When hunger strikes, if there’s not something healthy within reach, or ingredients that I can turn into a meal in minutes, I’m far more likely to devour peanut butter with a spoon or order a Primanti's sandwich. On the flip side, when I’ve stocked and prepped a good supply of healthy foods and — this is ESSENTIAL — wrote up a menu plan for the week, I can walk right past those temptations. When I'm prepared, I can heat up some grilled chicken to top off a salad or grab an apple from my counter.
Planning what to what to eat and making simple preparations ahead of time allows me to eat healthy all week and enjoy a home-cooked meal even when I'm busy studying at night. Here are some TIPS to help you learn how to MEAL PREP like a PRO.
Plan:
You can eat healthy every day without having a cooking marathon. I plan a week of meals at a time, checking my calendar to figure out which days will allow enough time to actually cook, and which days I'm going to be rushed. I make a menu of the meals I want for the week. To this, I add healthy snacks, including fruits and vegetables. Then, I create a shopping list from my menu.
Shop & Prep:
Once you have your meal plan, and have returned from the store, it’s time to begin washing, chopping, cooking some ingredients, and properly storing foods to keep them fresh until you’re ready to eat them.
Proteins:
Chicken, beef, pork, and fish all freeze well, and can be divided into individual portions and frozen for future use. If you can, splurge for organic meat and poultry.
I keep individually wrapped uncooked, boneless chicken breasts in the freezer so they’re ready to go when I want them. They can be diced and tossed in a stir-fry; wrapped in foil with fresh herbs, lemon, and olive oil and baked; or grilled and shredded for chicken salad, to name just a few options.
Fish is a natural for the freezer. Choose firm fish, like wild-caught salmon, tuna, herring, or mackerel. The good news is, these can go straight from the freezer to the oven or the grill (just add a few minutes to the cooking time in your recipe).
Eggs are an excellent source of protein and can be quickly cooked in many recipes, so it’s always good to have some in the fridge, where they stay fresh for 3-5 weeks. Hard-boiled eggs add protein to salads and are a quick, easy snack.
Whole Grains & Pasta:
Whole grain pasta, brown rice, barley, quinoa, and farro are all pantry staples that can help you pull unrelated ingredients into a unified dish, with no prior planning. Cook a large batch of rice or quinoa up and keep it in the fridge for future meals.
Fruits & Vegetables:
It’s important to keep your kitchen stocked with fruits and vegetables. When you get your groceries home, thoroughly clean your sink, then fill it with water and drop the vegetables in. Scrub sturdy vegetables with a soft brush, then set them to dry on clean towels. Pre-chop veggies like carrots, bell peppers, onions, and store them in the fridge so they’re ready to sauté or add to salads.
Keep a variety of fruits on hand for healthy snacks and to use in breakfasts and salads. I eat more fruit if I keep it in plain sight, washed and ready to eat in a bowl on the table.
Dressings & Marinades:
Don’t bring bottled dressings into your kitchen. They’re full of sugar, unhealthy oil, and preservatives. You can make your own in minutes.
Soups & Sauces:
If you’re going to make soup or sauce, why just make a little? Make a double batch, then freeze single portions. Avoid freezing dairy-based sauces as the dairy can become grainy when thawed.
Planning and pre-prepping may feel like a lot of work at first, but with practice it gets more intuitive and even fun to figure out combinations that can mix and match for a week of good eating.
~ J. Lynn
BOOM, I’ve somehow survived this first month of motherhood! After an extremely painful labor, spending three stressful days in the NICU, and countless tears ... Dante & I finally got settled at home. I could write an entire book of what I’ve experienced in the last month but you’d probably read a few paragraphs and get bored so I thought I'd just discuss the highlights with you.
When Dante was born, I thought his father would show up at the hospital, but he didn't. I also thought I would get to hold my son all night long and watch him fall asleep, but instead he was transferred to the NICU at a different hospital from where he was delivered. Since I only spent about a hour with him after he was born, I didn't get much skin to skin contact with him.
The following day I asked to be discharged so I could go visit my son. However, when I showed up at the NICU, I was only allowed to visit for about a hour and wasn't able to breastfeed him. The first time I really tried to nurse him was on day three of his life. He latched on well, but I was only getting some colostrum. The nurses encouraged me to pump every 2 hours to increase milk production. I tried unenthusiastically a couple of times after a nurse showed me how to use the electric pump and stood there waiting for me to give it a go. I didn’t continue to pump because I was exhausted and in so much pain. It was only when I left the hospital and in the privacy of my own home, I finally pumped for the first time for real. And just as I feared, nothing came out. Well, I shouldn’t say nothing — a very little amount of milk came out. I continued pumping about seven times a day — getting only the tiniest amount of breast milk. I dreaded the end of a pumping session as much as I counted the seconds until its arrival because it was at the end that my insufficiency was always confirmed. I usually got only half an ounce. A newborn baby drinks an average of 24 ounces of milk each day and here I was producing only a small fraction of that. About a week and a half later, Dante's pediatrician gave me the contact information for a breastfeeding center. I decided to make an appointment with a lactation consultant. During the appointment, I discovered that I had a lot of strikes against me and most likely, I wouldn't ever produce much more milk. I was told to take Fenugreek supplements every day, three times a day and to do breast compressions. I tried those recommendations for another week and when the benefit stopped feeling worth the sacrifice, I quit. There was a limit to what I could withstand emotionally and physically. It’s an unbelievably lonely feeling to not be able to breastfeed your baby if you wish you could. However, slowly but surely, the shame of being inadequate has subsided and now I am experiencing relief. I’m relieved that I have the time and emotional reserve to enjoy my baby in a way I couldn’t before. I’m relieved that I never have to worry about suffering the consequences of engorged breasts. I’m relieved that after nearly a year of growing a baby, my body is mine again. I can drink and eat whatever I want without fretting. But what I’m most relieved about is that the love between my baby and me has not been compromised by the way I feed him.
