Welcome to fit to be real and a little extra.
That's not good today.
Yeah, I am on it.
Well, I'm talking about me.
Oh, but yes, together we figured it out.
It only took 82 weeks.
Oh, my gosh.
82 weeks.
Weeks.
Long weeks.
Okay.
We're talking about meal prepping today
because of the lovely bee claws who we've mentioned before.
She had kind of perked my ears about it.
And I was like, you know what?
Everyone needs to talk about meal prepping.
I think people, it's a daunting thing for people
because they want to do it.
They like the idea of it.
But then in their mind, it's too much work.
In their mind's eye.
In their mind's eye, it's just too much.
And it really isn't.
It has saved us for the past five years.
Yeah.
It really has.
It saved us.
It saved.
No, but kind of for real, for real.
Yeah.
No, I mean, that's there.
It really did.
For it to be as extra as we can be, it really did.
And it was, it's a cliche for it.
It's a game changer.
We are volume eaters.
Victoria and I were volume eaters.
And it has, right.
And it has brought our portions down to where our body now
likes the size that we eat, like likes the portions that we eat.
We were eating so much.
Too much.
I think when we first started meal prepping and changing the portion size,
which is really all you need to do.
I remember looking back on like, you know how Instagram or Facebook
pops up a memory from like three years ago or something like that.
It was like a plate of food.
Like I took a picture of my plate and I cannot fathom eating that much in one sitting.
Yeah.
It was like a breakfast like out to a diner.
Like a diner.
Breakfast.
Yeah.
I, there's no way I wouldn't feel sick after eating that helping right now.
Right now.
Yeah.
I couldn't believe I was like, no wonder.
Because when you eat like that for so long, your body gets used to that amount of food
and it's normal.
And then when you stop eating that way, your stomach gets smaller.
Right.
And that's a good thing.
I mean, it's healthy, but I just think America in general, our portions are insane.
If we all bought smaller dinner plates for our regular, you know, dinnerware,
it would help.
Like my plates are huge.
Yeah.
So what do you do?
You fill up your plate.
But like our plates are huge.
And I think meal prepping is the key to creating that size for the plate.
Yep.
And we're going to talk about that today.
All the tips for meal prepping and how easy it is.
Yeah, it really is.
Let's do it.
Let's just do it.
I'm Victoria.
Hey guys, I'm Carly.
And have you meal prep today?
I didn't today.
But I did on Sunday.
Okay.
That's when I usually try to as well.
That's also a lie.
I've already lied to you.
Oh, what a liar.
Yeah.
You weren't a liar.
Tuesdays are when I try to meal prep.
Well, that's when you have the most time because that's my most time.
Yeah.
But the idea of Sunday is yes.
Well, that's one of our tips.
So don't give it away.
Lying to us.
I know.
It did it so naturally.
I know.
Man, it just came out real fast.
Real fast.
I immediately took it back.
So meal prepping before we knock down the tips.
What is it?
It's just setting yourself up for the week where you don't have to, you know,
work all day, open the refrigerator, whether you live in a house with a full
family or you're you and a roommate or just you and you don't look in the
refrigerator and go, what do I possibly have to make myself right now?
I constantly or used to.
I still do sometimes when I have it meal prepped.
I look in the fridge with and it's full and I'm like, I have nothing to eat.
Do you ever do that?
I still do that.
Yeah.
You look because you have to make it and you don't want to make it.
Andrew's like biggest pet peeve with me is like at night.
We have all this food and he's like, I will make you something.
We have so much food.
I'm like, no, it's going to take too much time.
I don't want it.
I don't feel like making it.
It's he's like, it's all right here.
It takes 10 minutes.
But to me at the end of the day, the last thing I want to do is make something.
Yep.
But it's just so much easier when it's already made and you don't have to think.
And in the morning, your brain dead.
You just don't want to think about that.
We just started an overnight breakfast option that Carly is going to tell us about that
is the meal prep version for breakfast time.
And that to me was a huge game.
I've never meal prepped breakfast.
You're welcome.
Carly did it.
This is Carly's brainchild.
Kind of and it truly has been one of my favorite things and I make sure I prep it the night
before same every night.
Yeah, I know.
So good.
