say for my personal life, and I know the same for you, Kim, is making the most of the time in your kitchen. So instead of just telling you that, that's pretty self-explanatory when you're in the kitchen, you know, you want to get the most stuff done as possible. And we did touch upon that on the meal planning as well, but specifically,
00:22:57
Speaker
Examples that I am doing every single day in my life is every single morning when I'm putting my husband's lunch together, because that's something that I like to do and he works outside of the home and I do not.
00:23:12
Speaker
I know that I'm in the kitchen no matter what for about 20 minutes or so. Right. And I know that as I'm puttering around, there's other stuff that can be doing. So I take stock. I kind of look in my fridge and say, what is needed? Like you said earlier, Kim, maybe for the next two days in what I, you know, what I'm going to eat. I don't need to plan the whole next week.
00:23:32
Speaker
Okay. There's no rice or millet or quinoa left. Well, I know that these can be 20 minutes depending on the grains that you're using. Let me put a pot of that on. Something in the background where you're not winding yourself up, overwhelmed. Making the most in the kitchen doesn't mean like, remember the Muppets, that cook and like the beaker guy and there was just a nightmare. And everything was going everywhere. It doesn't mean you have to be overly stressed, trying to do a million things at once. What can fit in with the things that you're already there for? So if you're cutting strawberries to put in the lunch, why don't you cut celery?
00:24:10
Speaker
That's going to be great later, maybe for a snack for you or for you, Kim, your kids. after school, what can you multitask at the same time? Doing one thing in the kitchen, doing more than one thing in the kitchen is key. And for me, another one is dinner.
00:24:26
Speaker
So as I'm making dinner and the time in there can vary, I'm always thinking, what could I be doing for snacks? Or this is the big one, breakfast the next day. So often during dinner, I'm making like a chia seed pudding for the next day or an overnight oats. like i'm ah Or if I already have yogurt made, I'm packing. I'm packaging the yogurt in containers for the next day for my husband's breakfast and a grab and go for me if I'm going to be out somewhere. So maximizing that time, that's big ones. Breakfast at dinner for me while my dinner's cooking.
Building Consistency in Meal Prep
00:25:01
Speaker
And taking a glance at the rest of my day while I'm puttering in the morning, I know we all have different amounts of time to give in the kitchen. But the one thing is true for all of us.
00:25:12
Speaker
At some point, we're in the kitchen. How can we maximize the time? For sure. I love that. And take a look at your schedule. For some people, they have more time in the morning.
00:25:23
Speaker
Some people, you are out the door commuting to work. You have zero time in the morning. So you're going to maximize that time in the kitchen in the evenings. And making that a priority, I think too, is one piece. And I love that, Tanya. I do the same thing.
00:25:38
Speaker
The same thing can be talked about with leftovers, right? when you're matt When you're, like we said in that last episode, I was talking about the chicken, putting two chickens in the oven instead of just one. And then I love your topic about um about the containers. When you're cleaning up after dinner, right away, those leftovers can be packed into separate containers for lunches the next day.
00:25:59
Speaker
Right away. You know, if when I'm cutting up vegetables for my kids' lunches, cut extra red peppers and have them for after school snacks, you know, or if I'm in the kitchen anyways, you know, doing like you said, those overnight oats or whatever the planning is, do a couple of different things. Cut up the strawberries for tomorrow morning as well. You know, it's finding ways, as we said, to maximize that time in the kitchen and do a few things to prep yourself to be ready for the next day Yeah, I think that's absolutely key. And it's such a time saver. And even you made me think like, when you're cutting those red peppers, if I'm cutting those red peppers, for a snack, let's say, you know, to go with hummus or something for my husband's lunch, I'm like, actually, you know what, we're going to have stir five for dinner, let me cut some in a different shape and throw those in a container. Just maximizing. It's a multitask. Really what we're asking you to do by making most time in your kitchen is multitasking. Something that we're really good with in every other area, but we might not be as good at in the kitchen. This is where it's going to become key. This is where you're like, I have zero time. How do I make any time?
00:27:13
Speaker
It's using that time we have and overlapping it to do these different things. And it makes such a difference. Absolutely. We can't make more time in a day. We have to maximize the time that we have. And our hack number two, which again goes with that first hack is think about prepping your next meal while you're preparing the current one. That is a way to maximize that time in the kitchen. And as Tanya said, when you're cutting those those when you're cutting up your veggies for school lunches, are you using those for dinner? Why not cut them up now?
00:27:44
Speaker
You know, this morning i was I was making my kids lunches and I cut up the cauliflower that I had for dinner, you know, prepare thinking, thinking about what's coming up.
