Meal Prepping Secrets That Can Save You Time And Money

Tired of the, I know it's here somewhere, moment? The new ScanSnap IX 2400 scanner means you'll never search for a receipt again. Our simplest scan snap experience yet. Just press the blue button and instantly convert documents into digital files you can find in seconds. Perfect for busy professionals who need organization without complexity. With instant one-touch scanning, 45 pages per minute speed, and automatic data extraction, the IX 2400 saves your files exactly where you need them. No more mystic spence claims or lost warranties. Just peace of mind knowing everything important is safe and instantly accessible. Ready to stop wasting time hunting for paperwork? Visit scansnapit.com slash podcast and discover how simple document management can be. ScanSnap. The smarter way to work. Hey, it's Anna and Mandy from our podcast, Sisters in the City, and we're currently sponsored by the Department for Work and Pensions. Life's busy and admin gets forgotten, but if you're claiming benefits, listen up. If something changes, you need to tell DWP. Otherwise, you could face a penalty. That could be a partner moving in, even if they keep their own place. Or if your car doubles up as a taxi and a family car, you must only report work related costs. Or forget and savings like premium bonds. To find out if you need to report a change, search tell DWP. Here's the new Citroen C3 Aircross, the perfect SUV for bears and lovers of the great outdoors. Sure, and comfort too. Inside, it easily goes from five to seven seats and for you, Cubs, look, it's got Apple CarPlay and your favorite apps. Yes, Mr. Grizzly available in petrol for electric or hybrid. So ready for a family adventure? The new Citroen C3 Aircross, for lovers of the wilderness and everyday comfort. Now with a £1,500 electric car grant. Hi, I'm Rajpin Javi Johnson, head of identity content at Half Post. And I'm Noah Michaelson, director of Half Post Person. Welcome to Am I Doing It Wrong? The show that explores the all-too-human anxieties we have about trying to get our lives right. Okay, Raj, this week I want to know, are you doing meal prep wrong? Are you doing meal prep at all? Oh, I'm doing it and I'm doing it wrong. Wrong or the never? Okay. I just on Sunday, I'm feeling, you know, aspirational about the week. I put together some meals. They're too quote-unquote healthy and by day too even. Yeah. I'm like, if this, I want to go to Taco Bell. So I really need some help. What about you? I am really good at it. I have to say, I'm just going to say that. Put that out there. I do mine on Monday night instead of Sunday. And I do it for Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday. And I don't get sick of the salad I make. But I just do some components. I don't do everything. It doesn't feel overwhelming. I watch Will, Forch, and Jeopardy. Well, I do it. And it makes me really happy about my week. All right, if anyone wants Noah's iconic salad recipe. Hit me out. And for the rest of us, thank goodness we have with us today, Kevin Curry. He's a cookbook author, founder of Fit Men Cook, and all around meal prep wizard. Let's get in the kitchen. Kevin, thank you so much for being with us here today. We're so excited to have you. Thanks so much for having me. Let's start with the absolute basics. What the hell is meal prep? I think we hear the term thrown around a lot. Yeah, you know, and it's not that complicated, but I was thinking about it myself. And I think I just overthought it too. So let me just down this rabbit hole that I went down. Meal prep is just basically having meals that are ready to go. You know, frozen dinners, I think, were the early iteration of that. You know, I'm not sure how old y'all were, but when I grew up, we had like, it was before the link was in. I'm talking about the Salisbury steak that was really like that. Things like that. When convenience was a thing for people and they were trying to get more into that, right? And of course, you had the other iterations of, like, a mom and leftovers for the family and making that. So that was something that was ready to go. And then I grew up at a time too. My mom was on like the Ginny Craig and a Weight Watcher thing. And I think that was our early iteration of it too, just having some of those meals ready to go. But I really think though that what really put meal prep on the map was the bodybuilding community. And think about it, you know, if you ever seen a bodybuilder, they walk around with like a jug of water as if there's going to be a trout. And they also have like their meals ready to go. And the reason is is they have to have really strict, caloric guidelines. They have to have, you know, like hydration, all of that. So everything is time to make their physique look a certain way. So they always have to have meals ready to go. And so people begin to look at this concept like, oh, okay, well, this is actually a viable path to achieving my wellness goals. Because what people usually do is they just kind of just wing it. And whenever you wing it, especially when you're hungry, wellness doesn't, wellness is not the first thing when you're mind. It's killing that hunger. And so I think that's where meal prep kind of comes from. Is this idea just having these meals that are ready to go that will push you further to your wellness goals? Yeah, I think it's interesting because it seems like sort of the combination of three things. Like you said, one saving time, like you think about women entering the workforce in the middle part of the 20th century. And they didn't have time to cook anymore. And they were still the one who were supposed to be doing it. So you're saving time, the whole wellness nutrition beside of it, where you're getting the nutrients that you need because you pre-portioned it and you've thought about it. And then just how technology plays into it too. Like now that you can freeze things now that you can go on TikTok and see people like Kevin telling you how to meal prep. Like just all these things coming together makes meal prep. It feels like we're in the golden age of meal prep now. Yes. And we need Kevin here because I feel like the fitness people that you see, I'm just going to hold them fitness people. We'll walk around with like a top-of-wear full of grilled chicken or like boiled chicken. And I'm like, no, it has to be better than this. Yes, completely. I would love to just start with talking about like what are some of the benefits that you see of meal prep, especially for someone who isn't a bodybuilder or isn't a busy parents? Like why would the average person want to think about meal prepping? One of the first things is that like it does help you to save time on meal planning. I'm pretty sure everyone can kind of relate to this idea roaming around the grocery store through the aisles, trying to find something to eat. And it's like you're just waiting