So we'll we'll talk about like what that actually is.
I got yelled at.
I wasn't allowed to give it away.
No, she like started giving away my tips.
I'm like, I only have so many tips.
Well, we have so much to offer you.
Yeah, we know.
Why now?
Okay, let's get down to the nitty gritty here.
Tip number one, pick one day out of seven days that is a lighter day for you.
Maybe it's Sunday.
Usually it's a weekend day.
If you work nine to five, you work, you know, a regular working hours.
It's you don't have like the flexibility during the day to go to the grocery store like jobs
or careers that we have.
We can go to the grocery store on a Monday in the middle of the afternoon.
Right.
So if your weekend is your lighter days, pick one of those weekend days.
If it's during the week, pick one of them.
And that's when you'll do your cooking, your chopping, your prepping, your portioning.
That's when it's all going to happen so that the rest of the six days that you have doesn't
you don't even have to think about it.
No, it's just you get so much of your life back.
You get so much time.
You will not open the refrigerator and wonder what you want to avoid cooking that night.
I know you just have so much to think about in general in life that you have to make decisions.
That is like my least favorite decision.
Yeah.
It's like the notebook.
What do you want?
I don't know.
It's my favorite.
I know.
That's what goes for every situation too.
I do the meal prep in terms of like I don't meal prep my lunch.
I don't have a full lunch meal already packaged together.
Really?
I have chopped everything.
Everything.
So that I take my portioned chopped vegetables and stuff and I put it in one bowl so that
the work is already done.
So like every day for me it's like I don't want tomatoes today.
I had them yesterday.
I just don't feel like tomatoes today.
So I don't have to do it that way.
Right.
But the chopping is what I am like, oh my God, I have to chop all these things.
So you only have to chop one day.
But you only do it one time.
Yeah.
So that sort of bleeds into the next tip which is find containers that are reusable and
that you like.
So for us it's glass jars.
We love to use and reuse our glass jars.
They're dishwasher safe.
It's glass.
You're saving the environment.
I do make my lunch on Sundays and I pre-package it in a mason jar or a glass jar and I have
six of them in the fridge at all times.
So that I just need to pick out a mason jar, open it up and put it in a bowl and then add
my salad dressing.
I don't put the salad dressing in because I don't like the bottom to get.
I used to put the salad dressing in the bottom but I don't want any more because I don't
like to get it soggy.
But it's already there.
Yeah.
I've chopped everything on Sunday.
I packaged it on Sunday.
I literally grab and go.
Yeah.
But I do make my lunch every day.
I like to eat the same thing every single day.
Right.
That is just something that I like to do.
Not everybody likes to do that.
They like to switch it up like some days Victoria doesn't like to have tomatoes.
I like the same thing.
It's boring but it works and I don't have to think.
I would say 90% of my meals are the exact same.
One of the reasons I like the glass jars is because you can see if they've gone bad
or if you just waited too long and a chewy tomato is not my thing.
I can't.
I just can't.
When they have wrinkles, throw it out.
No.
So that's why.
Yeah.
But I enjoy eating the same thing.
You know what you're going to do.
You know what you like.
Yeah.
Once you find what you like, why don't you just eat that?
Yeah.
What's the problem?
I switch it up other days.
Sometimes on the weekends I'll switch it up or if I know I have an event coming up,
I'll eat something different.
But for the most part, I mean consistency when you're watching what you're eating is key anyway.
So if you know in your fridge you have what you have, it's always there.
It's just brainless.
Anything I can do to be brainless.
I'm in.
I know.
We know.
So you've done all the chopping and you put them in glass jars where you can see them
and or the snackle box.
Love a snackle box because it's clear on the top and you can still see your vegetables.
But you've now exposed the goods of the vegetables and they could go bad quicker
because that's what happens when you chop things, right?
One of my must do's in my meal prepping day is putting a paper towel.
Oh, yeah.
I right now lay one on the snackle box because I have tomatoes and carrots and peppers and
they're all chopped.
So I lay it on the snackle box.
I close the snackle box.
Why?
The moisture from the cut vegetables gets soaked into like the paper towel basically soaks
it up like a sponge.
So it takes the moisture and it puts it in the paper towel.
So you do have to change the paper towel.
But guess what?
