Planning and prepping your weekday meals in advance can be a big help in saving time and money. It can also keep you on track with your healthy diet.

Meal prep might seem a bit overwhelming, but with a few simple tips you’ll get a routine going in no time.

Collect ideas during the week

Take screenshots of, or bookmark healthy recipe ideas that you come across during the week. This gives you bank of recipes to choose from when it’s time to start meal planning.

Check your calendar

Before you plan your meals for the week, check your calendar to see what you have going on. This will help you to determine how much to buy and how many meals to prepare.

Get to planning

Decide what meals you’ll need to prepare for the week and plan your menu. Use a spreadsheet to help you organise.

Pick a prep day

Choose a day on the weekend to shop and prep, or spread the shopping and preparing over both days. Getting it all done in one swoop over the weekend means you’ve got nothing to think about during your busy week.

Stick to simple proteins

Hard-boiled eggs, chicken breasts, ground beef or ground turkey are easy to prep proteins that can be made in advance in large quantities. You can throw them in a salad or combine with roasted vegetables for easy, nutritious and filling dishes.

Chop and roast

Chop or roast large batches of veggies that you can easily throw in with other foods to make a complete, healthy dish.

Overlapping ingredients

Choose recipes that share the same ingredients. For example, if you’re making rice for a curry dish one night, you can plan fried rice for another meal in the week.

Freezer-friendly

Make meals that are freezer friendly and reheat well. You’re less likely to resort to buying takeout on busy evenings if you know you’ve got a meal ready in the freezer that just needs to be reheated.

Sources: Eat This, Greatist, Women’s Health, Daily Burn