Postpartum isn't easy nor sexy! I developed a varicose vein on my vagina about seven weeks before I delivered, and I still have it. It hurts like hell along with these hemorrhoids I got from pushing for three hours. I sat on a doughnut for about a week and had no shame! I bled like a red river for the first week and had to change my diaper almost every time I changed Dante's. I had to make a trip to my OBGYN within the first two weeks. The only good thing about that visit was my doctor telling me how nice and flat my stomach looked for only being 10 days postpartum and how much my partner should love me. When I told him that I didn't have a partner, he said "well, that's his loss!" HAHA! My tummy may be flat, but the fact that I can't exercise is driving me crazy. I have to wait two more weeks, and I don't know if I really will. My clothes fit pretty well, but I have so much loose skin that needs toned. My baby boy weighs 10 pounds now, but when I lift him, it seems like 100 pounds because I'm so weak.
It's true what they say about first time mothers worrying about every little thing. We've already made three trips to Dante's pediatrician in just four short weeks. All of his doctor's appointments turned out well, despite the fact that I thought every symptom he had was fatal. I stayed awake for the first few nights staring at him and checking his temperature every couple hours. I was paranoid that the love of my life was not feeling well. He's been constipated and had a clogged tear duct, but those issues are minor. All I can do is try to remain calm and trust that God will take care of him. I laugh at the things I worried about after the fact. God is good, and Dante will be just fine. He's the happiest baby I've ever seen. He smiles about ninety percent of the time. He is already laughing and staring into my eyes to let me know that he is alright. The day I stopped nursing him, he put his arm around my waist for the first time and gave me a hug. My child is healthier and smarter than I even want to believe.
If you need help, ask for it. Our first few weeks at home, I had my mama stay the night because I genuinely had no idea what I was doing and was totally exhausted from the pain and sleepless nights. I'll be honest - it’s extremely difficult to do by yourself. I had no clue how time consuming babies were and how the simplest of things like going for a shower, having a cup of coffee or writing a blog post were going to become monumental accomplishments! Whether it’s your husband, family member or friend — let them help you so that you can remain sane.
Babies grow so quickly! Don't buy more than a few newborn outfits. Dante was so long that he wasn't able to fit into newborn clothes after a week or so. My opinion is you can’t have too many sleepers and sleep sacs. He has so many cute outfits, but he hasn’t wore hardly any of them mainly because we don't go out much and I just want him to be comfortable.
I have one last piece of advice from the biggest lesson I've learned. Sleep when your baby is sleeping. I know this is well-known piece of advice but it’s true. There is nothing worse than dealing with a fussy baby while struggling to keep your eyes open. I have trouble sleeping during the daylight so if I can't fall asleep, I at least rest on the couch. Take every chance you get to relax. I'm so thankful that I decided to take 12 weeks of maternity leave because the time is already flying by.
Being a MAMA is AMAZING!
~ J. Lynn
Several months before my due date, I decided that I wanted to have a natural child birth. Most of my girlfriends told me that I was crazy and said that I would change my mind when I went into labor. My due date was December 11th of 2016. That day came and past, and I was still pregnant. I continued to work full-time and while I was at work on December 16th, I started to have mild cramping and then contractions. The contractions were manageable so I stayed at work until 5 pm. When I left work, I decided to go home and pack a bag so that I could stay at my girlfriend's house for the night. Around 7 pm, my contractions started to become consistent and were 5 minutes apart. We were baking Christmas cookies and watching Kevin Hart's "Let Me Explain" to keep myself distracted from the pain. I decided to call my doctor around 9 pm, and he said not to come in until they were 3 minutes apart. At 2 am on December 17th, there was an ice storm coming so my doctor said I could go to the hospital and he would see how far I was dilated. When my girlfriend and I got there, we found out that I was only 1.5 cm dilated, and they discharged me a few hours later. I went back to my girlfriend's house and my contractions continued to occur but about every 10 minutes. I tried to sleep but couldn't so I drove myself to parents' house around 2 pm and just laid around. Around 1 am on December 18th (one week past my due date), the contractions got increasingly worse and I could barely talk or walk. I called my doctor immediately, and he said to come on in again! When I arrived at the hospital, I was almost 5 cm dilated. My doula and my girlfriend showed up about 30 minutes later to be my support people during my labor and delivery. I was determined to make it through without an epidural or any drugs. I didn't want my water to be broken either. I knew that I wanted everything to occur naturally on God's time. My pregnancy wasn't planned and nothing turned out as I expected. If God got me through the 10 months I carried my son as a single woman, then He could surely get me through the delivery process. I prayed about my labor for months and it turned out exactly as I had planned. I breathed through each contraction. I used a rice bag, lavender essential oil, a peanut ball and massage to help with the pain. I held the hands of two amazing women until close to the end when I chose to grip the bed rail with every muscle I had. I pushed for 3 hours to get my beautiful baby boy out. I never screamed and I only cried during the last hour when my body started to shut down from exhaustion. I prayed to God to get my son out safely and He did! When I saw my baby boy and held him in my arms, I knew my life was never going to be the same. I was completely in love and at that moment, I knew I made all the right decisions and had ZERO regrets. My body was so much stronger than I thought. My mind was so much stronger than I had realized. When you are committed to something/someone, anything is possible. You just have to stay focused and follow the plan your heart desires. Every time I exercise, I feel amazing afterwards. However, the exercise during natural child birth gives you the greatest reward ever - a beautiful living soul!
~ J. Lynn