You're going to go in there and eat what you chopped.
So when you do that, just change the paper towel out for a new one.
I also do it.
The snackle box is pretty specific, but I baggy cut onions or scallions and stuff and cilantro.
I have a whole bag plastic bag of cilantro and scallions with two paper towels with paper
towels.
So you can just shove the paper towel in there.
I wrap them in the paper towel.
Oh, I'm not that cool.
I literally shove them in the bag.
Yeah.
Either way, it's going to soak up the moisture and the moisture is what makes them soggy
and the moisture is what makes them a little like when the peppers get all slimy.
Well, they go bad faster.
Two cumbers.
They go bad faster.
So they, with the paper towel, you are saving your grocery list, your wallet because things
are going to last longer.
I cannot give this piece of advice out to people enough.
That's like my number one thing I say to people.
It's funny because we are right on point here because my next one, I mean, we are killing
the game is call is positioning your time sensitive ingredients at the front of the
fridge, brilliant, which is something that I need to do.
Carly's berries are like in the back.
That's exactly what I was going to say.
And they're like fuzzy.
Well, they have here this motto that I really like.
It's called front of fridge, front of mind.
So if it's in the front, you can see it.
You can see what's about to go bad.
What's not put your blueberries in the front, your raspberries, how many boxes of 699 raspberries
I've had to throw away because it got lost in the back of the fridge, right?
Cause it's a small box or a small box of blueberries or strawberries are like moldy because it
got shoved behind the leftovers of spaghetti or it got shoved behind the chicken or it
got shoved behind LaCroix or whatever.
Yeah, name it all.
Yeah.
What else could it get?
If the things that are in front of it.
So put the stuff that's going to go bad in the front.
And yes, it takes a little more time to pull everything out to position it.
And every time you go into the fridge, it might take five extra seconds instead of just shoving
everything back.
But if you can do that, you will save yourself so much money.
Yeah, it's so much money.
It's true.
I also like that you were like, I loved how they said that.
Are you looking at an article that you've put some good tips out?
Front of shelf, front of mind.
Yeah.
I just said out of sight, out of mind.
Just the opposite way to say out of sight, out of mind.
So you think you're pretty?
I just love that you were so tickled by that.
Oh, so you think you're pretty?
Cool.
Next tip.
In a second, you're going to be out of sight, out of mind because I'm, I'm peacein' out.
Oh my gosh.
Okay.
I'm so cool.
Oh my gosh, okay.
I'm so glad that you enjoyed that.
I enjoyed that.
I think a little too much.
I agree.
Moving on and backtracking slightly to something that Carly already talked about, that she
likes to eat the same thing every single day.
Yeah.
I do too.
I'm not bothered by eating the same meal for two weeks in a row.
Like, it doesn't matter.
Some people simply cannot.
Yeah.
And I understand that.
Oh, totally.
I agree.
Here's a good way to change that.
And it's kind of like a trick.
It's a trick for your mind to a degree.
So let's say you're meal prepping and you're grilling all of your chicken or your cookie,
cook your chicken.
However you want to cook your chicken.
Cook the chicken.
Go get it.
She doesn't eat chicken, so she doesn't know how to say it.
No, but I know that like ever many times.
And it's the easiest thing to like make this analogy.
So your meal prepping while you're chopping all the veggies, you're also cooking your
meat.
And I'm go to BJ's, go to Costco, get the big one.
Like cook it all, right?
You're not individually cooking one chicken breast per day like that.
No, my God.
There's so much time consuming problems there.
But you are someone that doesn't like to eat the same thing every day.
So one chicken breast, you're going to season with salt and pepper and olive oil.
One chicken breast, you're going to season with the taco seasoning.
I don't know.
One chicken breast, you're going to put lemon, pepper and lemon.
Make them different.
Make them taste different so that you're not, yes, you're eating a chicken on top of salad.
Let's say that's your meal prep for your lunch, but it's seasoned differently.
It's going to taste different even though you're still getting the right amount of protein.
You're still being really healthy about it.
That's ideal.
That still isn't enough for you, cut the different seasoned chicken differently for everything.
So let's say normal chicken on Monday and you're just cutting it up, putting it on a salad,
tastes good.