for like a meal just to jump out at you like into your cart. And so meal prep kind of takes out all of that guesswork because you're planning like your week out, you know, essentially. So you actually know like what you're going to be able to eat. Also, this is not just for grocery shopping. This is for like every single day. So when you come home from work, you know there's food there that's ready for you to go. You don't have to try to cook anything, right? And people also forget that when you meal prep, you're not just hopefully you're not making just a meal for that night. You're making meals for multiple nights. And so again, you are saving time throughout the week so that way you don't have to keep on cooking each and every day. The other thing is about saving money. In fact, this is how I started my heritage in meal prep. I was known as a $75 meal prep guy. And it came from this idea with I was working in corporate America. I was trying to lose weight. And I was also in a really small budget. Like I didn't have lots of money. And I was doing my finances and I was like, I spent $75 on lunch this week with coworkers. And for me, that was you. I'm like, yo, this is a lot of money. And I thought, what if I could actually just take all that money and buy groceries? So I did this challenge on YouTube where I got, I did five meals for five meals a day off for $75. So day, basically taking my lunch budget. And so I was showing you can actually save a lot of money. Because remember, lunch was just one meal. But now I had five meals for that same price. Right. So it's a way to save money, you know, like that way, you know, as well, especially if you're on a fixed income. So it does help out tremendously. And then I think, you know, somebody mentioned the decision fatigue. And I think just taking out the guesswork, I hate opening up the, you know, the fridge and just staring at it, being like, what am I going to eat? What am I going to eat? Same thing in the pantry. When you already have options that are ready to go, it just, you just have it there. So it makes it really easy. Yeah. You kind of have to, like, I feel like this is a practice, right? Because I have tried to meal prep, but I feel like you have to really like the food that you're meal prepping. You can't just like, you know what I'm saying? And that's your whole brand, like actually meal prep what you want and look forward to eating. Right. Not just making six grilled chicken breasts and like a cup of broccoli and like, you know, a pan or whatever, like, yeah. No, I mean, and you get the nailing on the head. There are so many people that actually just meal prep because Dr. Oz or some talking head on TV said to eat this and that and they'll come up to me. Man, I hate this. I was like, well, why are you eating it? You can, you're supposed to be cooking things that you actually like to eat. It's a pitfall for many people and I call it, you know, the aspirational buying. When you're walking to the grocery store, you'll see like the produce section, you're like, all right, this is the week. I'm going to just eat this and that and this arugula and this. And then fast forward, it's a science project in your, in your fridge. Yeah. It's like, as you just didn't do it and you don't want that. So I tell people first off, just write down what you're already eating like right now. And then backslap that way. So that way, you're eating foods that you like and you're also not contributing to food waste. That's what I was going to say too. I feel like if you are intentional about it, there'll be food waste. It's a huge problem for me. Like I have the best intentions, but it's like horrible to throw away food. Right. Food waste equals money waste too. You're just literally throwing money into the trash can. If you're buying stuff one, you don't want to eat or stuff that you're not going to eat in time. Yeah. Right. I love that idea Kevin though, starting with writing down, taking sort of an audit. An audit, exactly of what you're already eating and going from there. What about, I think one of the things I think of the most with food prep is storage containers. So what do you think about like what do we need to actually have in terms of the materials to food prep? Yeah, you just need some good like pepperware and I say pepperware, but not the brand pepperware, but just some good like food containers. Always do the BPA free ones. Glass is good, but glass just tends to be really heavy. Yeah. If you're totally around, so just an FYI, there are some people that are really like into that. If you are the common person who's like, I don't want the plastic, well, you can store it in the plastic and then take it out and put it onto a plate to warm it up as well. So there's another up. I have to tell you guys, I have a strong opinion about this. You know what the ultimate hot girl food storage is? Tell us. Big mason jars. Mm-hmm. Listen. My gosh. It's my favorite thing. You can layer salads and pour it out. It looks less dorky. I'm sorry. It's really. You get a great seal on it. You get a great seal. You can go through a roller coaster and nothing's going to fall out. I know it's a little heavy, but that'll contribute to your gains, Kevin. Well, yeah, I mean, hey, I'm all about that, but I just don't eat a stacked salad every single day. No, it can be lots of it. I was the one who get fried rice. Yeah. Sometimes I want to pass her all like a lasagna. I mean, yes, and I do use those jars as well. And if that works for you, do it. I love it. I love it. So do what works for you at the end of the day. But yes, jars are really good for that. What are we doing in terms of when are we prepping? Are we doing this once a week? Are we doing this twice a week? If we want to have dinners or lunches for the whole week, what are your thoughts about one we should be doing this? Okay, so I used to be at a school thought like you just need to prep one day of the week. And I'll be honest with you a lot of these people who say that they do that only tell you what's happening behind the scenes. Yeah. By like Thursday or Friday, they're hitting the food. Yeah. So they're either like drenching in a whole bunch of sauce or cheese like everybody else. Just to get it down or they're going to be tossing it. So I found out that the most efficient way at least for me would be to prep twice a week. And I would prep about three days worth. And I know people are like, oh my god, that's so much work. Actually, you're cutting down your time for three meals. That's about a 45 minutes in the kitchen. Yeah. You know, just making something up. Just, you know, so it doesn't take you that long. And the benefit of doing that too is that it's always going to be fresh. You know, and so you're so you are kind of tricking your taste buds into looking forward to something else, right? And it can be some of the same like ingredients. But at least if you're prepping it twice