Background
I am a 35-year-old male, vegetarian, working out 5 days a week and playing volleyball twice a week for 2 hours on average. I weigh around 93kg and with this meal prep, I maintain roughly a 10-12% body fat level. I also allow myself to eat whatever meal I feel like twice a week, especially around leg day and back day.
Supplements
Meal Prep Breakdown:
Breakfast #1:
5 egg whites or 2 whole egg cups with mini peppers
Lemon and water
Breakfast #2:
Apple and mixed nuts ¼ cup
Pre-workout:
Overnight Oats with strawberries
Post Workout:
True Protein WPI 90 protein shake and a banana
Lunch #1:
Spinach linguini with roasted carrots, baked/seared tofu, marinara sauce and parmesan.
Snack #1:
Protein crepes with protein peanut butter.
Dinner #1:
Veggie chilli.
Dinner #2 :
Salad bowl made up of spinach, mini cucumbers, mini peppers, blackberries, raspberries, hummus, veggie burger and feta cheese.
Snack #2:
Greek yoghurt
Macro-Nutrients:
As a vegetarian I do not count my calories or track my macros, I just eat and listen to what my body is telling me. However, I did count them for this prep to give you an idea.
2860 Calories/ 11,970 kJ
312g Carbs
223g Protein
80g Fat
Recipes:
Overnight Oats:
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Pour oats, chia or flax seeds, powdered peanut butter Fit all your favourite protein in the mason jar. Mix well, add almond or regular milk and mix again. Top with berries and greek yoghurt.
Egg muffins:
To make 12 muffins (3 servings for me);
Mix 6 whole eggs and 12 egg whites with a pinch of salt and pinch of black pepper. Spray muffin with olive oil and pre-heat the oven to 185°C.
Cut up 5 mini peppers and evenly distribute to each muffin pan hole and then pour egg mixture evenly throughout the pan.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until the eggs are set.
Protein Crepes:
Veggie Chili:
My favourite method is to use a slow cooker.
There are no real rules with slow cooker chilli recipes, get creative. My go to is 3 cans of different beans (drained and rinsed), 2 cans of fire roasted tomatoes (or fresh diced peppers), 3 diced carrots, 1 or 2 diced bell peppers, 1 diced onion, spices of your liking plus a low sodium chilli mix.
Mix all and cook on high for about 3 hours.
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Benefits of Meal Prep for all:
1. Saves Time
I eat 4 to 5 meals and 3 to 4 snacks a day and preparing 4 to 5 days of food takes me (us) 3 to 4 hours. Most people are not busy eaters (eating often) like myself or eat smaller amounts, so their prep time can be shorter.
Just going to the store to purchase a sandwich will take an easy 10 to 15 min out of your day and that is just ONE meal of your day. So, when you do the math (as an engineer it all comes down to numbers for me) it is a no-brainer.
No driving to the store/restaurant, no searching through the menu, no searching for a recipe (if you cook each meal at the time of consumption), no multiple days of pans and pots, and no time spent cooking every day.
2. Saves Money
When most people look at the meal prep pictures they see dollar signs and think it must be expensive but the opposite is the reality!
Think about it, you have a plan of what you are going to eat and prep you only buy items you will use unless of course you buy what you need in bulk and double your savings by freezing the extras.
As a carnivore, I would spend under $15 dollars a day for all my food which did include a lot of proteins and now as a vegetarian, I spend around 10 to 12 dollars a day on all my food.
Buying just one sandwich will cost you more than half of my daily meal prep budget while prepped food is healthier and most likely tastier too.