Tuesday, it's taco Tuesday.
You're going to get those lettuce wraps and you're going to make your chopped vegetables
into like a taco, but you're going to shred the chicken.
So you've already cooked it, but you're shredding it.
So now you're eating it in a different way even though it's exactly what you meal prepped.
And you can meal prep shred at the same time.
You don't have to do that the same day either.
So that's totally up to you.
But the way that you eat the food and the way that you season the food can be different
every day even though you did it in all one shot.
It's like a mind trick.
I was going to say something explicit, but it's a mind trick.
Is that different from when I said it's like tricking your mind?
Okay, cool, cool.
It's insight in mind.
But I truly think that that's such a big factor if you're not someone that can eat the exact
same thing every single day.
Just twist it a little bit.
Make it easy for yourself because you can do so many different things in the kitchen
if we weren't too tired to do it.
Yeah, like when you're making your chicken, say on your Sunday, put everything but the
bagel on one piece of chicken, put barbecue sauce on the other piece of chicken, put green
goddess dressing on the other piece of chicken.
Oh, it's so good.
All of those items or options are amazing.
And so once you make it like that every day, same salad, same basics, just a different
chicken topping that's like a different meal.
I'll go for it.
I like how you said it.
It's a mind trick.
Okay, next one is what we started to talk about earlier, which is our new favorite breakfast.
Overnight oats.
They are a breakfast lifesaver.
Oh my God.
So we, you all know that we drink rice coffee and if you haven't checked it out, you should.
It's mushroom coffee.
We love it.
So the brand Rise, R-Y-Z-E, now makes oatmeal.
And if you would like to sponsor us Rise, we eat it every day and it's sort of expensive
so we could use some help.
Listen, it's totally worth it and I hate oatmeal.
Oh, Victoria hated oatmeal.
And I told her about this, she was like, I don't eat oatmeal.
I said, just try it.
So Victoria, tell everybody how you do the overnight oats every single day.
No, that's great, but tell them how to do it.
Oh, well you follow the directions on the packet and you put in as much milk as you
want four or eight ounces.
I like four because it's not like liquidy.
Like liquidy.
See, I truly don't like oatmeal.
It took 35 years for me to enjoy another option for breakfast.
Other than egg whites and toast.
Toast, toast, avocado, that was like my staple and I still love it and I do mix out.
I do, yeah, switch it out per week or per day.
But oatmeal was like a gag thinking about it and this has so much protein in it and
I jam-pack a little bit more protein in it.
You do, yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, it comes, if you do the Rise, you can do any overnight oats, whatever, but we
do the Rise.
It comes with a shaker.
And you put it all in the shaker, you just put the oatmeal and the milk and you put it
in the fridge.
Yep.
You shake it like a protein, like you see people at the gym do, shake it, put it in
the refrigerator, it's done.
You're going to have cold oatmeal in the morning.
It's so good.
Well, let me tell you, there's nothing better.
There's nothing better.
I've also done it that morning and put it in the microwave and had hot oatmeal like a
normal hot meal.
Yeah, I do that too.
And it's fantastic.
You add berries.
I add, I add berries.
But I also add some almonds for extra protein and I also add some regular steel cut old
fashioned oats to the mix the night before.
The night before for a little more protein.
So my protein in the morning is like 30 grams of protein.
So right now I have three in my fridge for the week.
So I know that I have three mornings of overnight oats and in between I'll have my egg whites
and my toast.
You pre-shake them?
Oh yeah.
No way.
Yeah.
I always do it the night before.
I do it for the week.
So it's over day.
It's over.
Oats.
Over all the nights.
And then next morning I'll put in the berries and I always put in a little granola.
Victoria makes fun of me that granola is like my kryptonite.
But I like to add a little granola one time.
Somebody asked me like, what can you not like, what's your go-to?
What can you not stop eating?
And I was like, oh my God, granola.
And Victoria is like, oh granola, you can't stop eating granola.
Okay.
This whole conversation was on the podcast and it was about grapes.
No, that also happened.
Oh my God.
Then it wasn't me.
No.
But granola is hilarious to me.
I would choose cookies, chocolate chip or s'mores.
You know?