a week, you can maybe make one or two swaps, which makes it exciting for you to eat that food again. I want to ask you about like different gadgets in the kitchen that we see people really tout on TikTok and whatever. My little brother is a bit of a bro. He's like, I want to set it and forget it bro. I'm like with a slow cooker. So he loves you. So like, what do you think about air fryer, slow cooker? Like do these things help with meal prep? Oh heck yeah, absolutely. Especially for like a bachelor, bachelor, rent families too. But look, if you're on the go, a slow cooker will get you right. You can just put your food in there, pop the top and leave and come back home to a wonderful meal. I even say this for college students. If they can have that in their dorm rooms. But it's such an easy one. Even if you weren't the best in cooking, putting everything into a crock pot and a slow cooker is just, it's super easy. So I think this device probably gets people the most amount of confidence in the kitchen. In fact, that was with the buddy where you have it, like steak nine, he's like, oh man, this Instapot thing. He's talking about it. But I don't know. I'm like, yeah, it's awesome. He's like, I love it. It's wonderful, man. It's also accessible. I feel like slow cookers and air fryer's, you can get for a little bit cheaper. It's a little pricey, but you can get a slow cooker for $30. So because the technology has been increasing in so many different competitors now, they're much more affordable now. And I always tell people, if you can get the multi-function cooker, maybe it's about 20 bucks more, but with the multi-function cooker, you get the slow cooker, you get the pressure cooker, you can see her inside of it. There's tons of other things that you can do. You can steam. And so it just allows you a lot more flexibility. And then also, it's a counter-space saver. So they're usually pretty small. They could fit there out of the way. The air fryer, same thing. I know that the most popular kind is like the egg fray kind. Yeah. And I think those are great. Like with the bin, my only thing with those is that I don't like to cook food in batches. I don't want to make 10 fries. And then I got to put, let's take those out, cook the other fries. So I tend to get the air fries that look kind of like an oven. Not as small, but at least the bin and the trays are much larger. And I see it. I find that you get like a crispier coating on there, but also you can do larger batches of food. Yeah. I will also say, I think with meal prep, it doesn't have to be all or nothing. So I make the same salad. I've talked about this on the show before. Every night, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. And on Monday night, I prep most of it. I put a bunch of beans in a Tupperware. I make sweet potato. But every night, I add something that I do that night and it takes me 10 minutes. So I put tofu in the air fryer. So that's something I do at the night or I put two fried eggs on top of it. And so I have some of my prep, but some of it I'm making fresh. And like I love that. Yeah. Gives me more options. There's something fresh that I'm putting on it. And it doesn't feel quite so like just the same thing every night. Yeah, like kind of like a partial. I think anything to save you time is so good. Yeah, for sure. But it does. When I get home tonight, I'm going to the eye doctor after this, after a full day of work. And then I know I already have my food ready for me. I'm going to make some tofu. No, it's a sexy life. Your life is just wild. I'm going to have to go back. I don't want to have to go back. I don't want to have to go back. I mean, my time is like time is money to me. So I love not thinking about my meals on the weeknight. That's actually my preferred way to actually meal prep, too. Like I call that mix and match meal prep. Where like you make like batches of different foods. So you make a batch of protein, or just baby chicken or turkey, and then a batch of some grains, some beans and salad, and then you just mix and mess throughout the meat. Yeah. And you can add a simple ingredient. And that's one of the best ways to do it, just because every day you're like, what am I going to move for? Yeah. All right. Put these things together, and there's my meal. Right. You can make a tacos with some of it one night, or you can make a pizza with one, you know, you've done a lot of it over rice the next night. Exactly. Right. I think that or make a salad. Like I just think having the options, but the bulk of the work has already been done. Yeah. I love that. I think that's what the core of it is. I will turn anything into a taco, truly. Yes. Yeah. Oh, of course. Yeah. The other day, I saw someone at a restaurant, they had pancake tacos. They took the pancakes and put fruit in the middle of them. And we're eating them like tacos. This is the kind of meal prep I want to do. It was incredible. Yeah. Yeah. Well, they're sleeping on that, because they forgot the bacon, because the pancakes were completely... Totally. Talk it in the end. Listen, get it how you live, OK? Yeah. It's just happiness above everything. Yeah. Let's take a quick break and we'll be right back. Tired of the... I know it's here somewhere. Moment. The new ScanSnap IX 2400 scanner means you'll never search for a receipt again. Our simplest scan snap experience yet. Just press the blue button and instantly convert documents into digital files you can find in seconds. Perfect for busy professionals who need organization without complexity. With instant one-touch scanning, 45 pages per minute speed, an automatic data extraction, the IX 2400 saves your files exactly where you need them. No more missed expense claims or lost warranties. Just peace of mind knowing everything important is safe and instantly accessible. Ready to stop wasting time hunting for paperwork? Visit scansnapit.com slash podcast and discover how simple document management can be. Scan snap. The smarter way to work. Hey, it's Anna and Mandy from our podcast, Sisters in the City, and we're currently sponsored by the Department for Work and Pensions. Life's busy and admin gets forgotten, but if you're claiming benefits, listen up. If something changes, you need to tell DWP. Otherwise, you could face a penalty. That could be a partner moving in, even if they keep their own place. Or if your car doubles up as a taxi and a family car, you must only report work related costs. Or forgotten savings like premium bonds. To find out if you need to report a change, search tell DWP. Here's the new Citroen C3 Air Cross, the perfect SUV for bears and lovers of the great outdoors. Sure, and comfort too. Inside, it easily goes from five to seven seats, and for you, Cubs, look, it's got Apple CarPlay and your favourite apps. Yes, Mr. Grizzly, available in petrol for electric or hybrid. So ready for a family adventure? The new Citroen C3 Air Cross, the lovers of