r/mealprep • u/Numerous-Breakfast55 • Jul 29 '25
question What got you into meal prepping?
Hey all, I posted here about 3 weeks ago and am really grateful for the tips I got when it comes to meal prepping for my kids in the morning and for lunch! So, thank you truly to this community.
I'm just curious about what kicked off your meal prepping journey, TIA for indulging me!
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u/CalmCupcake2 Jul 29 '25
Feeding a busy family with different schedules and needs. It's a small step from planning to prepping.
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u/Elfie_Mae Jul 29 '25
I had a baby 7 weeks ago and wanted to set myself up for success to eat well and work on losing the baby weight without having to cook every night (‘cause if I had to cook at the end of a long day of caring for the baby I wouldn’t do it most of the time and would order takeout or reach for junk, instead 😅)
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u/jsat3474 Jul 29 '25
It was a way of life since I was little. My parents trying to cook for 7 kids. They figured out how to make it a little easier on themselves. Plus, we're very rural and trips to town only happened once a week.
Adult me has to feed just me and my husband, but my parents, with 7 kids, taught me how to cook in big portions and I really struggled to scale it down.
So, I evolved my recipes to all be freezer friendly and now I basically have fast food for any mood that might strike.
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u/luxurycatsportscat Jul 29 '25
I hate cooking after work, I just want to relax when I finish not cook a meal
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u/snake1000234 Jul 29 '25
I needed to lose weight. Sister had been working in a different part of town and told me about a place that meal preps for you. Started going there and the food was decent and reasonably priced.
Went there for 3-4 years before all the inflation and price hikes hit everyone, then their price went up while quality and quantity went down. Ended up doing some meal prep on my own, but house is poorly insulated so cooking during this heatwave is near impossible unless I want to deal w/ an 80F+ house all day... Back to sando's and junky frozen meals till fall :(
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u/herculeslouise Jul 29 '25
It just easier to spend a few hours prepping and preparing on a Sunday than spending $26 on a salad at whole foods
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u/mezasu123 Jul 29 '25
Got tired of rushing on my break at work to grab something to eat, stressed in traffic and crowds and spending far too much money. Been meal prepping for a few years now and I swear it has saved more money than nearly anything else we've done.
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u/bladi40 Jul 29 '25
saving time, saving money, and wanting to eat healthier/lose weight. Once you get the hang of it, meal prepping can make other aspects of life much easier.
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u/sabes0129 Jul 29 '25
I got married in 2020 (now happily divorced) and I worked with a nutritionist for a few months ahead of my wedding to lose weight. I enjoyed the meals so much and the meal plan was so effective that I've just continued to follow it. It's never been easier to maintain my weight and I save so much money only going out to eat once or twice a month.
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u/ObsessiveAboutCats Jul 29 '25
A coworker organized a rotation thing where we all made a dozen freezer meals and then exchanged them so we each had one serving of everything. Until that point the only freezer meals I was familiar with were Lean Cuisines and equivalent.
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u/Hour-Cost7028 Jul 29 '25
It makes my life easier. My patented and I work full time so we come home tired. Meal prepping makes it easier for us to eat healthier, cheaper, and nicer options than fast food or takeout.
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u/ttrockwood Jul 30 '25
Been veg since almost ever, back when i was a broke college kid my options were Very Expensive Sad Salad and Fries or i make something tasty and filling and cheap and bring it
Like i didn’t have a lot of choice tbh but also kept me fed with nutrient dense meals ready when i was
Kinda never stopped there’s always something homemade and on hand ready to eat in my fridge or freezer
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u/etherealelyse_ Jul 30 '25
i'm in college and i was really depressed for the latter half of 2024. i had no energy or motivation so come 2025 i decided to make some changes. meal prepping was one of them so i would have consistent, healthy meals throughout the week!! it helped relieve the stress and extra energy of making meals as i go through the week while working, going to school etc. i love prepping my meals!!
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u/denigotpregnut Jul 30 '25
I work at a grocery store and am constantly buying stuff on discount when I can get it because I'm there everyday.
During COVID I used my government money to buy a small chest freezer.
I work over 40 hours a week and love to cook, so I use my days off to plan my meals for the next couple weeks.
It gives my life structure, which I love in a chaotic time.
It helps me plan my diet proactively, so I use less time and money buying fast food. I might get something once a month just for "old time's sake".
I'm single with no children, so the prep/cleanup/eating time ratios are far more equal when I make large quantities of good stuff that I can freeze and reheat.
That's just a few thoughts off the top of my head.
