meal prep containers with high-protein and nutritions foods

Meal Prep Made Simple: Tips to Save Time and Crush Your Goals

Meal prepping doesn’t have to be overwhelming! With a few simple meal prep tips, you can save time, stay consistent, and hit your nutrition goals every week. Knowing how much protein you should eat can help you create balanced meals—check out our guide to how much protein you need.

3 Meal Prep Tips to Save Time

  1. Cook in Batches: Prepare two simple, one-pot meals for lunch/dinner and two breakfast options to divide into portions for the week.
  2. Prep Grab-and-Go Proteins: Have pre-measured protein sources ready to mix into meals or eat on their own.
  3. Spread Out the Work: Divide planning, shopping, and cooking over a few days to avoid overwhelm.

How to Save Time with One-Pot Meals

One-pot meals are one of the best meal prep tips for busy weeks. Here’s how to make them work:

  • Cook everything in one pot or pan to simplify cleanup.
  • Measure the total calories & macros in your recipe and divide evenly into containers.
  • Label each container with the protein calorie & macro content per container.

Example Recipe: Lentils & Rice with Spinach

Ingredients:
- 1 cup uncooked lentils
- 1 cup uncooked brown rice
- 3 cups vegetable broth
- 1 onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cups chopped spinach
- Salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions:
1. Combine lentils, rice, vegetable broth, onion, and garlic in a large pot.
2. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer.
3. Cook for 30-40 minutes, or until lentils and rice are tender.
4. Stir in chopped spinach and season with salt and pepper.

Protein Content: ~44g total (22g per serving, assuming 2 servings). Multiply ingredients for larger batches!

Grab-and-Go Protein Tips

Having grab-and-go protein options ready makes meal assembly quick and ensures you’re meeting your protein needs. Here’s a cheat sheet to make it easier:

Food Item Serving Size Protein Content
Chicken Breast3 oz (cooked)26g
Greek Yogurt3/4 cup17g
Lentils1 cup (cooked)18g

Pre-portion these into containers or keep measuring tools like scoops or scales handy for quick meal assembly!

Add Variety and Stay Consistent

While prepped meals are efficient, it’s important to keep your meals exciting. Include recipes you love, and cook them fresh when you have more time, like in the evenings or on weekends, to add variety and avoid boredom.

Find your favorite recipes, repeat them, and adjust portions over time. You’ll get faster at prepping and know your protein content by heart!

Our “Six” Elements of Fitness

It’s common thought that to become a better athlete you simply need to train more and push harder to be successful. Many athletes are familiar with the 10,000 hour rule which states that it requires 10,000 hours of deliberate practice to obtain elite level proficiency in your sport.

In many ways this concept holds true; you need to put in the time for your body to adapt to and learn the skills and movements required to perform at a high level of sport. However, we have found that there is more to the equation of improvement in sports than simply just training more. You certainly can and do become a better athlete simply by doing more of what you are striving to improve; more hours on the bike, more miles on the run, or more time in the gym. Assuming you have the time and fitness to spend 5+ hours a day training your sport, in time, you will become highly competent in your sport, allowing you to compete at a very high level.

There’s no question that if you put in the time, you will improve. But is this high volume, single-focused training approach the right way to maximize performance? Maybe, maybe not. Is it the only way to maximize performance? Definitely not.

Then what is the ‘right’ way or ‘best’ way to improve as an athlete?

There are many theories out there to follow, however we have found the answer to be: “It depends.” It depends on who the athlete is. How old is the athlete, what is the athlete’s background in sport, what is the athlete’s lifestyle, do they have a job, do they have a family, do they have the time, energy and physical capacity to allow them to train 30+ hours a week, week in and week out? If you’re a 20-something year old, athletic individual with minimal life stress and plenty of financial backing then it’s time to put in the big volume. However, if you’re over thirty, have to make money to support yourself and/or your family, or are a less than perfect physical specimen, then simply doing more of the same thing is not the best path to follow to reach your fullest potential.

Through working with hundreds of different athletes coming from all shapes and sizes of background in sport, we have found that there are six essential components required to maximize fitness and athletic development.

So how is the aspiring athlete going to maximize improvement when spending endless hours cranking out the effort is not an option? We have found over the years that all athletes must make fitness and sport a lifestyle, much like a professional, focusing on both the large and the small components of fitness to build the best possible athlete they can be. We have identified six key elements that are crucial to athletic success, and they can all be implemented regardless of the individual experience level or the amount of time the athlete has to devote to their sport.

The SIX elements of sport performance that make up the SESSIONS:6 Sport Performance philosophy:

  • Aerobic Conditioning

  • Strength & Stability

  • Skill Proficiency

  • Diet & Nutrition

  • Stress Management

  • Mental Fitness

By learning, incorporating and striving to always improve upon these six key components of fitness, an athlete will be better able to reach their fullest potential in sport performance.

The first three components, aerobic conditioning, muscular stability, and skill proficiency make up the physical “training” an athlete with do.

Aerobic conditioning can be achieved by not only spending more time performing their sport, but also through various modalities of cross-training during specific times of the year. Training aerobic endurance by going longer at times, as well as incorporating moderate and high intensity interval training, at and above an athlete’s aerobic and anaerobic thresholds at specific points in their training year, will improve their aerobic conditioning.

Including muscular strength and joint stability training will improve an athlete’s range of motion, application of force, and overall durability. Improper joint mobility and/or joint stability limits nearly every athlete in some manner. Improving these characteristics through proper strength training modalities, an athlete will become more efficient and able to use more of their given maximal aerobic capacity.

Developing the skills to move the body in the most efficient manner is critical to maximizing strength, power, speed and endurance. Wasted energy through improper movements not only slows you down but wastes valuable energy, limiting your performance. By incorporating drills into an athlete’s training program they will be able to maximize gains in strength and power as well as achieve a higher usage of their given maximal aerobic capacity.

The last three key components, diet & nutrition, stress management, and mental fitness are efforts made in between the physical training sessions.

These details require as much or more effort to incorporate into an athlete’s routine, but they can also often yield some of the biggest results.

Most athletes are aware of the importance of nutrition but few actually take it seriously for any length of time. Through optimal nutrition you not only perform better on race day, but you are also able to achieve optimal body composition for improved performance, optimal energy levels to improve training capacity, and optimal hormone operation within the body to improve health and recovery.

Recovery between training sessions is critical to maximize your training consistency and adaptation. Learning and incorporating proper recovery methods as well as recognizing other forms of stress in your your life and adjusting your training accordingly will allow you to train more effectively and get more from each training session.

Finally, perhaps the most neglected and overlooked component of success in sport is the power of the mind. Getting yourself in the right mindset to train to your fullest potential and compete to maximum ability is one of the toughest things for athletes to learn. It is subsequently also one of the most important abilities for athletes to transform themselves into champions. Practicing mental strategies and learning how to train and compete to your true ability will unlock the complete athlete within you.

To become the best athlete you can become and reach your fullest potential in the least amount of time possible, you must address these six crucial components of sport performance development: aerobic conditioning, strength & stability, skill proficiency, diet & nutrition stress management, and mental fitness.

When any one of these components is neglected or underdeveloped, an athlete will fall short of their maximum ability. Don’t fall into the trap that there is only one path to improvement, doing the same thing over and over. Rather, choose to expand your vision and athletic ability by addressing these six components of fitness to allow yourself to continually evolve and improve as an athlete.

By incorporating these 6 components into your daily training and lifestyle you will be able to consistently improve your performance year after year.

Written By: Cody Waite, Sessions:6 Sport Performance, owner/coach/athlete
Back To Top