the wilderness and everyday comfort. Now with a 1,500-pound electric car grant. Welcome back to Am I Doing It Wrong? We talked a little bit about that you should switch it up in Neil Prep two days a week. Are there certain foods you should not prep and leave for a while? Because food safety, obviously, we know the basics. We had a great episode on it. But is there anything you want to warn us about? Yeah, I think the seafood ones, probably the most concerning. And not just because when you heat it up, they could clear out a room. But also that seafood tends to spoil a lot faster. In fact, that's a funny story about that. When I was in corporate America, and I was trying to get fit and stuff, and everyone's like, you got to eat cod. Cod, yes. Good night. You got to eat salmon. And so I was like, all right, cool. So I make it, and then I'm in the break room, heating it up. No. And then I have a friend. It's like, I hear she's like, what is that smell? And she comes in, she's like, oh my God, that is so rude and disrespectful. And I was like, what are you talking about? She's like, the whole place smells like fish because of you. So that may not be the best thing to prep at work. If you do use it, I think maybe salmon in a salad. Yeah. You know, like as you mean, but it's getting the fish stuff at home. Yeah, that's what I would recommend. God, yeah. I remember the same thing, my friend Jason. He heated up salmon at work one time. And this guy, I will never forget this guy, Angus. I didn't know him very well, but he ran out of his office. And he said, I think the toilets are overflowing. And we were like, no, Angus, that's just that's Jason salmon. Wait, why does heating up fish smell like hot ass? It does. Fish is so delicious. Like what's, I don't know. It is. But you want to brush unless it's fish sticks. Like that's the only thing I can think you want to heat up, you know? Yeah. Well, fish sticks are kind of fishy too. I think because when you heat it up in the microwave, it's really cooking it again and it's going to be out. And so it gets, so it gets like really fragrant and dry. And as you dry fish out, it gets a lot more fragrant. Oh, it's hot because it's either deep. No, thank you. I think the other thing too that's smart about doing the two day prep where you do one on maybe Monday and one on Thursday or Wednesday, is that a lot of foods just in general don't stay fresh for more than three or four days. So you probably don't want to prep for five or six days. You know, because by the day five, it's going to be pretty nasty. I do feel like some people in life are food for fuel people. There are a few people out there who are like, I don't care. This is good. I'm going to eat it every single day. I and Noah, like we eat for the experience. I think about food 90% of the time. Like I'm thinking about dinner right now. So like I think this is a, I know a lot of people like me. So you want to make this fun so you can keep doing it. So you're not like, okay, Taco Bell instead. Right. Because you're right, Kevin. When you get hungry, the hunger you get the crazier your like mentality is about food. Like I know if I'm super hungry and I wait, it's like a doughnut sandwich with a burger in between. Like it will get the piss. Like yeah, it's like out the window. You're like, oh my God. So you're just survival mode at that point. Exactly. Exactly. And that's what you're doing. You know, and I said the same thing like don't go grocery shopping and like when you're hungry because some of their choices are going to be made out of hunger and not out of your wellness goals, right? So you kind of have to think about these things. There is somewhat of a lifestyle change whenever you're trying to really just attack your wellness goals, but just grow into those changes. Don't do everything on day one. So I would never advise anyone to overhaul their diet on day one. Yeah. Like don't do that. I don't think it's necessary. And I also think you set yourself up being a failure because you're going to get burnt out. And you also want to know what's working for you, right? So whenever you make too many changes, you don't know if it's if it's coming because of this change over here or this change over there, right? So as you grow into things, you will find out what works for you. And I think that's the most frustrating thing about wellness that people don't get because we're marketed like we got four day abs, you know, slim down in two weeks, right? But wellness is a lifelong journey and your hormones change. Your body changes, your environment changes. All of these things affect you. And so stop rushing. You're good. Yeah. And then that, no, I want to know what you recommend is like the best things to meal prep because I have to say there are things such as like veggie chili or pasta that like let's be real. They get better the next day because like the great yeah. So like what's your take? Yeah. Castorals and soups, those are my go-to's. I mean, I made some lentils yesterday and they're even better today. Yeah. It's just because the flavors can melt together. So castorals and soups, I do like a lot of rice dishes. Similar to what Null was doing about the mix and matching. I do like making like batches of different proteins. And then you can pair them either with like veggies or with other grains, you know, or like cauliflower rice and things like that. So those things actually prep like really well. Also people can prep smoothies. I don't think people kind of, you know, realize that you can put these things aside and just do like a quick like dump and then all of a sudden there's your meal. You know, I'll be ready to go. And so probably the things that I would probably not try to prep are just like, I'd be careful on prepping vegetables and freezing them. Yeah. Only because once you thaw them out, they can turn into water. But I do highly recommend people buying frozen fruit and frozen vegetables because if you don't get to them, they're not going to go bad. Okay. It'll never be like science project. And I think there's like a stigma against canned and frozen stuff, but like, no, you know, yeah, it's absolutely. Just as it can be. The another thing that I do every night, I have broccoli in my salad. But I microwave that every day, you know, and so that's not something that I'm going to prep, but that takes, you know, three minutes. Yeah. So easy. Exactly. One of the things that I bought, maybe like a couple of years ago that I just got to like, I just fell in love with where those like stash or bags, the silicone bags. Yeah. Because they trap in heat like really well. And so you can make a whole like baked potato in four minutes in the microwave. When you put them in those bags, it just kind of just like, it just cooks it. You know, I really well. And steaming works well like in those two. And so I think the those types of tools and hacks can really help you to crack the code in your diet. Definitely. I mean, on that note, is there anything else you would recommend? We've talked about like the kitchen gadgets and the bags, but like anything else you might, I'm there. I'm like a child. If you make something fun for me, I'm going to do it more. So there's like anything I can buy food or, you know, appliances or whatever that I can get at home goods. Cheap pan. