Meal Prep Monday Podcast™

Today wraps up our Tiny Habits series! Prep Dish founder Allison Schaaf walks through ten ideas for tiny meal prep habits you can start right away, in line with BJ Fogg’s concept of starting small. One Time Actions: Buy nice meal prep containers - (See Allison’s favorites here: https://prepdish.com/meal-planning/best-meal-prep-containers/ ) Choose a 1 hour block of time and mark it on the calendar for the next three months Ask family members which part of meal prep they can help with Sign up for Prep Dish! (com/mpm) Purchase a food processor to speed up chopping Ongoing Habits: Print meal plans every Friday - don’t forget to set your prompt - print before your weekly Friday meeting or after dropping your kids off for school on Friday, etc. Set a timer for 15 minutes every time you get home from the grocery store and wash and chop as much as you can in that time Set out your meal prep containers the night before you plan to prep Prep just one item when you get home from the grocery store (e.g., wash and chop your strawberries) Spend 5 minutes after dinner cleanup prepping the next day’s breakfast Connect with Allison: PrepDish.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prepdish/ Get your FREE mealplan at PrepDish.com/podcast OR text the word mealprep to 33777 Resources mentioned in this podcast: Get your 2 week free trial (and our June bonus, the FASTEST Meal Plan Ever if you sign up in June 2021) here: prepdish.com/mpm Buy the Tiny Habits Book: https://www.amazon.com/Tiny-Habits-Changes-Change-Everything-ebook/dp/B07LC9KDP5/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=tiny+habits&qid=1616702969&sr=8-1  

Chef and RD Allison Schaaf continues the series on BJ Fogg’s book, Tiny Habits.   Today’s episode focuses on Fogg’s concept of a “Super Fridge,” which he discusses in Chapter 6, page 185 of Tiny Habits.   What is a “Super Fridge”? On the weekends, author BJ Fogg does all of the prep work for a week of beautiful, healthy meals - chopping veggies, making whole grains, etc. He celebrates at the end, looking at his fridge full of prepped, healthy food and saying, “beautiful”.   Fogg calls this his “Super Fridge” because it allows him to stay on track with his health goals, without the daily struggle of willpower and motivation.   Prep Dish is the same concept! It’s a system that makes it easy to prep healthy food for the week. The second piece is, Fogg doesn’t let anything go to waste. His goal is to eat every item that he prepped for the week. This is a great way to focus on all the good things you can eat, rather than what you can’t when you’re trying to eat healthily.   Again, Prep Dish uses the same concept. You’ve already put in the time and effort to prepare healthy food, which makes takeout and less healthy options so much less tempting. Having a “Super Fridge” creates an environment that prioritizes health and nutrition, and also quality family time. When meals are already prepped, dinner time can become a relaxing time to come together again.   Connect with Allison: PrepDish.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prepdish/  Get your FREE mealplan at PrepDish.com/podcast OR text the word mealprep to 33777   Resources mentioned in this podcast: Get your 2 week free trial (and our June bonus, the FASTEST Meal Plan Ever if you sign up in June 2021) here: prepdish.com/mpm Share Pictures of Your Super Fridge in the Prep Dish Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1537447836539716/ Buy the Tiny Habits Book: https://www.amazon.com/Tiny-Habits-Changes-Change-Everything-ebook/dp/B07LC9KDP5/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=tiny+habits&qid=1616702969&sr=8-1

If you’d like to try our time-saving meal plans, check out our 2 week free trial for podcast listeners here: prepdish.com/mpm How do you break a bad habit? Today Allison Schaaf walks you through chapter 7 of BJ Fogg’s book, Tiny Habits and discusses how you can apply it to meal prep and healthy eating. She talks about how to break a bad habit, without relying on willpower and motivation. When trying to break a bad habit, first focus on a new healthy habit. For example, if you’re trying to break a takeout habit, focus on meal prep so you always have dinner prepped and have no reason to even think about takeout. Then you can focus on stopping the old habit. Here are some steps to include: Get specific. If you want to stop eating junk food, set a timer for 3 minutes and write out every single specific thing included in “stop eating junk food” from stop eating chips at night to stop ordering soda with lunch. Revisit the list, decide where to start and go from there. Identify the prompt for that habit you want to stop. If watching tv is a prompt for you to open a bag of chips, you might go for a walk instead of watching tv at night to remove that prompt to snack. It’s always easier to remove a prompt than to ignore it. Consider Ability - how do you make a bad habit harder? For example, you might stop buying chips or ice cream to keep in the house. You likely won’t usually want to drive to the store to buy those things at night. Or, you might just put them in a hard to reach spot like a high up cabinet or the back of the freezer. Swap with a new habit: For example, you might prep some cucumbers to swap with the nightly chip habit. Instead of removing the habit, you’re swapping it for a healthier habit, which is sometimes easier. Connect with Allison: PrepDish.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prepdish/ Get your FREE mealplan at PrepDish.com/podcast OR text the word mealprep to 33777 Resources mentioned in this podcast: Get your 2 week free trial (and our June bonus, the FASTEST Meal Plan Ever if you sign up in June 2021) here: prepdish.com/mpm Buy the Tiny Habits Book: https://www.amazon.com/Tiny-Habits-Changes-Change-Everything-ebook/dp/B07LC9KDP5/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=tiny+habits&qid=1616702969&sr=8-1  