Well if you find a good granola that you like, put a little, like a little bit because then
it ends up being cereal and that's what you don't want because there's sugar and granola
and there's a lot of stuff that is not great if you have too much at once.
But I like crunch in my- That's why I put the almonds in my-
Oatmeal, yeah.
And so I'll do raspberries or strawberries, a little granola and the oatmeal and it is
like a party in your mouth.
And because it's so much protein in just the overnight oat pack, you can always add more.
Like I do.
I'm satiated until lunch.
I'm like, oh my God, it's lunch.
I gotta eat lunch.
Right.
Like I'm not even a little bit thinking about food until lunchtime.
But you think of oatmeal as like a cozy winter meal and it is not-
No.
That.
Not wanna ch- It's honestly, I- I now, I would make a playlist or write a program, a workout
program.
I would do things in the morning with my coffee, sitting on the couch with the dog while I'm
eating my toast and now I'm like, I'm just gonna enjoy this and because I'm not gonna
do anything, I'm only gonna eat the oatmeal because I wanna savor it.
Right.
And then it's gone and I get really sad.
I know.
Until the next day.
I think that's the misconception people think I have to eat healthy.
It's gonna just be bland and boring and I'm gonna hate it and-
Not even a little bit.
You don't just, because what, what?
Hold on.
My God, you just glitched so hard.
Like so hard.
She's all right.
Yeah, yeah, definitely don't cut that or anything.
The misconception that you have to not like what you're eating to be healthy is a total
misconception.
Very good.
I'm so glad that you thought about that.
There are good foods that are healthy and this is one of them.
We've spent a lot of time on overnight oats but that's how passionate we are about them.
So I mean, honest to God, this was like a shock to me that I even humored you and did
one pack.
But I think some people in their heads are like, oh, oatmeal carbs, carbs are bad, can't
have starch and carbs.
We did an episode on carbs, people listen back.
Carbs are good.
Good carbs are good.
Oatmeal carbs are fantastic.
And guys, this is mushroom oatmeal.
I know it sounds gross but it is so delicious.
I mean, and good for your digestive system.
There's oats in there.
Digestive system.
Very good.
There's oats in there.
It's not like oatmeal made out of mushrooms.
No, no, no, no.
There's oats in there.
There's adaptogens.
There are different kinds of mushrooms that help different parts of your body.
One's for your brain.
One's for your gut.
Adaptogens.
Will you adapt in them?
Adaptogens.
You look up adaptogens.
Okay.
We'll look it up right now.
We'll wait.
She said, will you adapt in them?
Adaptogens.
I'd love to know how you spelled that.
So wrong, right?
Oh my God.
It like didn't even know what word I was trying to get.
Oh my God.
How do they, oh they benefit your skin.
Yep.
That's so good.
They're herbs that reduce fatigue and toxic effects of stress.
Basically, they adapt to mushroom.
Yeah, they adapt to what your body needs.
So they adapt to them.
Those adaptogens.
Did you spell it like gin?
Sure did.
Wow.
Yes.
Adaptogens are amazing.
There's lots of adaptogens in the mushroom coffee that we drink.
Read the pack.
I'll adapt to them.
I don't think you will.
Amazing.
Okay, we're moving on and adapting into this next tip.
Tipped.
Okay.
So shop your pantry before you do your meal prepping or before you go to the grocery store
at two meal prep.
Whatever day you have the most time to do all of this.
Don't do what I do and buy four and five of the same thing.
There was like a shocking.
We're going to talk about an Instagram video that none of you have seen and that we're
going to explain wrong totally.
And it's not even going to be worth it.
Here we go.
There was a reel of some music.
I don't know, but the words were like, you know, when you just keep forgetting and it
was a guy standing and what I assume is a pantry and it was just in the doorway and
he pulls out a loaf of bread and he puts it down and then he pulls out another loaf.
Oh my God.
Yes.
He pulled out 12 different loaves of bread.
And of course I got into an algorithm where like apparently it was trending and somebody
did it with hot sauces of like the exact same hot sauce.
Unopened but like ready for the Armageddon.
Yes.
So I kind of shop like that ready for the Armageddon.
I'm like, let me just make sure I get two of them just in case they get discontinued.
Just in case I can't find it again.
However, to save that time, that money and to meal prep efficiently, shop your pantry,
do what you have.