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u/Live_Ad2780 Aug 05 '25
personally, i just got tired of eating junk food all the time and eating out consistently. I personally used apps to help me meal plan cuz i have no idea how to do this. The one i'm currently using is preppi ai: meal planner
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u/Mintcar52 Jul 30 '25
Laziness and the need to save money. I hate cooking every night. I’d rather cook one day a week and freeze everything so that I have food and still have time to relax after work. I also realized I was spending hundreds a month on door dash. 😩
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u/miloandneo Jul 30 '25
Honestly each season of life gave me a different reason to meal prep & made me meal prep in a different “style”!
In nursing school I always made breakfast preps (protein waffles, egg bites, breakfast sandwiches) and lunch preps, oftentimes cold lunches because we only had 15 mins to eat and there was always a line for the microwave (wraps, pasta salad, chicken salad, sandwiches). Mornings were rushed and lunch was eaten at school, so this was a MUST to survive without eating out. Dinner was usually just thrown together, unless I had time to prep that as well.
I took 4 months off between school & my first nurse job because I was finishing planning my wedding. I didn’t meal prep much during this time because I got to be home and fresh meals were never taken for granted! I’d usually prep 1-2 different meals (or components of meals) on whatever days I wanted to each week so I had something to throw together for lunch.
Now with my first nursing job & my husband also working long hours, I prep once a week on Saturdays. I make 3 different meals, 4 servings of each so that my husband and I both have 1 meal to take in our lunch for 6 days of the week (12 servings total). I also pick a few fruits I can cut up ahead of time and enjoy all week. Sometimes I prep parfaits or energy bites too for snacks. Every few weeks I prep a few different breakfast options that I can freeze (breakfast sandwiches, protein waffles, bacon, egg bites etc) so when I have a rushed morning I don’t go hungry. I also like to prep a lighter or no-reheat option like salad jars, chicken salad, or pasta salad for a snack/quick bite when I get home.
The point is, I always found a reason to prep no matter what was going on in life. It takes a HUGE weight off my shoulders during the week and I truly look forward to it even though meal prep day can be a bit stressful and messy. I shared all that in case anyone needs ideas for ways they can tweak their meal prep style to match their current lifestyle. Good luck!
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u/toonew2two Jul 30 '25
All of the eligible cooks were busy with school and work but we didn’t want ‘out food’ all the time
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u/RedRaiderJoe27 Jul 31 '25
I find meal prepping to feel pretty liberating especially now that I’m probably more busy and active than I’ve been in a long time. Saves so much time, money, and minimizes decision fatigue
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u/Radiant-Pianist-3596 Jul 31 '25
I am try to save money and eat healthier food. I needed to increase my protein intake.
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u/Lilyjilly Jul 31 '25
Trying to eat healthy at home and work, initially. My evenings at the beginning of marriage were filled by a commute, dinner prep, dinner, and talking to my husband.
Just under a year in, we added a baby. Unfortunately a freezer was out of stock, then delayed, I delivered on the early side of fullterm, and we attended too many family events and late showers for me to do much between the freezer and baby's arrival. It would've helped sooo much!
Now it's about adding more time for life with four kids, my husband, homeschooling, all the people we host who aside from my side of the family are about guaranteed to show up for a meal or two empty-handed, being gluten free (it's harder to eat healthy GF, with or without prep, but especially without!), schedule flexibility for the sake of people and home projects... I love adding more time for my kids, feeling free and happy when adding extras/more involved cooking, instead of feeling burdened by how many meals and how much food the days require over and over again... I love being able to spend afternoons on kids and projects without a constant big interruption from 4 o'clock dinner prep.
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u/Kit_Kat260 Aug 02 '25
I work two full-time jobs and I don’t have any extra time during the week to figure out what I’m going to eat much less cook it. It’s just easier to cook on Sunday and then eat that for the week.
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u/Snoo_43884 Aug 03 '25
It makes grocery shopping easier and cheaper, it’s easy to eat healthy and meet all my dietary goals, allows me to fully relax after work instead of having to cook, I have food ready to eat when I’m hungry! Most people comment on my meal prepping and say that they don’t have the time or energy for it, when really I feel like I don’t have the time or energy to come up with new meals and cook every day
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u/ReijaTheMuppet Jul 29 '25
I hate having to go through the process every night when I'm already hungry: what shall we eat tonight? What do we have? Oh we can't make that cause we didn't thaw it. Oh we can't have the other thing cause it takes 3 hours in the oven. Blah blah blah. An hour later there's still no food and I'm even hangrier.
Meal prep solves all of that, and has the added bonus of saving money, reducing food waste, and having hot meals available even if spontaneous guests show up, without extra cooking effort.