The sneaky meal prep mistake you're probably making - and how to fix it.

Just putting this out there – being mates with meal prep is bloody hard.

You go to the supermarket on a Sunday morning, spend heaps of money on food for all the different recipes, then spend hours sweating and swearing over a hot stove and trying to mix things up in a food processor.

Not the most relaxing way to prepare for the working week ahead, is it?

I thought so too. Then, I heard a piece of meal prep advice from Katie Lolas – the expert behind popular meal prep Instagram account Lady Lolas – at an O Naked wellness event in Sydney.  Her advice was really obvious, but really helpful at the same time.

Side note – struggle to drink enough water? Here are some more exciting ways to guzzle water, post continues after video.

It’s this: Don’t try to prep every single meal.

That’s correct – you don’t need to spend your entire Sunday prepping breakfasts, lunches, dinners and snacks for the whole week.

It’s basically the opposite of everything I’ve heard, read or seen on Instagram about meal prepping, but it makes so much sense.

“My number one tip for anyone who wants to give meal prep a go is to start slow. It’s important to remember that you don’t need to prep every meal,” Lolas told Mamamia.

“Pick your problem areas. For example, if you don’t have an issue cooking dinner but always seem to make unhealthy snack choices or you skip breakfast then spend your time prepping options that will make those times easier for you.”

How does this look in the real world? For example:

• If you tend to skip breakfast or buy a croissant at 10am (nothing wrong with that, but perhaps not everyday), only prep breakfast.
• If you eat a good breaky at home but are spending heaps on bought lunches, only prep lunch.
• If you make good lunch choices but find yourself buying salty or sugary snacks in the afternoon, only prep snacks.
• If you feel unmotivated by the time you clock off and are spending a house deposit on UberEats, only prep dinners.

In the wise words of Lolas, “Meal prep should make life easier”.

But… I am all of those things, what am I meant to do? you ask.

Don’t be fooled by Instagram photos of fridges filled with Tupperware containers and intense meal prep flat lays. Just like saying you’ll run every night when you’ve never run before, trying to meal prep every single meal when you’re used to buying lunches and ordering takeaway is setting yourself up to fail.

Eventually, you might decide meal prepping every meal (breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks) makes your life easier and helps you stick to your goals, whether that’s eating healthier, saving money, whatever they may be. But that day doesn’t have to be the first day you start.

After the O Naked event, I started following Lolas on her Instagram account @ladylolas and holy heck did I stumble across some of the best meal prep flat lays I’ve ever seen.

Even though Lolas preps breakfast, lunch, mid-morning snacks and afternoon snacks each week, which you don’t have to if that’s too much to begin with, I’m finding her recipes and meal prep photos are great inspiration for what could work for my lifestyle.

Seeing the way she stores food (for example, how the milk in overnight oats jars keeps in the fridge for a week and packing lunch wrap stuff separately so they won’t be soggy when you go to eat them) is also really helpful.

SO MANY meal prep recipes exist on the internet, here are a couple of meal prep options from Lolas’ account I’ve been loving.

Breakfast meal prep.

Overnight oats.

You could also do boiled eggs in Tupperware containers with avocado, spinach and fetta to put on toast in the morning.

Lunch meal prep.

Chicken wraps.

Salad sandwiches with a protein source.

Mexican bowl.

Dinner meal prep.

Bolognese with zucchini noodles.

Chicken and veggie stirfry.

Whatever recipes you like, Lolas recommends making sure you prep a wide range of nutrients.

“I try to cover the important bases of lean protein, complex carbs and healthy fats. As a rough guide, I aim to my create meals that include 50 per cent colourful non-starchy veggies, 25 per cent lean protein and 25 per cent whole grains or a Low GI carbohydrate,” she said.

“Lastly, I always start cooking with whatever takes the longest and have a few things going at once.”

By applying these tips to one problem area (mine is work lunches), meal prep doesn’t feel quite so much like a big, scary, expensive, sweaty Sunday chore.

You can find more of Lolas’ recipes on her blog Lady Lolas, and more information on O NAKED wellness and business events here.

Feature image: Unsplash/Ella Olsson.

Do you meal prep? What tips do you use to stay on track?