Meal Prepping and Mental Health
I've talked already about how I tend to get more anxious then normal as spring and summer get closer. With summer comes less amounts of clothes (or clothes that cover less of my body) and stress about not feeling confident in those clothes. one way I find helps relieve that extra anxiety is to meal prep and plan.
Mason Jar Salads
If we know that the weather is going to be especially warm, certain weeks we make fresh yummy and filling salads in mason jars. Not only do mason jars look super cool and pretty but they have an airtight seal that keeps things fresh all week long. I make my salads in smaller jars and Tyler makes his in bigger quart sized jars. The way our work days go are very different. Tyler has a scheduled lunch break in his day and I eat when I can in between clients during the day. Sometimes I have 40 minutes and other times I 10 minutes. So I tend to eat a small meal and a few snacks throughout my day.
Salads are great. Its fresh food and there are so many options to keep things interesting. Our favorite salad to make is a Cesar salad. It is so easy to make. Seriously, Tyler and I can assemble these jar salads in 15 minutes or so.
In the spring we love making a strawberry and quinoa salad. This one is a little more work because you have to pre-cook and cool down the quinoa. But if you have a chill day at home just make the quinoa in the morning and give it the day to cool down.
Another really easy salad is a southwestern or taco salad. This salad is mostly made up of canned goods and is therefore ridiculously easy to do. I also really like to make this one vegetarian because it just makes it that much easier.
Warm Mason Jar Meals
Sometimes it is just too chilly for a salad. So we makes soups and curries during these times. And sometimes during the summer the air conditioning at work leaves me so freezing that I just need some hot food during the work day.
Curries are a fantastic mason jar meal. You can make it vegetarian or not. And you can kinda put whatever you want in it. We use a curry past to sautéed our veggies in. Then we add a can or two of coconut milk. And you have curry. Serve it over rice and be prepared for deliciousness.
Most recently We made curried lentils and quinoa.......So Yummy!!!
Random Meal Prep and Snack Ideas
So currently Tyler is working a very early shift at work every three weeks. On these weeks he skips out on meal prepping just cuz his schedule is so thrown off. That means I meal prep on my own. During these weeks I like to meal prep things in smaller batches so I waste less food.
I love making a chicken salad and either make it a sandwich or eating it on crackers. Sometimes I like to use an avocado instead on mayo. Not only is it delicious but it makes it a bit healthier. Same goes for egg salad.
Buying prepackaged tamales is another go to meal prep thing for me on these odd weeks. But I open the big package of tamales and put them in their own containers for each days worth of food.
A big part of recovering from an eating disorder is reacquainting yourself with food. I found making all my own food helped with this. That way I couldn't find an excuse to not eat. I made the food exactly how I like it, no excuses. This is still something I find comforting four years after my last re-lapse. When I'm having a tough time I turn to the things that I can control. which ends up being food. My reaction to stress used to be to not eat and now my reaction to stress is to plan what I'm going to eat. I might have a difficult time eating that food, but I do it. Meal prep and meal planning is such a huge part of my mental health and I hope this helps you in some way
Thanks for reading and simply stay pretty.
Mason Jar Salads
If we know that the weather is going to be especially warm, certain weeks we make fresh yummy and filling salads in mason jars. Not only do mason jars look super cool and pretty but they have an airtight seal that keeps things fresh all week long. I make my salads in smaller jars and Tyler makes his in bigger quart sized jars. The way our work days go are very different. Tyler has a scheduled lunch break in his day and I eat when I can in between clients during the day. Sometimes I have 40 minutes and other times I 10 minutes. So I tend to eat a small meal and a few snacks throughout my day.
Salads are great. Its fresh food and there are so many options to keep things interesting. Our favorite salad to make is a Cesar salad. It is so easy to make. Seriously, Tyler and I can assemble these jar salads in 15 minutes or so.
In the spring we love making a strawberry and quinoa salad. This one is a little more work because you have to pre-cook and cool down the quinoa. But if you have a chill day at home just make the quinoa in the morning and give it the day to cool down.
Another really easy salad is a southwestern or taco salad. This salad is mostly made up of canned goods and is therefore ridiculously easy to do. I also really like to make this one vegetarian because it just makes it that much easier.
Warm Mason Jar Meals
Sometimes it is just too chilly for a salad. So we makes soups and curries during these times. And sometimes during the summer the air conditioning at work leaves me so freezing that I just need some hot food during the work day.
Curries are a fantastic mason jar meal. You can make it vegetarian or not. And you can kinda put whatever you want in it. We use a curry past to sautéed our veggies in. Then we add a can or two of coconut milk. And you have curry. Serve it over rice and be prepared for deliciousness.
Most recently We made curried lentils and quinoa.......So Yummy!!!
Random Meal Prep and Snack Ideas
So currently Tyler is working a very early shift at work every three weeks. On these weeks he skips out on meal prepping just cuz his schedule is so thrown off. That means I meal prep on my own. During these weeks I like to meal prep things in smaller batches so I waste less food.
I love making a chicken salad and either make it a sandwich or eating it on crackers. Sometimes I like to use an avocado instead on mayo. Not only is it delicious but it makes it a bit healthier. Same goes for egg salad.
Buying prepackaged tamales is another go to meal prep thing for me on these odd weeks. But I open the big package of tamales and put them in their own containers for each days worth of food.
A big part of recovering from an eating disorder is reacquainting yourself with food. I found making all my own food helped with this. That way I couldn't find an excuse to not eat. I made the food exactly how I like it, no excuses. This is still something I find comforting four years after my last re-lapse. When I'm having a tough time I turn to the things that I can control. which ends up being food. My reaction to stress used to be to not eat and now my reaction to stress is to plan what I'm going to eat. I might have a difficult time eating that food, but I do it. Meal prep and meal planning is such a huge part of my mental health and I hope this helps you in some way
Thanks for reading and simply stay pretty.
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