How do your family, friends and community impact your habits? How do we change together?   In today’s episode, host Allison Schaaf invites you to join the conversation as we continue to explore BJ Fogg’s book Tiny Habits, and what it means for meal prep.   Community plays a huge role in habit change so please join our Facebook group if you haven’t already! Simply follow this link and request access: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1537447836539716/   Then look for the threads on the following topics and share your thoughts, ideas and questions with the group!   Prompt - What is going to trigger you to complete your new habit? What could you use as a prompt to complete weekly meal prep? Print your meal plan Set out your knife Leave groceries out until you prep Share your ideas with our Facebook community!   Ability - How do you make a habit easier to complete? Take a knife skills class Try using a food processor to complete your chopping Share your ideas on our Facebook group!   Celebration - Do you make time to mark your quick wins with a little celebration? How do you like to celebrate? Give your partner a high five Do a little victory dancy Celebrate each time you sit down to a calm and delicious dinner because you prepped! Share your tiny celebrations with us on Facebook!   Resources mentioned in this podcast:   Connect with Allison: PrepDish.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prepdish/   Get your FREE mealplan at PrepDish.com/podcast OR text the word mealprep to 33777   Prep Dish Facebook Group:   Get your 2 week free trial (and our June bonus, the FASTEST Meal Plan Ever if you sign up in June 2021) here: prepdish.com/mpm   https://www.facebook.com/groups/1537447836539716/   Buy the Tiny Habits Book: https://www.amazon.com/Tiny-Habits-Changes-Change-Everything-ebook/dp/B07LC9KDP5/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=tiny+habits&qid=1616702969&sr=8-1

In today’s episode, busy mom and entrepreneur Allison Schaaf explains the tips and hacks behind Prep Dish’s new Fastest Meal Plan Ever! Learn how to speed up your meal prep and create a meal plan that is delicious, healthy and won’t have you spending all day in the kitchen. Quick meal prep for the win! Sign up at prepdish.com/mpm for a two week free trial for any subscription in June 2021 and get this bonus meal plan for free! Fastest Meal Plan Ever - Menu, Tips & Tricks: Meal 1: Maple Mustard Chicken w/ Roasted Mini Potatoes & Broccoli Maple & mustard add a ton of flavor with very few ingredients. Mini potatoes & pre-chopped broccoli florets require no chopping! All you have to do is stick them in the oven to roast with the chicken.   Meal 2: Slow Cooker Italian Pork Shoulder w/ Asparagus & Peas This uses one of my favorite strategies, cook once, eat twice! We use the leftover pork shoulder for a different meal later in the week.   Meal 3: Shrimp Tostadas Buy peeled, deveined, tail-off shrimp. Include some elements to elevate the flavor and nutrition, like the fresh cilantro and fresh lime juice in this recipe. Fresh herbs and citrus are great when you want to keep ingredients to a minimum but still have something totally delicious.   Meal 4: Italian Pork Shoulder Over Mixed Greens w/ Roasted Grapes & Goat Cheese Double the grapes and serve over Greek yogurt for breakfast - so good! Also, grapes don’t require any chopping but really elevate the dish.   Meal 5: California Burgers w/ Berry Salad Simple items, like mixed berries, can be delicious and healthy. Things like roasted vegetables, fresh fruit or even sliced cucumbers can be delicious and add extra nutrients to the dish.   Resources mentioned in this podcast: Connect with Allison: PrepDish.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prepdish/   Get your FREE mealplan at PrepDish.com/podcast OR text the word mealprep to 33777   Get your 2 week free trial (and the FASTEST Meal Plan Ever) here: prepdish.com/mpm Learn more about the “Cook Once, Eat Twice” method of meal planning here: https://youtu.be/rJIlLjI4LM0

