We all seek to live a healthy lifestyle but let’s be honest, life can be occupied! Many of us find it easy to set healthy eating goals yet sticking to those goals becomes a tricky affair.

When you are busy exploring your day to day life, the thought of cooking all your meals at home can often feel impossible. This is the point where many people opt for restaurant food, which on most occasions is less filling, leave alone the possibility of eating junk. This works in the meantime, however, your busy schedule doesn’t change much and tomorrow you will still need to eat. Question is, will you still pop into a fast food chain for another quickie?

That brings us to our topic; why you should start meal prepping and the benefits you can expect. The truth is, meal prep can make a huge positive impact when it comes to sticking to your dietary goals.

Click here for meal prep 101, otherwise, the benefits of meal prep include the following:

It has been said time and time again that eating homemade foods is cheaper than eating out or buying processed foods from the supermarket. When you eat at a restaurant, you not only pay for the food but also the cost of running the food chain.

However, if you can plan meals for a couple of days, you will be less likely to find the need to eat out, thus reducing your food expenses.

Start by making a grocery list and stick to it, and you will find yourself avoiding to buy extra unnecessary food. If there are some leftovers, make a point to save them in the refrigerator or freezer. You can then reheat them sometime later when you will be short of time to cook.

Meal prepping allows you to cook things in bulk and freeze for future meals. This means you will not need to spend time cooking every breakfast, lunch and supper for the next couple of days. Leave alone the stress that comes with the thought of what you’re going to cook for lunch or dinner. If you used to do things the conventional way, shifting to meal prep can help you realize how much time you can save throughout the week.

There are also some minutes in your life that you never realize how they passed and accumulate to hours lost. For instance, take the time you have to take to a local restaurant or take a drive there. About 10, 15, or 20 minutes. If you do this every day, then you already how much time you will lose that week.

Assuming you already have something in the house ready to warm and eat, it’s only a matter of reheating. Even if you have some chopped veggies or seasoned meat, it will only take a few minutes to make a meal.

If lunch is an issue, how about you prep something every night or early morning to eat the next day? You can actually save so much time during lunch breaks to go and eat at a nearby restaurant. Just carry your homemade food to eat during your lunch break as you relax and wait for your afternoon shift.

You ask how? Simple. With meal prep, you choose what to eat and what not to. You know all the ingredients to include in your food as opposed to processed foods or restaurant food. Let’s face it, most commercial foods are usually high in fat, sugar and salt. Mcdonald’s French fries, for instance, have close to 20 ingredients. You can make your own version at home with far fewer ingredients and they can still taste fabulous. Basically, being in charge of what you eat at home gives you ultimate control over your weight.

Yes! Most fast food joints and restaurants offer food portions in larger than necessary amounts. The problem is, many people are likely to eat the food placed in front of them. However, when you eat at home, you are able to regulate the amount of food to eat in one serving.

Furthermore, if your goal is to lose weight, you will able to watch the amount of food you eat. Of course, you can always treat yourself once in a while but still keeping an eye on the how you eat is an important factor to a healthy lifestyle.

You definitely know your family better than anyone else. If there’s someone in your family who’s allergic to some foods, meal prepping can help you find a good balance for your family needs. When planning your weekly meals, you will always keep in mind that allergic person in the family and include foods that won’t affect them. If food sensitivities are hard to deal with, you can always seek the services of a personal chef and let them plan meals for you.

Believe it or not, you are more likely to eat the same foods now and then if they don’t meal plan. Meal prepping can help reduce these chances and even allow you to come up with creative ways of cooking your favorite meals. For instance, if you have chicken in your weekly plan, you can choose to deep fry it sometimes, another time you can roast it, grill or even bake it. It’s totally up to you to achieve what you want.

Dining at home allows the whole family to share stories about their day. In addition, involving your kids in prepping meals can be a fun thing for them to do and an excellent way of teaching them healthy eating habits. Eating together at home also helps build good relationship with family members and lead to a healthier lifestyle.

And there you have it! Meal prep has no formula. You just have to do it your own way based on your dietary goals.