Meal prep basics: how weekly planning works

Sunday evening, 8 p.m. Three pans are on the hob, a tray of oven vegetables is browning, and six glass containers are waiting on the side. Sounds like a lot? It is not – the whole thing runs in a good fifty minutes, and much of that is waiting time. That is exactly what meal prep basics are about: not perfect boxes for the internet, but making sure that at 12:30 on Wednesday you are not standing in front of the fridge again finding nothing.

Meal prep basics: the short answer

Meal prep means preparing meals or their components in advance, portioning them and storing them properly. The three basics are: planning (what do I eat when, what do I buy for it), cooking in components instead of in finished dishes – that is, one starch side dish, one or two protein sources, two kinds of vegetables – and chilling properly, so the preparation stays safe. Anyone who masters these three points needs no recipe collection and no special equipment.

The thinking error of many beginners: they precook five identical lunches. By Thursday you cannot bear the sight of chicken with rice. Cook building blocks instead that can be combined differently – quinoa goes in the salad, in the soup and in the bowl.

Planning beats stockpiling – and saves money

A shopping list that comes out of the weekly plan is the most underestimated part of the whole thing. According to the FOEN, Swiss food consumption causes around 2.8 million tonnes of avoidable food loss a year, which works out at about 310 kilograms per person. The ETH report commissioned by the FOEN puts avoidable waste in Swiss households at over 600 francs per person a year.

That is not a moralising finger, but a practical observation: the bunch of carrots that rots in the vegetable drawer was usually bought with no concrete plan. Anyone who knows that carrots go in the bowl on Tuesday and in the soup on Thursday buys the right amount.

A tip from practice you rarely read: plan in a deliberate gap. Two days a week with no fixed preparation. Otherwise you cook on Sunday for seven days – and on Friday half of it lands in the bin because dinner with friends came up spontaneously.

Hygiene and shelf life: the figures you have to know

This is where meal prep goes from a hobby to a craft. The FSVO states that meat, poultry, fish and seafood must be stored in the fridge below 5 °C and that perishable foods and leftovers are to be kept cool. Thawed food may not be frozen again. For frozen goods the hygiene ordinance requires –18 °C or colder, and the cold chain must not be broken.

And the cooling? Warm food does not belong hot in a sealed container in the fridge – it heats up the whole compartment. Spread it out flat, let it stand briefly, then seal and chill.

What belongs in a good box?

The Swiss dietary recommendations from the SGE and the FSVO give five portions of fruit and vegetables a day, three portions of cereal products or potatoes (wholegrain preferred), two to three portions of dairy products and pulses regularly. Unprocessed and minimally processed foods are preferred. The WHO recommends at least 400 grams of fruit and vegetables a day and less than 5 grams of salt.

Broken down to one box that roughly means: half vegetables, a quarter protein source, a quarter starch – plus some fat from oil, nuts or seeds. That is not a formula, but a guideline value, as the recommendations themselves stress.

Drinks belong in the planning too: one to two litres a day, water being best. If you like variety, you can stir the instant herbal drink with tea extracts, mango and dragon fruit flavour into your water bottle. A spoonful into cold or warm water – that works at the office just as well as on the move, when how much you drink otherwise gets forgotten.

The 5-step routine for your first prep day

1. Sketch out the weekly plan. Three lunches, two breakfasts – no more the first time.
2. Derive the shopping list from the plan, not from a gut feeling in the shop. Check beforehand what you already have.
3. The oven first. Vegetable tray in, while grains and pulses simmer on the hob. That is the time when you are actually doing nothing.
4. Cool, portion, label. Put the date on – after three days nobody remembers when the curry came about.
5. Set an emergency option for the evening when everything goes differently.

Shakes are practical for exactly this fifth point. The Herbalife Formula 1 without soya, lactose and gluten – Raspberry and White Chocolate 500g is prepared in two minutes and needs no cooker. For everyone who has little time in the morning anyway, it is worth looking at the Herbalife breakfast as a fixed routine – and if you would like structured support for your meals, you will find suitable approaches under Herbalife Weight Management. You can see all the flavours and versions under All Herbalife products.

Keeping at it is easier than being perfect

The FSVO's national nutrition survey menuCH recorded what is actually eaten and drunk in Switzerland with around 2,000 adults. Such data show one thing above all: everyday life is rarely as tidy as a nutrition plan. Meal prep is not a programme you either follow or fail – it is a habit you dose.

Start small.

Take fifty minutes this Sunday, precook three components and label the containers. After two weeks you will notice which meal prep basics really suit your rhythm – and which you can safely leave out. If you would like to structure your week with shakes or drinks as well, you will find the right addition in our range.

Suitable products