00:27:55
Speaker
That's part of that planning side of it and doing the things that's going to support you for later. For sure. And even if you don't know, even if you're stuck on the planning, you're in the kitchen in the morning, you're making those, you know, breakfast for your kids or for yourself, walk to your fridge, open it, take stock of what you have, know the ingredients that you want to consume. And even if you're a little bit unsure what's for dinner, take the time to plan it then. You're still in the kitchen. Even if you have to pick up your phone and Google, you know what I mean? if couple of things like broccoli, chicken, whatever, put it together, go into a meal app, a planning app, you know, TLC community, whatever it may be, plan that next meal. Think ahead. I love that, Kim. Either, you know, prep for it or make sure you have a plan. So when that next meal comes, you've already thought about it and you're going to put it together while you're prepping the next one or doing something else in the kitchen at the same time.
00:28:48
Speaker
Love that. And Tanya, the next hack I know is your favorite. So I'm going to let you start, take the lead on that one. this is I do this all the time and it's so much easier for me. And I started only to share it with my clients recently. And and I don't know why, because maybe I just didn't think it was that important and it just helped me. It's simply ingredient pulling. So if you're one of my clients, you know, sometimes actually write this in your meal plans the night before to help you with time management. Pull out that, da, da, da, da.
00:29:16
Speaker
for your breakfast the next day. So that's exactly what I mean, ingredient pulling. So I want to make cookies this afternoon. I am going to make cookies this afternoon. So this morning, I pulled out all the ingredients that I needed for that and set it on my counter. And of course, the fridge ingredients will stay in the fridge. But and furthermore, you know what I did with the dry ingredients?
00:29:39
Speaker
Because I had the time while I was doing the lunches this morning, I pre-measured them. So I pre-measured my flour, my oats, my baking powder, you know, my cacao, my maca. And I put it in a big container with a glass lid.
00:29:52
Speaker
So Kim, when I go downstairs this afternoon and have that window, I'm going to plunk the dry ingredients in, add the wet, and I don't know, this saying, Bob's your uncle. There we go. You know, and it just, it takes so much pressure off and it gives me accountability because the ingredients are there.
00:30:08
Speaker
Totally. And I mean, so What made me think, so what this what comes to mind right now when you say that too is I have ADHD. And for me, meal planning, meal prep has always been a struggle. Why? Because let's face it, it's boring. And as I'm learning more and more and more about my brain and how my brain works, this this little hack is what helps me so much. And I'll tell you why. Because for my brain, when I am motivated, I get things done. So when motivation occurs for me to be like, okay, I'm going to make cookies for my kids this week, tomorrow, I might be motivated right now, but tomorrow that motivation will go away. So if I take the ingredients out now while I'm motivated, measure them out, like you said, have it ready to go tomorrow when that motivation is lower, it's going to be on my counter already.
00:31:01
Speaker
So really it's just going to make me, first of all, I'll have to put all those things away if I decide not to do it. So I might as well just do it. So it's a great, you know, if that's something that kind of resonates with you, having those things prepped and ready to go on your counter can it be the prompt you need to follow through with the execute execution the next day.
00:31:24
Speaker
For sure. And even if it's a dinner. So for example, tonight I am going to make a stir fry and I already have some of the ingredients out in front of me. Like even just simply like my millit and rice noodles, like there in the jar of almond butter and a lime next to it. Cause I don't know. It just makes me feel at the end of the day, i'm like, okay, here's my starting point. And I'm just going to start.
00:31:46
Speaker
Right. And doing those little steps when you have time availability throughout the day will save time at night. Because let's face it, I know in my household, we have sports, sports, sports at the end of the day. I do not have an hour to make dinner.
00:32:02
Speaker
And my goal is to make that dinner homemade. I don't want to be calling for takeout. So doing that ingredient prep, pulling those ingredients out, all those sort of little things that To make my dinner come together easier at night is what's so helpful. So again, my cauliflower is ready to go You know, I actually have my protein prepped already to go. I'm going to be able to pull my dinner dinner together earlier tonight.
00:32:27
Speaker
I agree. And you guys can even do this throughout the day with things that are important to you that you don't want to miss. And this is what I do personally, my matcha. So the night before i will literally put my matcha out with my whisk, with my collagen next to it and anything that I want to add in there. That's so important to me. That makes it easy. So even if it's like simple drinks or the night before too, and then I put it away when I'm done, I take out my creatine.
