Healthy Meal Prep: Time-saving plans to prep and portion your weekly meals

I love the idea of meal prep, but as I'm OCD in the kitchen it can get overwhelming! The plans are easy to follow and I loved the pictures. The meal plan included with each week was helpful as well. But, even though each individual recipe had the calorie count, it would have been nice to have the days total calorie count included in the day. We tried the plant-based plates weeks and the meatless meals. I too needed to cut the fat. But, I'm happy to say that I didn't feel the taste, texture, or quality of the meals I prepared was negatively affected in any way by this. We are a split household (I'm vegetarian, my husband is flexitarian) So, we tried an experiment with the Viva Variety week. I replaced the Chicken in the Camember Chicken with Tofu, and used home made vegan "meatballs" in place of the turkey meatballs for me and prepared my husband's as written. We were both happy with the results. I did lose a couple of pounds to boot! It took me a week or so to "find my groove" so the prep went smooth. But, now it's easier and smoother. I'm going to buy more copies for friends and family.

First of all, if you don't follow Fitcouplecooks on YouTube and watch their videos you need to... Like now! Second, this book is brilliant. I love their recipes and now I have tangable book to keep in my kitchen and refer to! Steph and Adam made meal prepping easy for us. They teach you not just show you how to meal prep, they know about calorie & macro counting, weighing, measuring food and even accommodate to vegan viewers. I applaud them for writing this book and for giving everyone access to money-saving healthy meal prep methods. If you want to get fit and start preparing healthy food at home but don't know how to start, buy this book, you won't regret it! Plus all their meals are super cost effective, way less than what you would pay to eat out every day.

I have cooked my way through three weeks of the book so far, so my review is based on those and I will update as I progress. PROS: -Step by Step Guide on how to prepare several meals at the same time -Grocery lists -The meals are very filling -It is easy to substitute ground turkey or chicken for the recipes that call for ground beef -The shrimp with cauliflower rice and the overnight oats have been highlights, as well as the buffalo chicken -Convenient: I do not have to come home every night and make dinner or wonder what I am going to have for lunch at work -Saves money -Takes about three hours to prepare all of the meals as directed for the week CONS -The portions are really large and loaded with calories (one dish has a whopping 680 calories per serving) -The meals are basic and are not meant to be culinary masterpieces. I have no problem serving these meals to my husband and I during the week, but I would not make any of them for guests. -The plant-based week meal plan was a total fail. I have no problem with vegetarian eating, in fact, I enjoy it. So I was disappointed at the lack of flavor in the dishes. The curry was good, but that is only because I used chicken instead of tofu. The meal with the roasted tofu was awful and I ended up throwing most of them away because the combination of broccoli, hummus, black beans and more garbanzo beans made me gag every time I opened one of the containers to eat (and in general, the whole week's meals made my husband and I extremely flatulent, which is no fun). It is clear the authors are not well-versed in flavoring and pairing plant-based meals. Overall, if you are looking for filling, time-saving, thrifty and convenient meals, then this books seems to be pretty good so far.

I have tried many many meal prep things online and in cookbooks and this is the first one that I can say I LOVE. What I've been looking for: all the instructions are in one place. It tells you chop up the veggies for meal #2 while meal #1 cooks so you don't have to figure it all out yourself or waste time. I have done several weeks of this by now. I don't personally find the portions large enough most of the time, which is my only complaint. Everything has been delicious, so you really don't get bored. Lots of veggies, which is exactly what I was looking for in my recipes. Biggest thing: it takes practice. My first 2 weeks took me ~8 hours to cook everything. My fourth week took me 2 hours. Invest in good, glass tupperware with locking lids to keep air out & keep food fresh.

I love the layout and menus so much I had to buy a second one and gave my first copy to my boss! I’m working through each week as it is presented in the book. So far everything is delicious and well portioned! The shopping list is a life saver. I make a quick copy and head to the store. I’ve been following these two on YouTube for a while now and really enjoy the recipes they have on there so new the book would definitely be worth buying! I am very pleased with this purchase and recommend it to everyone!! The plan is easy to follow and even though it took me a little longer to prep I know with time and practice I’ll get faster. The shrimp from the first week was my favorite and who knew cauliflower rice would be so delicious!!

Great cook book but I don't like the different groups these meal preps are grouped in. It is all over the place which is good if your are following one specific diet. Then basically you only have one 12-week plan. One sections has a low carb week & when adding the macros together it is deficient in nutritious carbs that you need to function if you are working out. Carbs fuel your workout! I was expecting more recipes with lower fat contents. The macro ratios in most of these recipes I would not consider "healthy." An average single serving of fat is 20-40g of fat. This book is a good intro to beginning to meal prep and figuring out which meal plan diet fits your lifestyle the best.

What to eat/make for lunch has always been a dilemma for me. There was a recipe in the January issue of Women’s Running Magazine from this book. I tried it (Pesto Salmon) & immediately fell in love. I read the article & found their YouTube channel. After making a few more meals via YouTube, I gathered some change & decided to buy the book (I’m a library book kind of girl so it’s hard for me to justify spending money on a book) & I’m so glad I did. The recipes are healthy, really easy to make, & taste good. I bought some glass meal containers & take about an hour on Sundays to make a week’s worth of lunch. You can also freeze the meals. I don’t like to cook, I’m a full time teacher, training for a half marathon, have two kids & a husband whose schedule is completely opposite from mine so this book has saved my mealtime life. My whole family likes the meals. I was looking for something like this and I’m so glad I found it.

I am loving this book! It makes meal prepping easy! Plus, I'm enjoying the recipes included. This is such a success that my husband asked to get in on the fun of eating healthy. This book has great pictures of the food (which I'm a big fan of), it gives you step by step instructions of how to cook/prepare your food for the week on prep day, gives you the recipe for each meal in the week, and then gives you a grocery list to show for that week specifically. This is my first venture into healthy meal prep--and I am really pleased with this book to walk with me along each step. I highly recommend it!