Eating In: 4 Tips for Healthy Meal Prepping for Busy Partners.

What we eat is a powerful part of health. Yet, busy schedules and competing interests can sometimes leave little time for cooking at home, ultimately causing healthier culinary choices to take a back seat to the convenience of DoorDash and Uber Eats—and/or late-night munchies. 

Making time to prepare your meals in advance can improve your health and relationships when you and your partner focus up on your health and nutrition goals. 

Studies have shown that cooking at home means eating higher quality food with fewer calories. We also see these couples who prepare and eat at home also spend less money on food and gain less weight over time than those who dine out or eat prepared food regularly. If you have a metabolic condition, such as diabetes, cooking at home can help you manage blood sugar levels. 

Low blood sugar levels can impact anyone. When you’re consistent with your meal plan and food intake, you help prevent cravings, your body’s own cues for low-nutrition self-sabotage. Staying on track with informed decisions about what to eat when your blood sugars are crashing after a long workday can help you achieve your goals. 

About 44% of people in the U.S. say they meal prep regularly, with dinner coming in as the top choice of meals to get ready ahead of time. 

Another great thing about meal prepping is that you can save a ton of time. No chance to make dinner? Late getting out the door in the morning? No problem, just grab lunch and go! To get those benefits, you’ll need to dedicate some time to getting all that food ready in advance. 

The first thing you may think to yourself is just how much time is this going to take? The answer isn’t black and white, but certainly you do not need to work in the kitchen for hours on a Sunday. Let’s walk through a game plan with your partner, divide and conquer on the cutting skills, and make this an integral part of how you love yourself and invest in your relationship. 

1. Communicate your food needs and dreams.

Think through your goals and what you how to accomplish by prepping. This could be weight loss, convenience, better health, or saving money, for example. Discuss what foods you like to eat and whether someone has a health condition, allergy, or dietary preference such as implementing a Mediterranean style of eating or a desire to focus on Plant-Based Nutrition. 

Be sure to discuss your goals with your partner in detail to ensure everyone’s on the same page when it comes to planning out the menu. 

Don’t forget to cover other food-related topics, such as:
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• Cultural considerations: If your partner comes from a meatless background, you may need to compromise on proteins.

• Financial restrictions: Maybe you want Lobster Truffle Mac & Cheese for lunch every day. Your partner (and your dietitian) may remind you that it doesn’t fit in your budget.

• Lifestyle preferences: If you’re balancing nutrition with an exercise plan, you may have different nutritional needs from someone who’s not. Be sure to talk about how you can support one another’s goals while considering your macros. Health conditions: For instance, if you have high blood pressure, you’ll want to discuss lower sodium options with your partner.

When you’ve discussed your goals and preferences, next consider where you shop. 

Related reading: Is Your Diet SAD? See How Going Mediterranean Supports Heart Health.

2. Plan your budget and shopping together.

Food can be expensive, and meal prepping is a great way to cut down on costs. When you’re carefully planning your meals, you’re less likely to buy foods you won’t eat and to throw away leftovers.

One great way to plan your meals is called the Plate Method. Focus on making sure half your plate contains non-starchy vegetables like leafy greens. Another 25% should be proteins like meat, eggs, or beans. The final 25% can be starches, like breads, potatoes, or pasta.

This method can help you take a healthy approach to almost any meal and any type of dietary restriction or preference. This methodology helps provide balanced energy with satisfying proteins, complex carbohydrates and a focus on always having a vegetable at the meal. Some prepping containers even come with dividers to make the Plate Method easy.

When you and your partner are looking for recipes, the internet has a lot of great options. From overnight oats to easy burritos, sites like Pinterest can help you pick recipes to try and stick not with your budget while reducing time spent in the kitchen. Some foodie creators even provide grocery lists and time stamps of how long recipes will take and appropriate storage methods. It’s easy to outsource and make this even simpler for yourself and your partner. 

Most restaurants have staple items on their menu: Things that a lot of people like that they know will sell well. Find the staple meals for your home and decide on a plan to prep these crowd-pleasers each week. 

Consider these tips to make menu planning and budgeting a breeze:
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• Start with recipes you know you like and make them healthier by adding fruits and vegetables. Cut back on processed sugars and other less healthy ingredients.

• Build your grocery list based upon those favorite recipes, minus what’s already in the pantry of course. Research how much you usually spend on food (including dining out) and keep your shopping close to that number. You can always reevaluate later on. Budgeting apps can help you navigate your costs on foods.

• Seasonal produce will give you the freshest ingredients for your recipes, and sales on bigger-ticket items like protein can reduce the impact on your budget.

• Plan for a take-out once a week if that works for your budget. This can give you some flexibility, and it helps to see how much more it costs than cooking at home.

Related reading: Food for Thought: What We Eat Affects Colorectal Cancer Risk.

3. Divide and conquer meal prep tasks.

Whenever possible, divide and conquer the chopping and cooking. With two sets of hands in the kitchen, you’ll find you can get most of the week’s meals ready in an afternoon or less. 

Need some recipe ideas to get you started?
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• Bean salads are quick and easy lunches that last a long time in the refrigerator. 

• Protein balls that combine nut butters, seeds, and chocolate can be a great mid-afternoon pick-me-up.

• Roasted vegetables can be prepared ahead of time and added to a protein for a great dinner option.

Those content creators I previously mentioned also focus on specific eating plans, such as keto or Mediterranean.

No matter what you decide to prepare, you’ll need to package it up into individual (or couple-sized) servings for storage. Frozen meals can be stored for up to three months, and prepared food can last in the refrigerator for three to five days. 

4. Evaluate and adapt.

To make the most of your meal prepping effort, make time to evaluate your plan and make changes to improve your strategy. 

Compare your pre-prepping budget with what you spend each week on your new plan. Looks for ways you can improve: Healthier recipes, less expensive ingredients, and tastier options are all ways to refine your prepping plan. 

Need to switch things up? Plan a theme week or choose new recipes that share a common (or uncommon) ingredient. Some preppers even turn to an AI assistant or apps like Mealtime or MealPrepPro for a helping hand.

Get healthier by meal prepping.

Preparing meals ahead of time can have so many benefits, from lowering stress to reducing grocery bills. Improving your nutrition can have a real impact on your health, too. MedStar Washington Hospital Center’s experts can help you find a sustainable nutrition plan that works for your health goals. 

Eating a healthy diet can help manage chronic conditions. It can also improve your mood, boost your energy, and bond with your partner in the kitchen while looking to keep your relationship nice and healthy. With some thoughtful planning—and a helpful partner—meal prepping can be a great way to get healthier, three times a day.