Who really likes to eat tilapia, broccoli, and chicken for every meal? Finding meal prep ideas for muscle gain can be hard, but the beauty of flexible dieting, aka If It Fits Your Macros (IIFYM), is that it allows us to be flexible with what we eat so we aren’t stuck with the same four boring meal staples. But just because flexible dieting allows for a lot of leeway when it comes to the food we eat, sometimes we get caught up in the same routine of joieating the same foods over and over again, until we can no longer stand to look at our baked chicken with brown rice. It doesn’t have to be like that! With some ingenuity and culinary creativity, we can up our meal prep game to a whole new level.
Here are four boring foods that kill anyone’s meal prep game, and some alternatives to make your meals more fun and help you kick your meal prep game up a few notches! While there is nothing wrong with these foods, it’s great to be able to change things up and have some fun with your meals.
1. Chicken
This is the easiest and most readily available go-to protein source but can really get old pretty quick! Instead of baked chicken day-in-day-out, use a variety of spices to literally spice up your meal prep. My personal favorite is to cook chicken on the grill, but to make sure my chicken doesn’t get boring throughout the week, I season my chicken three ways. So instead of salt and pepper chicken for five straight days, I make yellow curried chicken, lemon pepper chicken, and chicken adobo. Creative seasonings like these allow me to have the most fun with my food, so while you’re tired of your boring baked chicken I’m diggin into my curry chicken tacos!
Another great solution to up your meal prep chicken is to go without it. Chicken is a great source of protein, but with some macro maneuvering you can enjoy steak, pork, or turkey!
2. Tilapia
Nothing is wrong with tilapia, but it can be little boring and predictable. Instead of becoming complacent with your tilapia meals, try replacing this boring fish with shrimp. It cooks so quickly and you can add seasonal veggies, bow tie or penne pasta for your carbs, throw in pesto and chickpeas, add feta cheese and fresh herbs for a complete meal.
Another alternative to tilapia is salmon. It is a simple, easy-to-cook protein, PLUS it has a good dose of Omega-3 healthy fats! Wrap it in foil with some veggies, olive oil, small pieces of potato and bake or grill it.
3. Broccoli
Broccoli can really bring your meal prep game down! But instead of downing yourself with so much broccoli your skin turns green, check out all the other choices: broccolini (longer, thinner stalks than broccoli and not nearly as bitter), spinach, baby kale, zucchini or squash…which are now abundant and fresh in the summer garden. Toss your not-so-boring veggies in a bowl with salt and pepper, olive oil, and some lemon juice and grill them. Be creative and add to a big salad, eggs, pasta, or protein source. Sure broccoli is simple and easy, but if by Wednesday you struggle to stick with your meal prep, then the extra time cooking more interesting veggies is absolutely worth it.
4. Rice
The beauty of IIFYM is that you can eat ALL kinds of carbs – so experiment a little. What I really love now are all the pre-packaged and cooked varieties that are available. These are so convenient if you’re short on time or just not in the mood for putting your cooking skills to use! Ditch the rice a few weeks and add in quinoa, barley, bagels, English muffins, wraps, tortillas, hard and soft taco shells, or white and sweet potatoes. Be sure to watch your sugar and fiber intake with your carbs and track your daily numbers.
IIFYM allows you the wonderful opportunity to EAT! Not just chicken, broccoli, and rice, but a great variety of foods from so many food groups. The more diverse your macros are, the better chances of you getting all the nutrients and vitamins your body needs and responds to.
Jessie’s Girls is all about enjoying food and kicking ass in the gym! And remember, you can’t have a tough training session without fueling your body correctly. Part of this is mixing up your tastebuds and go-to foods!
If you need even more ideas, check out #JESSIESGIRLSMACROS on Instagram. If you want to take your meal prep game a step further, you can sign up for a monthly membership to Jessie Fitness. You’ll have access to my daily workouts, my extensive recipe database with macro counts included, and access to my special Ask Jessie section, only available to members!
For more information click on the button below!
Here are four boring foods that kill anyone’s meal prep game, and some alternatives to make your meals more fun and help you kick your meal prep game up a few notches! While there is nothing wrong with these foods, it’s great to be able to change things up and have some fun with your meals.
1. Chicken
This is the easiest and most readily available go-to protein source but can really get old pretty quick! Instead of baked chicken day-in-day-out, use a variety of spices to literally spice up your meal prep. My personal favorite is to cook chicken on the grill, but to make sure my chicken doesn’t get boring throughout the week, I season my chicken three ways. So instead of salt and pepper chicken for five straight days, I make yellow curried chicken, lemon pepper chicken, and chicken adobo. Creative seasonings like these allow me to have the most fun with my food, so while you’re tired of your boring baked chicken I’m diggin into my curry chicken tacos!
Another great solution to up your meal prep chicken is to go without it. Chicken is a great source of protein, but with some macro maneuvering you can enjoy steak, pork, or turkey!
2. Tilapia
Nothing is wrong with tilapia, but it can be little boring and predictable. Instead of becoming complacent with your tilapia meals, try replacing this boring fish with shrimp. It cooks so quickly and you can add seasonal veggies, bow tie or penne pasta for your carbs, throw in pesto and chickpeas, add feta cheese and fresh herbs for a complete meal.
Another alternative to tilapia is salmon. It is a simple, easy-to-cook protein, PLUS it has a good dose of Omega-3 healthy fats! Wrap it in foil with some veggies, olive oil, small pieces of potato and bake or grill it.
3. Broccoli
Broccoli can really bring your meal prep game down! But instead of downing yourself with so much broccoli your skin turns green, check out all the other choices: broccolini (longer, thinner stalks than broccoli and not nearly as bitter), spinach, baby kale, zucchini or squash…which are now abundant and fresh in the summer garden. Toss your not-so-boring veggies in a bowl with salt and pepper, olive oil, and some lemon juice and grill them. Be creative and add to a big salad, eggs, pasta, or protein source. Sure broccoli is simple and easy, but if by Wednesday you struggle to stick with your meal prep, then the extra time cooking more interesting veggies is absolutely worth it.
4. Rice
The beauty of IIFYM is that you can eat ALL kinds of carbs – so experiment a little. What I really love now are all the pre-packaged and cooked varieties that are available. These are so convenient if you’re short on time or just not in the mood for putting your cooking skills to use! Ditch the rice a few weeks and add in quinoa, barley, bagels, English muffins, wraps, tortillas, hard and soft taco shells, or white and sweet potatoes. Be sure to watch your sugar and fiber intake with your carbs and track your daily numbers.
IIFYM allows you the wonderful opportunity to EAT! Not just chicken, broccoli, and rice, but a great variety of foods from so many food groups. The more diverse your macros are, the better chances of you getting all the nutrients and vitamins your body needs and responds to.
Jessie’s Girls is all about enjoying food and kicking ass in the gym! And remember, you can’t have a tough training session without fueling your body correctly. Part of this is mixing up your tastebuds and go-to foods!
If you need even more ideas, check out #JESSIESGIRLSMACROS on Instagram. If you want to take your meal prep game a step further, you can sign up for a monthly membership to Jessie Fitness. You’ll have access to my daily workouts, my extensive recipe database with macro counts included, and access to my special Ask Jessie section, only available to members!
For more information click on the button below!
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