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Putting everything on there and putting into the oven and then you're good to go. And there are tons of different recipes out there. I've got some on my website, but those are really easy to that. And then like a muffin pan because I got into making breakfast for tattas in there and you're like little bites that you can go, you know, and then just making muffins too, like for the morning time as well. So these are just small things that you can do and use. You don't have to go out and buy Gordon Ramsay's most expensive cookware. Yeah. He doesn't need enough just to get you by. And it's actually shocking how much money you can save. Like, I always get those little sous vide egg bites from like Starbucks or whatever. And I started making them myself and I think I'm fucking Martha Stewart. Right. Like I'm like, oh my God, Bay. Look at how we've saved 375 this week. And it tastes so good when you put what you want in it. Yeah. Yes, you got to find 20 extra minutes in your schedule, but it feels really adulty. No, I love that. It does. And 375 for two. Yeah. Versus 375 and you made a whole like batch, you know, it's hard to compete with that. More money left for shoes. And you don't know exactly what they're putting in there. No, you don't. You know, how much oil is in it? How much sodium is in it? I know there's a ton of oil. Yeah, that's right. Taste so good. Yeah. You can control that. I think it's such a great hack. And I don't use this anymore because I'm not eating meat anymore, but a rotisserie chicken. Yes. I mean, you can get a rotisserie chicken at Costco, I think for $4.99 now. That's a mix. Yeah. It's like two to four meals right there. You can make tacos with it. You can make sandwiches with it. You can make something. I even make chicken stock with the bones. I love that. Yeah. So good. Yeah. That was part of my like, we can routine. That was my tree actually. Mm-hmm. It was to go to Walmart market and get a rotisserie chicken there. And that was my like, we can meal. Like, I would love it. You know, I'd give the bones it to my dog. Oh. So everyone would be happy here. And again, it was so easy. I might have an a cook anything. If anything, I'd have some rice. I can buy, you know, like frozen rice. Yeah. Put that in there, you know. Absolutely. I love a hack like that. Let's say a quick break and we'll be right back. Hey, it's Anna and Mandy from our podcast Sisters in the City. And we're currently sponsored by the department for work and pensions. Life's busy and admin gets forgotten. But if you're claiming benefits, listen up. If something changes, you need to tell DWP. Otherwise, you could face a penalty. That could be a partner moving in, even if they keep their own place. Or if your car doubles up as a taxi and a family car, you must only report work related costs. Or forgotten savings like premium bonds. To find out if you need to report a change, search tell DWP. Tired of the, I know it's here somewhere. Moment. The new ScanSnap Ix 2400 scanner means you'll never search for a receipt again. Our simplest scan snap experience yet. Just press the blue button and instantly convert documents into digital files you can find in seconds. Perfect for busy professionals who need organization without complexity. With instant one-touch scanning, 45 pages per minute speed, an automatic data extraction, the Ix 2400 saves your files exactly where you need them. No more missed expense claims or lost warranties. Just peace of mind knowing everything important is safe and instantly accessible. Ready to stop wasting time hunting for paperwork? Visit scansnapit.com slash podcast and discover how simple document management can be. Scan snap. The smarter way to work. Here's the new Citroen C3 Aircross, the perfect SUV for bears and lovers of the great outdoors. Sure and comfort too. Inside it easily goes from five to seven seats and for you Cards look, it's got Apple CarPlay and your favourite apps. Yes, Mr. Grizzly available in petrol for electric or hybrid. So ready for a family adventure? The new Citroen C3 Aircross, the lovers of the wilderness and everyday comfort. Now with a £1,500 electric car grant. Welcome back to Am I doing it wrong? Do you have other thoughts about breakfast Kevin? Like I love the idea that you said for smoothies, but if someone is like, I have no time in the morning or my kids have no time, what are you thinking about in terms of prepping breakfast? People may think this is kind of weird, but you can actually make granola bars like pretty easily with just granola and some almond butter and honey. You could put your dried fruit in there, mixing that up and those are pretty energetic to get you going in the morning time. And sometimes people just don't like eating, but I feel like some of these little bites like that can help to trigger your appetite, but also get you going in the morning because there's such nutrient caloric dense foods. So that's one of my virtues. And then I had a buddy ask me recently, he's going through his home in health kick and things like, yeah, I'm trying to make my smoothies better. I'm trying to eat more protein and the protein powder is really expensive and I said, yeah, get it. But I used to, and still do it, times use the pasteurized egg whites inside of a smoothie. Yeah. Instead of water, or you can do like half and half egg whites and half like plant milk and then put your protein powder in there or you can use yogurt. So there are other things like that that you know that you can do to boost your protein intake as well. I think people kind of sleep on, you know, like ingredients like the cottage cheese and yogurt, even quinoa, which also, I don't know, but for some reason, people think that eating vegetables all their muscles are going to just fall off. Right. Right. No, vegetables are good. Yeah. You're fine. Yeah. Yeah. I did learn from our breakfast episode that we do need more protein in the morning and I actually didn't know that. So I think like what you're talking about, like creating these like kind of shortcuts are important because otherwise I'm grabbing a croissant which has zero, like next to zero protein and all carbs. That's not that should not be my go to it. Should be an egg bite or like a granola bar, something with at least a little protein in it. Even chicken broth, chicken stock has protein. People can have a cup of that and it's almost like 15, 16 grams of protein in there, right? Yeah. So I like breakfast but not all the time. But for some reason, I