KEY INSIGHT: The failure of most “meal prep” advice is that it’s designed for Instagram, not real life. People don’t fail at healthy eating because they lack cooking skills or time—they fail because they’re making decisions when they’re tired, hungry, and depleted. The solution isn’t spending hours making identical meals in containers. It’s creating a decision framework (what theme is each night?) combined with light staging of components (proteins, vegetables, grains ready to assemble). This removes the cognitive load of “what should I eat?” while maintaining flexibility and variety. You’re not meal prepping—you’re decision prepping.
PERSONAL REFLECTION: Think about the times you’ve ordered takeout or eaten poorly. How many of those times was it because you genuinely didn’t have time to cook, versus you didn’t want to think about what to cook? Most people discover it’s the latter. The exhaustion isn’t physical—it’s decision fatigue. Having a weekly pattern eliminates that fatigue without requiring hours of weekend cooking.
TODAY’S EXERCISE:
This week, implement the weekly pattern framework:
Step 1: Assign a theme to each day of the week using the pattern suggested (or create your own pattern that fits your life)
Step 2: Pick ONE day to do light prep (30-60 minutes):
Step 3: Shop by categories, not recipes:
Track the results:
The goal this week isn’t perfection—it’s proving to yourself that healthy eating is realistic when you have a system instead of relying on daily willpower.