If you’d like to try our time-saving meal plans, check out our 2 week free trial for podcast listeners here: prepdish.com/mpm In today’s episode, chef and RD Allison Schaaf talks about how to take the tiny habits you’ve started, and really make them part of your life and part of who you are. Think about the greater meaning behind a habit, why is it important to you? For example, with the habit of meal prep, some meanings might be: Meal prep enables family dinner time and connection with those we love Meal prep supports health, which makes us all happier and feel better Meal prep creates ease. Dinnertime isn’t stressful or hectic when it’s been prepped ahead. Having that ease at the end of the day is so important, especially on days when you don’t get to spend much other time with your family. How do you know when to push yourself beyond a tiny habit and ramp up the difficulty, and when do you need to scale back? We all have busy seasons, that’s why we brought the weekly super fast meal plans to Prep Dish! If it’s a habit you’re really committed to, figure out a way you can scale back instead of dropping the habit. For example, I include meditation in my morning routine. Some days it may be only 3 minutes because my baby wakes up early, but I keep the habit and the momentum going. Think through how you can make your environment more supportive to your habit. That may mean asking your spouse to watch the kids while you do meal prep or putting it on the calendar. BJ Fogg also talks about the importance of mindset and identity in habit formation. Say something like, “I’m the kind of person who ….” For example: “I’m the kind of person who meal preps for my family.” “I’m the kind of mom that cooks homemade meals for my family.” “I’m an intentional person who preps meals in advance.” Find something that speaks to you and repeat it to yourself. Then find things you can do to help you embrace that identity. Take it a step further and teach someone else about your new habit. Teaching others a skill helps it really become a part of you. Connect with Allison: PrepDish.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prepdish/ Get your FREE mealplan at PrepDish.com/podcast OR text the word mealprep to 33777 Resources mentioned in this podcast: Get your 2 week free trial here: prepdish.com/mpm Buy the Tiny Habits Book: https://www.amazon.com/Tiny-Habits-Changes-Change-Everything-ebook/dp/B07LC9KDP5/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=tiny+habits&qid=1616702969&sr=8-1  

Before we get to the show notes, don’t forget to check out our 2 week free trial for podcast listeners here: prepdish.com/mpm Continuing with our Tiny Habits series, Prep Dish founder Allison Schaaf discusses the role of emotions in creating habits. Tiny Habits Author BJ Fogg emphasizes the importance of using positive feelings, rather than negative ones, to create change. Celebrating small successes with your new habit makes it fun and encourages you to keep going. How do you create these little celebrations for new habits, and specifically for meal prep? It doesn’t have to be big, it can be a high five with your partner, a little victory dance or even a silent “good job!” to yourself. Have fun with it! Spend a few minutes reflecting on how you naturally celebrate. Is there something you already do? Don’t force it, find what you naturally do anyway. If you’re trying to start a meal prep habit, use our Facebook group to celebrate your win! We always love seeing and encouraging each other’s meal prep: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1537447836539716/ Resources mentioned in this podcast: Get your 2 week free trial here: prepdish.com/mpm Buy the Tiny Habits Book: https://www.amazon.com/Tiny-Habits-Changes-Change-Everything-ebook/dp/B07LC9KDP5/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=tiny+habits&qid=1616702969&sr=8-1  

In today’s episode, host Allison Schaaf talks about how to create a prompt, or reminder, for new habits. There are hundreds of prompts every day that drive your actions. No behavior is happening without a prompt. BJ Fogg describes three types of prompts in his book, Tiny Habits: Person Prompt - You remind yourself to do something. This is not the most reliable. Context Prompt - Something in your environment reminds you to do something. This could be a sticky note or an alarm on your phone. This works well for one-time actions you want to remember, like running an errand, but it isn’t the best for daily habits. Action Prompt - Something in your existing routine prompts a new behavior. This is also called an anchor and it is the most effective kind of prompt for a new habit. For example, take your supplements right after you make your morning tea. Schedule a new habit for every day after you check the mail. I’ve started doing my weekly meal prep while making Sunday lunch. This works well because my anchor and habit match in location (the kitchen) and frequency (once a week). Other examples of potential anchors for meal prep include: Do grocery pickup on the way home from your Saturday morning workout, then do meal prep right when you get home. Use Saturday nap time for meal prep if you have little kids. Complete your meal prep right after you get home from church if you go regularly. Find something that already exists in your life and add your new habit on to it. Don’t be afraid to experiment if your anchor isn’t working. Connect with Allison: PrepDish.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prepdish/ Get your FREE mealplan at PrepDish.com/podcast OR text the word mealprep to 33777 Resources mentioned in this podcast: Get your 2 week free trial here: prepdish.com/mpm Buy the Tiny Habits Book: https://www.amazon.com/Tiny-Habits-Changes-Change-Everything-ebook/dp/B07LC9KDP5/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=tiny+habits&qid=1616702969&sr=8-1  