like a good soup and a good savory flavor. So I can drink broth in the morning time and maybe have it, you know, like with some egg whites or whatnot. Yeah. And that's easy for me. Yeah. I know people also love like overnight oats. You can do that the night before or you can make a slow cooker full of oatmeal. Also, you know, when I would travel in Asia, a lot of times for breakfast, they have like a savory soup or like congee with rice. Yeah. I love that. I'm also a savory hot thing. And that is so delicious. Like instead of making it with, you know, brown sugar and fruit, you put soy sauce and an egg and some vegetables. Yeah. And it's amazing. Yeah. I love the idea of like, you know, study other people's cultures, see what you like. It doesn't need to be the thing you're used to because yeah, if that works for you, try it, you know. Sure. And it's going to just give you more possibilities for what you're going to make. Yeah. I think the other thing too that we should talk about is just that, you know, we've said you can save time, you can save money, you can work on your wellness, but maybe just one of those things is your goal. So maybe if you have a little more money, then you are buying some more prepared foods. I mean, you can buy things that are already pre-chopped now. And for some of us, like we're going to spend the extra time on Sunday or Wednesday to do the chopping ourselves. But if that gets you to your wellness goals quicker and you spend a couple more dollars, like maybe that's what you choose. It's still going to be cheaper than take out. Yeah. Right. Then doing Uber Eats every day for dinner or lunch or whatever. Yeah. Yeah. I agree. I mean, the best thing that you can ever do is just do stuff that you can manage. Yes. And I tell you that all the time that the best diet is the one that you can manage. The best way to prep is the one that you can manage. Like don't do too much. You don't have to go and try to boil the ocean, you know, like on day one. Yeah. You just need to just heat it up little by little. So again, grow into those things. Yeah, for sure. Any other tips for avoiding boredom? Because that's like really my biggest concern. We talked about like the swapping out things and stuff like that, but anything else you want to talk about? Yeah. You kind of touched on it too. I tell people about like traveling and like eating out. Now, whenever I first lost weight, I had so much anxiety about eating out because I didn't want to like gain the weight back. And I was telling friends, no, I can't hang out do all this. And I was really kind of putting myself into a box. And once I got out of that and lost the anxiety, realizing that like one meal out is not going to derail everything, start to get a lot of inspiration. So when you travel, I tell people it's not just about the experience, but also think about the things that you can take back into your own life. And Richard, which is how I got the idea to eat more savory soups in the morning. And you know, I think in Thailand, they were giving me shrimp, shrimp rice soup in the morning. I was like, what is this? I was like, I kind of like this. I started this myself, right? And so eating out can give you a lot of inspiration for your meals. And so when you eat something, let's say that you love burgers, all right? All right. Think about the core ingredients of that burger. And let's try to back solve and swap out things that are, you know, with heart healthy or, you know, ingredient. So maybe not using, you know, the 80% fatty beef. Maybe we're going to use turkey or maybe we use bison, right? Instead of doing, you know, the Texas toast with the Texas toast buns that we do here. Maybe we're going to use some whole grain bread or maybe we're going to put into a wrap, right? So there are different ways that you can do things to like break down the foods that you really like. So like solve them and just make these healthful swaps so that way they push you closer to your wellness goals. I think that's such an amazing idea. And I actually do that a lot already. Like whenever I've been doing a lot of like, when I go to a Korean restaurant, I'm like, oh my god, what is this? Like this is high protein, you know, low-bad shit. Like let's do this in Japanese too. Like I went through a phase where I was like eating a lot of like raw fish seaweed and like veggies and stuff. And I was like, oh my god, I ate this somewhere. I loved it. I just totally re-create it for cheaper. Totally replicated at home. So much joy because I can't do the slice up cucumbers and put boiled chicken next to it. Like everyone has their thing. Eat the vegetables you actually like. If they're a little cooked, so be it. Yeah. Yeah. But eating out though, eating out is such an important part of the wellness journey. And not just eating out at this place that you're comfortable with. But me being exposed to going to like, I think I went to a little Eastern restaurant when I was in Boston one time. And I was like, yo, this food's kind of great. And I just, and I had never even considered the fact that, you know, meals could both be savory and sweet at the same time. And so, actually, we're not a rabbit hole. And this is a really important point too, because I think with the language of wellness out there, people, we have this tendency or the marketing does to say, like, these foods are only good. These foods are bad over here. What's happened is that we've seen a lot of people turn away from their cultural foods and trying to adopt this identity of, like, wellness, right? But inherently, a lot of these other cultures, their foods are already inherently healthy. They've been before you. But when we come over here with the Western eyes, we, you know, portion sizes are bigger. We need to want more flavor, more butter and all these things and all of a sudden, we're kind of like switching it over a little bit. But inherently, those foods were actually fine. You know, so just work on your portion control and work on how you are preparing foods. And you colonize your fridge people. Hey, yeah, it's so important. It was talking to a dietician and she was working with, you know, the Latino community and she was saying for the first time in many years, they're saying a decline into our DS sales. And it was, and they're attributing it to that, like, this whole, like, phenomenon, like, hey, you can't eat these things. And but no, the foods that are made from scratch and whole foods are actually good for you. What's not good for you is to eat everything all it wants. And ultra processed, yeah. Yeah. Ultra processed foods. Yeah. The other thing I've heard that people, it gets them sort of more adventurous or they look forward to it is doing something like choosing a day. So you're going to do meatless Monday and you're going to try something for that day. Meal prep for that or like taco Tuesday. Yeah. Soup Sunday. And so then you, you have these things that are like parameters to work around. You don't just feel like, what am I going to do? But you can do something new every single week. Yeah. And I like that idea too. Yeah. I think you need to add an event. