The Ultimate Guide to Meal Prep for Muscle Building and Weight Loss

If you’ve made it your mission to reap the full benefits of those hours in the pain cave, dialling in your nutrition is the most effective way to go about it. But you know that already.

You’ve read Men’s Health before. That a breakfast of scrambled eggs will fuel your muscles better than a chocolate-filled croissant will come as no surprise. And when fat loss is your focus, it would probably help to swerve the biscuit tin every now and again. It’s hardly rocket science.

The problem is, knowing doesn’t always equate to ‘doing’. You snack when you’re not supposed to. You eat out because you don’t have time to cook a healthy meal. The good news is, you might not be entirely to blame – turns out, your empty stomach isn’t the only thing compelling you to grab a slice of pizza from the work canteen.

It’s a psychological phenomenon called ‘decision fatigue’. You make around 35,000 decisions every day on average – hit snooze or get up? Toast or porridge? White shirt or blue? – and the more you make, the more taxing each one becomes until eventually, your exhausted brain looks for shortcuts and it starts acting impulsively.

Willpower isn’t something you either have or you don’t – it’s a form of mental energy that gets depleted every time you make a decision, a series of experiments conducted by Florida State University found. And that’s not all.

Your brain is the most energy-demanding organ in your body, and it uses glucose as its primary fuel source. As your mental energy drains with each fleeting decision, your body looks for a quick way to replenish its dwindling stocks:sugar. Such is the fat-loss paradox. You need willpower to stop yourself from grazing – but in order to fuel willpower, you need to eat.

This is why meal prep is your greatest muscle-building, fat-torching ally. By pre-batching breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks ahead of time, you deal with a decision-making double-whammy: not just what to eat and when, but also how much.

“When our schedules are packed, meal times can go to the wayside,” says Kevin Curry, founder of food blog Fit Men Cook. “We eat mindlessly, paying little attention to the caloric and nutritional value of the food, and we skip meals, which leads to overeating at the next meal in order to satisfy our intense hunger.

“Having healthy meals and snacks ‘at arm’s length’ enables us to continue our hectic and busy lifestyles but with more nutritious food so we can accomplish our fitness and wellness goals at the same time.”

Here, you’ll find everything you need to meal prep like a pro, freeing up brain space for other, more pressing decisions: chest day or leg day?

The Pros and Cons of Meal Prep

Granted, it’s not all plain sailing. If you don’t like your lunch, you’re stuck with it for another day or two. You’re forced to dedicate a chunk of your Sunday afternoon to cooking. Your weekly shopping list requires meticulous planning, because one missed ingredient could throw off a week’s worth of meals. You have to carry containers everywhere. And if your plans change, the food goes to waste.

But as they say – if it was easy, everyone would do it. By giving an hour or two of your weekend to meal prep, you’ll free up your weekday evenings. The only thing you’ll have to wash up is tupperware. Not only will your scales be lighter without those high street sandwich lunches; your wallet will be thankful too. And if you’re the macro-counting kind and have a specific training goal in your sights, you can map out a week’s worth of meals down to the very last gram.

“Preparing our meals in advance gives us a better estimate of monthly food costs while reducing miscellaneous food purchases,” says Curry. “Knowing what you’re going to eat on a daily basis will make the difference in both your health and your wallet.” Plus, it gets results. “I don’t just preach the importance of meal prep,” he adds, “I practice it, because it enabled me to obtain the results that I so desperately wanted.” Sounds like all that chopping might be worth it.

Meal Prep Ideas

The first step is to map out recipes for the meals you’re prepping i.e. breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. In its most stripped-back form, the foundation of a muscle-building meal contains approximately “two handfuls of vegetables, one fist-size portion of carbs, and a palm-size portion of protein,” Jo Travers, registered dietitian and author of The Low Fad Diet.

Protein-wise, stick to lean options like chicken, fish, turkey, lean beef, eggs, tofu, and greek yogurt. Keep carbs complex where possible, and don’t forget healthy fats – olive oil, avocado and nuts will keep you fuller for longer.

That said, man cannot get jacked on turkey, broccoli, and sweet potato alone. Well, he can, but his taste buds won’t thank him. Focus on cooking foods “that you love to eat and are easy to prepare,” suggests James Long, co-founder of health food blog When Harry Met Salad, particularly dishes you enjoy both hot and cold, in case you can’t access a microwave.

If frozen really isn’t an option, consider buying an ethylene-absorbing gadget for your fridge. They can really extend the shelf life of your veg, says Travers, particularly the crunchy kind such as bell peppers, carrots and celery. “A coleslaw mix – without the mayo dressing; add that at the last minute – will keep better than chopped tomatoes and cucumbers,” she says.

Think of meal prepping as a high-intensity gym workout, says Curry. “Keep going until the routine is finished – while your food is cooking, clean up the kitchen. When the food is nearly complete, prep your food containers and spread them out on the counter or table.”

You could even blast your favourite gym playlist while you’re cooking. “Not only does the music energise me, but also it’s also subtle reminder of why I’m doing this: to get lean and mean,” he adds.

Meal Prep Equipment

You don’t need a Michelin star-worthy kitchen to whip up a few meals ahead of time, but there are a few fundamental pieces of kit that will make the process a whole lot more efficient – particularly if your culinary skills currently amount to beans on toast (no judgements here).