Make sure you don't have to get that everything bagel, you know, spice.
Yes.
Because you already have one and you already have a backup.
And you're going to go to the store next week.
Right.
So it's not like if you go once a month, that would be amazing.
If you could get it down to once a month, I would love that.
I do like two weeks.
Yeah.
I've never been able to do once a month.
So you know you're going to get back there again.
We are all fortunate enough to be able to go back to the grocery store.
Every time I go food shopping, I'm like, it's the last time.
I know.
Yeah.
Why?
I don't know.
I do it with paper towels too.
And like, could you bring some to C-Fix if you don't have any?
No, I usually steal them from C-Fix.
So I'm in the need for them.
But then think of it just like what you were saying with in front of mind, front of body.
What was your phrase?
In front of fridge, in front of mind.
There you go.
Don't buy a second or third box of strawberries or three-cheese Mexican cheese blend because
you didn't look to see that you already had one or two of them.
Because then you're taking up space for all the jars that you're about to put in there.
And then there's no more room.
And you've just wasted because you're not going to be able to eat all of that by the
time they go bad.
You're just not going to.
Even with the paper towel trick.
So you have to shop your pantry, shop your fridge first, write it all down, like be as
organized as you can.
And then that's how you're going to save the most amount of time and money in the long
run per week.
I love that because if you're like me and if you have a second fridge, we have one in
the basement.
I like to keep my overflow of food down there.
But then I never check that basement fridge.
I thought it was for drinks.
It was supposed to be.
And then.
Because it was for Andrew.
Yeah, I got it for Father's Day.
She drove to Home Depot and she was like, come get a fridge with me.
I was like, what?
You want me to pick up a what?
I was like, you have a truck?
She was like, it's small.
It's a mini.
It's like cute.
Yeah, it's so cute.
Oh my God.
They laughed at us.
I know because they were like, how are you going to get this in the truck?
And I was like, we'll be fine.
We work out like nobody.
There was like, remember there was a guy that came out of his car and was like, do you need
help?
Well, I was like, no, we got this.
I hate when people try and ask us for help.
Yes, sir.
Please.
Thank you.
I was like, I'm going to tip it on its side because then all the antifreeze goes in and
I was like, oh, oh God, nice to know.
And then we had to get it in my basement without Andrew saying, that was fun.
Happy Father's Day.
It's now not for drinks.
It's for food.
That's the truth.
There's no alcohol in there right now, but it's full of Dave's bread and almond milks
that have since gone bad because you just pick them up as you go.
Yes, because I'm like, I need four almond milks.
I'll put two in the downstairs for each two in the upstairs.
Oh my God.
I'm like, I'm like, I'm not going to get it all the time.
And then I forget that they're down there.
They're $5 each.
Yeah, I know.
Because of the apocalypse.
That's, I mean, yeah, I get it.
So don't do that.
It's a waste of money and it's a waste of money.
Armageddon and apocalypse, the same thing.
No, Armageddon is to fight the apocalypse, right?
And the apocalypse is the act of.
Armageddon is the action in defense.
Yes.
Amazing.
No, I don't think any of that's true.
That is today.
Let's ask Bruce Willis.
Wasn't he in that movie?
I have no idea.
Oh, wait, is that the one?
Keanu Reeves.
No, it wasn't Keanu Reeves, but wasn't that with the Liv Tyler?
I'm close to you feeling your heart beating.
And Liv Tyler didn't sing that.
It was his, her dad, she was in the music video and the.
Stephen.
What's his name?
Jacker.
No.
Stephen Tyler.
Jacker is a completely different person.
Stephen Tyler.
Liv Tyler was in the movie and also in the music video.
We should review movies.
That's what we should do.
Maybe just the ones we've seen.
This podcast should be about movie reviews.
We're good at it.
I've never seen Armageddon.
You said Mick Jagger.
Anyway, don't do that.
Yeah.
Don't over buy.
I also want to point out.
We are talking specifically about us.
Let me clarify.
I live alone and I meal prep for myself.
You live in a family of five and you meal prep for everybody.
For everybody.
So it's doable for more than one person.
I just had a feeling and just had a thought that some people are going to be like, okay,
that's really nice, but I have to think about everyone.