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, let me get thematic. One of the things that helped me out in corporate America too was just like, I'd love to eat out, you know, co-workers. So I would make Thursday and Friday, you know, like that day. And so it would be like my treat for meal prepping throughout the entire week. Yeah. To do that. And then, and also as I'm going out, I would also choose things that I would consider to help me out with my wellness goals. I wouldn't just go ham. Yeah. Yeah. And then I would go treat motivated. Like I, that is, I know it's like, Raj has one bacon egg and cheese a week and she gets to choose what day she has it on. And some days she needs it on a Tuesday and some days she waits till Saturday. Yeah. Listen to your heart and body. I love that. But I love the idea of, yeah, I'm going to do this for three nights and then on the fourth night I get to do whatever I want. Yeah. And it tastes so much better. Yeah. And it's exciting to look forward to it. Mm-hmm. What is. Kevin, what are your thoughts about like doing something as simple like you're going to make a lasagna and you make two lasanias like doing double batches of stuff? Is that a way that people can meal prep too? Yes, they can. Um, you know, I've seen that mainly with like people with like large families. Mm-hmm. And that makes a lot of sense. But I just again, whatever you do, just make sure that you're going to eat it. Yeah. And also make sure that you can follow you like proper storage guidelines with it. So, yes, like, you know, like you can freeze that, but freeze it like right away to lock in that freshness. Okay. I mean, when I was growing up, I feel like everyone had an extra freezer in their basement. Oh my God. And then they would just put, you know, all that stuff in there and then you could go get the lasagna in three weeks or whatever. Yeah. But not New York City. Not New York City apartments. No. It's a mayor. You have to choose what you're not afraid. It's a problem in a house. It's a problem because we want to freeze stuff. But it's like, it's like, get rid of your ice cube trays. Yeah. Because there's no room. Yeah. But you can save some things like that. You don't have to save like, you know, like the complete meal. So if you're making marinara, you couldn't put that into a Ziploc bag. It doesn't add. And, you know, when you freeze that. And that's your rainy day food. And those things too can lay flat inner freezer so you can kind of stack those things. Even if you're not putting it into the freezer, you want to make sure that your food is kind of almost cooled down before you put the lid on because you don't want it to steam to continue to cook the food and make it mushy. Yeah. All right. So storage and how you store it is, you know, is like everything. I'd say. Yeah. And you can have mistakes that you see people make often like the condensation and stuff where you're like, ah, you're, you know, you're not going to enjoy the experience because you're doing it wrong. Yeah. Right. That one also doing too much at one time. So people are trying to prep for seven days. Yes. There are those people that are out there and they are the unicorns that I can only eat for fuel and not for taste. That's good. I can do that. Right. So by Thursday, if I cook something on, you know, for like a Monday, by Thursday, I'm tired of it. So I think people are doing that and they're playing themselves because you know what? That stuff looks great on social media, but the practicality of it is not really there. Yeah. You know, period. And also just the aspirational buying. I think that is a big one that I always find with people is that like they aspire to eat something. They aspire to eat well. Yeah. And so that's why just take a step back for a second, you know, and just choose one meal. Just choose one meal that you want to prep for that week. That's all you have to do. You don't need to overhaul your entire diet. If it's breakfast, prep that, if it's a lunch, if it's a snack, just prep that. Just do that consistently. And then meal by meal, you can figure out, you know what? That wasn't so hard. Why don't I prep this meal too? And then you're growing into it. One of my favorite things to do is kind of geeky, but I don't know when wellness just kind of gets you like excited about stuff. And I had never tried a Rugal level four. And I was like, this stuff and I went into the grocery store one time. And I was like, yeah, I need to find this like quinoa. And the guy said, he and I said, no, it's definitely quinoa. Right? So each week, each Saturday, I would find one ingredient that I have never cooked with before and find the rest of it on the internet. And then that led me to like discovered like these different flavors to he and he had never eaten that before. I grew up in the South. Is that? Yeah. And then you just choose one thing each week and just a small portion of it. And then those things can inform your, you know, like your future decisions about food. For me, I go to the grocery store at the end of the week too, because they have sometimes get, you know, the manager's specials with some of the proteins in the fish. And you'll buy it at the discount and then freeze it right away. That's smart. And I like, and I like doing that rather than buying the already frozen food just because they've got so much water in them already. Yeah. Yeah. I like that. But I also like the idea of like, I'm not the guy who brings leftovers home because I eat everything when I go out. Yeah, yeah. But if you do have leftovers, you can also use those in an imaginative and a new meal too. Yeah. You know what I mean? And so you can put whatever your protein was on top of the salad or I think there are so many ways to think outside of just what we've told, what we've been told meal prep is. Yeah. You can get really creative. I love everything that you've told us Kevin because there's a lot of stuff I hadn't thought of. Yeah. And so what I'm going to talk about too and you do on your social media is just like kind of being really creative about the way you eat vegetables and fruits. Yeah. And it doesn't need to be this like very boring exactly what you think of when you picture a salad. Go on TikTok. You know, go on Kevin's page. Look at the like exciting sexy things that people are doing in vegetables. Like so many. Yeah. I went to California once and there was this spot called Chopped. Yeah. I think it's cool. And I've never been there and they were chopping up the salad. So finally, and they put all this stuff in there that dressing and I ate vinegar. I'm not like vinegar, but they put like some creamy like avocado thing on there. And I was thinking, yo, this