Living by yourself in Bangalore? Here's why you should start meal prepping right now if

Bangalore : Picture this. You're home late from college or work, too tired to cook but also quite hungry. You open the fridge and find it empty except for peanut butter and ketchup. You think of ordering something from an app, but it’ll take a while to get here and of course there’s the cost of takeaway to consider too. So you just settle onto your bed with a bowl of cornflakes and promise you’ll cook tomorrow. Has this ever happened to you? Well, if you don’t live in a managed accommodation like Stanza Living which provides you delicious and healthy chef-cooked meals through the day, comparable with the best of tiffin services in Bangalore, it probably has. And you could have saved yourself from this situation by moving there. But for others, there’s one more way - meal prepping.

So what is this meal prepping and why is the internet so obsessed with it? We’re here to break it down for you. Meal prepping is a way of getting entire meals or individual dishes ready ahead of schedule so you can save time and effort on cooking everyday. And yes, it’s more nutritious than ordering in. And more delicious too. Simply because you’ll be preparing your meals as per your own tastes, so you can ensure you’re never bored by the options. Meal prepping can help you make healthier life choices in general, since you’ll make smarter choices during your weekly grocery haul and avoid ordering food too often, once you’ve got pre-prepared meals ready to go.

So here are a few reasons that make meal-prepping super beneficial to your health, your diet and your wallet:

Maximise Savings (on time and money)

In today’s world, young professionals or students like you barely have time to balance their work and social life, let alone find extra hours to cook everyday. So meal prepping is an efficient way for you to save a huge amount of time through the week, by giving a few hours to getting things ready on a weekend. All you need to do is plan your meals on a weekend, and spend some time preparing the ingredients and portioning them out. If you’re planning a make-ahead style of meal-prep that you can just reheat on your working days, you may have to spend some more time batch-cooking your food. But either way, you’ll be saving hours of your time (and energy on washing up) on weekdays by getting the prep done ahead of time. And it’s good for your wallet too. Think about how much you spend on groceries in a week, plus how often you order food (and don’t forget to factor in all those secret snacks). Well, meal-prepping helps you streamline those costs. And every rupee saved is sure to help you cope better with the cost of living in Bangalore.

Variety is everything

When you don’t plan your meals in advance, you don’t actually end up trying new things. Think about it. If you only have 10 minutes to cook something on a Wednesday, you’re far likelier to go for the same old pasta you eat every week, than experiment with some new recipes. Even if you’re ordering in, you probably have the same pizza place or Chinese delivery on speed dial every time. But with meal prep, you can spice up your meal options (literally and figuratively). Swap in different veggies or proteins choices, try that recipe you’ve had bookmarked for months, and get creative with seasonings. It’ll be easier than ever for you to eat healthy, and you won’t be bored easily either. 

Practice portion control

If you’re living alone for the first time, you’re probably enjoying having control of your life, right? Well, that control can extend to your plate when you start meal prepping. Because unlike when you just make food choices based on what’s going bad in your fridge, or which restaurant has a discount, you can control which ingredients to use in your meals, what combinations to try and the portion sizes. This is a great practice, especially if you’re trying to up the health quotient of your life. Portion control is a great way to increase your energy and keep a check on your waistline Plus, when you’re portioning your food for the week, you’re less likely to end up with unnecessary extras that make you overeat despite being full.

Minimise food waste

Did you know that more than 40% of the food produced in India is wasted. And even if we discount the amount of wastage that occurs at production or transportation levels, let’s consider how much is wasted in our own homes. Think of all the half-eaten meals you’ve left at restaurants, the scraps when you’re cooking at home, or the milk that went sour at the back of your fridge. All this food-waste can be avoided, or at least minimised, through meal-prepping. It’s simple. Like we said before, when you’re planning out your meals ahead of time, you’re only going to shop for what you need. As you start the process, you’ll become familiar with how much to buy for a week’s worth of portions as well as the shelf life of different ingredients. It’s not just here that you’re working on reducing wastage. Since you’re cooking in advance, there’s no way that you’ll have unused leftovers. Divide up your portions into storage containers and keep them in your freezer to wait for another day. This way there’s no risk of food getting spoiled during the week.

We think these reasons are more than enough for you to start meal prepping your way to a better life. You’ll get to eat healthier and tastier food with a lot less effort. So what are you waiting for? Grub’s up!