Oh no.
I make food for everybody.
So talk about it.
So that's why we love the snackle box so much.
I have saved so much money this summer and I honestly think it's been the savior of
the summer because you know when you're at the pool or at the beach, your kids are running
around.
They don't want to sit and eat.
So what I've been doing is cutting up the cucumbers, cutting up their granola bars, cutting up
the carrots and they live in the fridge.
Cut up a granola bar?
I do in half.
Really?
Because to just fit in the box?
To just fit in the box.
And also I noticed that they're only grabbing half and then they'll grab a cucumber.
Instead of eating the whole chocolate granola bar or you know, chocolate chip granola bar,
they'll pick and pick on cheese sticks that I cut in half or this and they'll grab a lot
of everything, but they live in the fridge.
So that's my meal prep for lunch and they bring it out.
If they want a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, they'll ask me for it and of course I will
make that.
But the stuff.
No kids.
I don't want to eat what I make you.
Get the snuggle box.
But they have been eating number one healthier and number two, not wasting food.
If you keep all your cut stuff in the fridge and pull it out for lunch, it just has, I
mean, that's what we do at home and we meal prep for dinner.
I do crockpot meals.
I throw the chicken in the, in the crockpot or the air fryer.
I can't wait for winter crockpot meals, but you can do that now.
It just not as like.
But I don't want something hot at night.
Like at the end of the night when you know it's been cooking all day long and it's warm,
like I can't wait for that.
But yes, you can crockpot salsa chicken and that's a summer thing too.
And we are leftover family.
So I know some families don't eat leftovers and send them our way.
Can you email us as to why guys?
I mean, Victoria, dad doesn't eat leftovers.
I know, but I would like him to email us as to why I don't understand.
So that's why I'm saying lots of our stuff gets lost in the back of the fridge because
that's big.
Any of meatballs is in front because we are a leftover family.
So like I do it for all.
You're more than a leftover family, Carly.
No, no, not yet.
But it is possible and I do it for the week for everybody when I'm cutting up my salads
on Sunday and I'm chopping all the vegetables and washing all the grapes.
That's for everybody.
Right.
I know Justin and I have talked about this, but he does it for the week too for his kids
and he every day puts out or Abby and Justin put out a plate of fruits and vegetables for
the kids that they can pick on.
They can just pick on them.
You're hungry.
Cool.
There's fruits and vegetables on the table.
Go get them.
Brilliant.
You know, instead of every five seconds, Dean will come up.
I'm hungry.
I want a Nutri-Grain Bar.
No, go on the table and get the peppers that are sliced up.
Pick off the net and eat it.
But no, this is for everybody.
It is doable for everyone.
Yeah.
It's a household that isn't just for you.
I think that's really important to say because I think the majority of people have other
people to think about.
I do think that you kind of have to be on the same page with your spouse if you live
with a spouse in terms of everything we're talking about.
Because if you're going to make the chicken in different spices and flavors, easy, done.
Yeah.
Like barbecue, you like lemon pepper.
Yeah.
Like you don't have to make a second meal.
No, it is hard when your spouse is like, oh, you're eating that salad with chicken on
top.
I'm going to have a burger and fries.
That is definitely hard.
Well, you do, you boo.
You do you.
Yeah.
Did you leave that out on the counter all day for him to pick on?
No.
But if your kids are not fruit and veggie kids, because I know some kids aren't, the more
you put it in front of them and they don't have any other option, the more they will
get to eat it, get to be like, okay, this isn't so bad, or you can put spices on it,
or you can dip it in ranch.
I know that's not everybody's favorite, but if you want your kids to eat carrots or celery,
maybe let them dip it in ranch dressing, maybe let them dip it in Greek dressing, put a little
peanut butter on the celery.
There are ways to, I'm going to do it, jazz up the fruits and vegetables.
I did jazz.
Jazz hands, but only with her four out of five fingers.
That was so upsetting.
But the more you put it in front of them, the more they'll do it.
It's true.
Cut up apple sizes and get the cinnamon sugar shaker, like spice thing from like McCormick
or whatever.
Yes, it's cinnamon sugar, but you're getting them to eat apples and it's in little bits,
so it's not that bad.