is a good salad. And I've never, and I just didn't realize that if you chop it up so finally like that and put the sauce, like I just ate a whole head of lettuce. Right. With that even knowing it. It is so good. So there are also like different methods that you can use to even enjoy foods. That is such a good point. Same with kale. I mean, I like kale in general. Yeah. But when it has been massaged. Yes, with like sesame oil. And really finely chopped. Yeah. It is so much better than just like a big chunk of raw kale. This is why you have to go out to eat because these chefs know this shit. And then you can copy them. Yeah. But I like that. I'm a big proponent of asking like, what did you guys do to this cabbage? Yeah. Whatever. Yeah. I do. All the time. I do that consistent. Yeah. You tell me what to do. Yeah. It's beautiful. I feel full. How do you feel? I feel full of knowledge. Yeah. Kevin, thank you so much for this. This has been brilliant. So much fun. Thank you for having me. Yeah. I love food. Like there's one light takeaway that I will tell people, especially for this new year, you are on your own path. You're on your own journey. Sometimes you need to, you may need to mute some feeds. Yeah. And actually make you feel not so great about your choices. Don't let social media be a mirror for how you do yourself. Because you are on your own path. You don't have to justify your goals. You want to school to anybody. Right. So start small and I guarantee you the way that you start this year. If you start small, you will end the year the exact same way. So rather than you have your big goal for 2025, maybe, right? I want you to set a goal for January. Wow. And then set a goal for February. And then inch your way along. And then by the end of it, you're going to look back and be like, dang, I did all that. Yeah. I can't believe it. Yeah. We're in no rush. We are in no rush. Right. I love that. That's so affirming. The best advice I've had in your wild. Absolutely. Thanks again, Kevin. We appreciate you. Yeah. Thanks so much. Appreciate you all. It's time for better and five. These are your top five takeaways from this episode. Number one, meal prepping can be for convenience, eating well, or saving money, or all three. Choose your own adventure that fits your goals. Number two. Don't try to be a hero and cook for the whole week. You're probably just going to end up hating everything by day seven and ending up a taco bell. That's real. Maybe not a bad thing. Not a bad thing. Number three, when you're grocery shopping for meal prep, aim to buy what you're actually going to eat, not what you aspire to eat. Number four, meal prep can come in all kinds of forms. Maybe you're just going to prep proteins for the week, or maybe you're going to find a creative way to use leftovers. And number five. You're eating out at a restaurant. Pay attention to what you love and recreate it at home when you're meal prepping. All right, Raj, where are we at now? Have you been doing meal pep wrong? I mean, for sure. And I think Kevin really helped me think about meal prepping differently and more like liberated because I got to tell you, I need to save money in 2025. My door dash and GrubHub is out of control, as I'm sure many audience members can relate to. So he just helped me think about it in a fun way. I'm going to actually meal prep stuff I like and get a little creative and make time for it because I think all around it's just going to be good for me. What about you? I have been doing it right, but I love it. I'm obsessed with what he said about when he tries a new ingredient every week and then sees how that can sort of open a lot more doors to what he's going to make. I want to do that too. I love that. Benji and I have been trying a new recipe every Sunday night. We may spend a couple hours together. We get to hang out if we've been busy. And that's really fun too. But I love this idea of just like, what are the possibilities? And you don't know what you don't know. So the more you can take inspiration from that meal you had at a restaurant or the recipe you saw or TikTok, got us help us. I think that that's just great. And I loved what he said at the end too about like, this is your journey. Don't worry about what other people are doing. Take the small incremental steps. And who knows where you'll be a year from now. I'm all for that. Love it. Anyway, until next time. As long as there are things to get wrong, we're going to be right here to help you do them better. Love you all. Do you have something you think you're doing wrong? Email us at, am I doing it wrong at halfpost.com and let us know. Hey, it's Anna and Mandy from our podcast Sisters in the City. And we're currently sponsored by the Department for Work and Pensions. Life's busy and admin gets forgotten. If you're claiming benefits, listen up. If something changes, you need to tell DWP. Otherwise, you could face a penalty. That could be a partner moving in, even if they keep their own place. Or if your car doubles up as a taxi and a family car, you must only report work related costs. Or forgotten savings like premium bonds. To find out if you need to report a change, search tell DWP. Tired of thee. I know it's here somewhere. Moment. ScanSnap Ix 2400 scanner means you'll never search for a receipt again. Our simplest scan snap experience yet. Just press the blue button and instantly convert documents into digital files you can find in seconds. Perfect for busy professionals who need organization without complexity. With instant one-touch scanning, 45 pages per minute speed, and automatic data extraction, the Ix 2400 saves your files exactly where you need them. No more mystic-spence claims or lost warranties. This piece of mind knowing everything important is safe and instantly accessible. Ready to stop wasting time hunting for paperwork? Visit scansnapit.com slash podcast and discover how simple document management can be. ScanSnap. The smarter way to work. Here's the new Citroen C3 Aircross, the perfect SUV for bears and lovers of the great outdoors. Sure, and comfort too. Inside it easily goes from five to seven seats and for you, Cubs, look, it's got Apple CarPlay and your favourite apps. Yes, Mr. Grizzly available in petrol for electric or hybrid. So ready for a family adventure? The new Citroen C3 Aircross, the lovers of the wilderness and everyday comfort. Now with a £1,500 electric car grant. Grab the maltese's. Because that's the ping-ping-ping of Priya being added to yet another group chat. This time it's Bristol High reunion hall. Wine emoji, dance emoji, pokytong emoji. Apparently to arrange a holiday with 15 women who haven't hung out since... ...Jeggings. Shove some more maltese's in because we're still debating a chat name. And frankly, have more chance of shaving a unicorn in a phone booth than the plans making it adder this group chat. Maltese's. Look on the light side. We're on. June 2029.