Continuing with the “Tiny Habits” theme, Prep Dish founder Allison Schaaf talks about the Ability element of behavior today. Based on BJ Fogg’s book, Tiny Habits, “ability” refers to how easy/convenient versus difficult/inconvenient a behavior is. Allison walks you through questions to ask yourself to determine what is making a new habit difficult. She also goes through 3 strategies to make a new behavior easier. Why is a habit, such as meal prep, difficult? Think about these five questions in terms of meal prep: Do you have enough time? Is money standing in the way? Is physical ability / kitchen skill level getting in the way? Is mental energy getting in the way? Does it fit into your current routine? If you’re having trouble sticking to a habit, think through where in the “ability chain” you’re getting stuck. Which part is blocking you? Do you need a better knife? Do you need to be more realistic and plan a shorter prep session? Fogg suggests three ways to make a behavior easier: Increasing Skills - take a cooking class or a knife skills class (or even watch my YouTube series on how to chop different fruits / veggies: How-to (Chopping & Knife Skills)) Tools and Resources - Are there any tools that could make the behavior easier? This could be a good chef’s knife, pre-chopped veggies or made-for-you meal plans. Make the behavior tiny - Try a starter step. For example, set out your knife every sunday when you get home from the park. The idea is that you’ll add to that behavior over time. A different starter step could be printing out your meal plan and leaving it on the counter. Another way to make a behavior tiny is to scale back, make the behavior more manageable. You might try only chopping veggies or only baking sweet potatoes and making rice for your weekly meal prep to make it more realistic. Connect with Allison: PrepDish.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prepdish/ Get your FREE mealplan at PrepDish.com/podcast OR text the word mealprep to 33777 Resources mentioned in this podcast: Get your 2 week free trial here: prepdish.com/mpm Buy the Tiny Habits Book: https://www.amazon.com/Tiny-Habits-Changes-Change-Everything-ebook/dp/B07LC9KDP5/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=tiny+habits&qid=1616702969&sr=8-1 3 Ingredient Marinades (Many double as a salad dressing!): https://prepdish.com/podcast-show-notes/ep49/  

Before we get to the show notes, don’t forget to check out our 2 week free trial for podcast listeners here: prepdish.com/mpm In today’s episode meal prep expert and healthy habit enthusiast, Allison Schaaf discusses why motivation is unreliable when it comes to forming lasting habits, and tools you can use instead. She also walks you through a quick and fun exercise to help you pinpoint exactly which new behaviors you need to implement to reach your goals. This framework is based on BJ Fogg’s book, Tiny Habits. The Difficulty of Relying on Motivation: Motivation is the least reliable part of behavior change. When you are highly motivated, you can do hard things. The problem is that motivation inevitably shifts over time. When motivation wavers, you need your new behavior to be easy and to have a reliable prompt if you want to keep it up. What to Do Instead: Instead of relying on motivation, focus on behavior matching. This means finding the right behavior(s) to focus on to reach your goals. What is your aspiration and what is the outcome you want? Examples might include: I want to eat healthier to feel better. I want to cook at home more to improve my health. I want to have a dinner plan to create a more peaceful mealtime with my family. Once you have a clear vision of your desired outcome, you need to identify which behaviors can help you reach that goal. The following exercise can help! Tiny Habits Exercise - A Swarm of Behaviors 1. Set a timer for 5 minutes. 2. Use some paper or a whiteboard and write your aspiration / desired outcome in the middle of a circle. 3. Write as many behaviors as you can think of to help you get to that goal within the 5 minute timeframe. 4. Spend 20 minutes going through and deciding which behaviors are one-time behaviors and which are potential new habits you can create. 5. Determine which behaviors are high-impact versus low-impact. Determine which are feasible / realistic for your life. Target the high-impact, realistic behaviors to implement. Connect with Allison: PrepDish.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prepdish/ Get your FREE mealplan at PrepDish.com/podcast OR text the word mealprep to 33777 Resources mentioned in this podcast: Get your 2 week free trial here: prepdish.com/mpm Buy the Book: https://www.amazon.com/Tiny-Habits-Changes-Change-Everything-ebook/dp/B07LC9KDP5/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=tiny+habits&qid=1616702969&sr=8-1