00:32:52
Speaker
And I also put that next to, you know, on the counter next to my other supplements. And it triggers me to put it in my water without even thinking in the morning, putting it away. Yes, that's not a meal, but it's all part of maximizing my time in the kitchen. While I'm making dinner, it's easy for me to put out those things. And in the morning, it does save even time to go root through the cabinets to try to find stuff because I don't know about you, my cabinets are... a bit chaotic, it's right in front of me.
00:33:17
Speaker
So it's just really, really helpful. And it's helped me bridge bridge the gap from getting things done. Well, and it bridges the gap for the intention because yes, you want that collagen infused maca to the actual execution. It helps with that. Love that. Another one for me is do the hard thing first.
00:33:39
Speaker
For me, that damn squash again that we talked about last last episode. yeah Anything in a food processor. Okay. For me, I don't know what it is. I love my food processor. I hate cleaning my food processor processor. And that deters me from making my cabbage and beets and carrot salad.
00:33:59
Speaker
The idea that I have to clean that thing. So doing that first helps me get her done. Right. And then it won't stay in my cupboard or rot my fridge. Right.
00:34:10
Speaker
And that falls under kind of ingredient pulling. Me too. And the food processor is heavy and it's all my lazy Susan and I'm lazy to lift her up. And like, so I hear you about that. So that's so true. And once the hard thing's done, the others just seem to fall into place. love Love that so much. That is so, that's just such a good piece of advice. Do the hard thing first, whatever that is for you. The hard things will be different for all of us, but that is once it's out of the way, the other stuff feels like gravy.
00:34:40
Speaker
And talking about hard things, maybe there's a meal that's hard for you. Maybe it's lunches, maybe it's snacks, maybe it's dinners.
00:34:51
Speaker
What are the hard things that you're constantly being like, oh my God, why can't I get it myself together for that? Those are where you want to focus first. So when you are doing your ingredient pulling, when you are doing those little things like prepping your cauliflower or whatever the ingredients, do those for the hard meals first.
00:35:11
Speaker
I couldn't agree more. And actually focus on the hard meals first. If you're like, I can't bridge the gap. So this has been great. Thank you for this infotainment, Kim, but I can't do all of it. Then don't.
00:35:23
Speaker
Most of my clients find breakfast to be the hardest because they are up and out the door. Let's focus on breakfast first. Bring all of the things we've just talked about, which, you know, right from the planning, keeping the plan simple, building the time for this basic meal, consider the unexpected, you know, you might not have an ingredient, you might have to pivot. Don't overcomplicate it. Take the planning bit and then take the timing bit.
00:35:49
Speaker
Do your breakfast make it consistent, time it with when you're making your dinner, even just focus on one thing. That's the hard thing. Do that first and the rest will build on that.
00:36:00
Speaker
I love it. So tonight when you're making dinner, if you plan to have a smoothie tomorrow morning, make that smoothie, make that smoothie and put it in a mason jar in your fridge. Or as Tanya said, put some of the ingredients out with your Vitamix on the counter, ready to go. Or if you're having those overnight oats, make those overnight oats, put them in the fridge, cut up those strawberries, get them ready for the morning, have everything prepped and ready for your breakfast tomorrow morning.
00:36:25
Speaker
Absolutely. So at this point now, it is lunchtime where I am, I'm going to go down and eat my lunch. And I am literally going to pull a couple things out for dinner and get them arranged. And that's what's going to help me as I move on, you know, throughout my day. So guys, it's not a perfect world. And if it was, we wouldn't be talking about meal prepping, ingredient prepping, or even how to bridge the gap. But with consistency and with learning how to maximize time and take things in your own pace,
00:36:56
Speaker
It is doable, but just don't, you know, give yourself grace, but push through it. Absolutely. It's not an all or nothing, right? Just like we've said in past episodes, you can do this, take some of these and implement some of these ideas into your week.
00:37:13
Speaker
And i think you said it perfectly, Tanya. Go enjoy your lunch. Thanks everyone for listening. Have a good one. We'll talk to you next week, guys. Bye. Hey guys, thanks so much for hanging out with us today.
00:37:26
Speaker
If this episode resonated with you, we would love it if you would hit like, subscribe to the podcast and share it with a friend. We love to hear from you because let's be honest, this show is for you.
00:37:37
Speaker
If you have a topic you'd love us to tackle or want to learn more about something we talked about today, send us a message. We got you. Stay connected with us on social media at what'smyageagain.podcast for even more knowledge and inspiration between episodes.
00:37:55
Speaker
Kim and I aren't doctors or your healthcare practitioners. Everyone's body is unique, so always consult your own healthcare provider before starting something new.