Yeah.
My kids have a banana with cinnamon on it every morning.
We cut it up in little pieces and we put cinnamon on it and they're getting a full banana
filling their stomachs.
Yes, it's got cinnamon on it, but cinnamon is great.
Yeah.
Cinnamon is an adaptogen.
I also put cinnamon on our overnight.
Oh, you do?
I forgot that.
Yeah.
I, yep.
Yes.
I put it in the shaker or if I'm making it in the morning like as is, I just put it
on top.
I hate cinnamon.
What?
I hate it.
Didn't you eat the Taco Bell cinnamon twist with us?
No, not once.
That was just me and dad.
And Julie and Billy.
No.
Oh my God, I love cinnamon.
Cinnamon sugar or just cinnamon?
Just cinnamon.
I don't think I could live without that.
You have your granola?
I'm going to have cinnamon.
No, I absolutely hate cinnamon.
You're annoying.
Okay.
All right.
So if all of that wasn't enough because you just can't get enough, we have pretty awesome
real tips and real extra tips for you.
So let's get into the real extra nitty gritty of it.
Your real tip is about the frozen section of your refrigerator setup.
The freezer if you will.
I like a lot of frozen vegetables and I like frozen fruit in terms of making smoothies
and stuff.
But all of them are already bagged obviously.
Right.
Right?
Like there's nothing.
It's just how it comes.
But you still have to open the bag and you still have to defrost it or you have to, if
you're me, you have to like slam it on the counter.
Slam it on the counter.
Yup.
It's really frozen.
And do the whole process.
But if you baggy them individually for a portion of a meal, because you're going to take, like
at the end of the night I like to make frozen, Harley taught me this, which I think dad taught
you.
We've talked about it before.
Frozen vegetables with vinegar in the microwave.
So good.
Sounds ridiculous.
Very good.
Like I said, a mixed bag of frozen vegetables.
But you still have to go through the process.
It still takes time.
When I get home at 8.30 at night, I'm like, I don't even want to do that.
I know.
Like I don't even want to put that in the microwave, which is the least amount of work you could
possibly do in a kitchen.
But if you pre-baggy the frozen vegetables that you have, that eliminates the process.
Like if I, it's Tuesday, I'm at a meal prep, I'm going to do that to my frozen food.
If you're a smoothie maker, do it with the frozen fruit.
This is really hard for me to set.
I know.
I'm watching it.
And I'm nervous for you.
My brain is like sludge.
Yeah.
And I'm trying to talk through the sludge.
I'm watching it happen in real time.
I think it was your jazz hands.
So pre-portion your smoothie items as well.
There's them.
What do you have to do?
You have to take it out of the bag, dump it in the blender and it's done.
Add some milk.
Whatever you do.
But it's done.
We forget.
I tend to forget about the freezer stuff sometimes, especially if you don't have as much time.
But if you are a frozen food person, veggies, fruits specifically, this is a really great
way to be efficient with all of that as well.
I'm going to do that because I totally, my freezer is full of stuff.
I don't even know what's in there.
And it saves up room.
Yeah.
As well.
Which I'm thinking of your freezer and it's hard to open the door and shut the door.
She has one of the ones on the bottom.
Bottom.
Which I don't enjoy.
No, neither do I.
Yeah.
But it would save up a lot of room that way.
And if you, you know, threw some of the ice cream out.
Ice cream and like frozen bananas that I keep meaning to make banana bread with.
Just in case.
I just threw mine out because I was like, these are actually really bad now.
Yeah.
I need to just get rid of them.
Yeah.
All right.
So the next, the tip of the week, it's called be fun.
Don't be all unfun.
I hate that I know what you're referencing now due to BravoCon episode 80 or something.
What's up, Sarah?
Be fun.
Don't be all unfun.
Means when you have a mental thought in your head that meal prep is going to take a while,
it's not fun.
It takes time out of your Sunday.
Make it fun.
Put on music.
Yeah.
That you can jam out to.
For me, the other day, it was Michael Jackson.
Loved it.
And I just spent an hour and a half in the kitchen chopping vegetables, cleaning, listening
to my favorite songs.
I'm picturing you.
Beat it.
Chop it.
Beat it.
Chop it.
That's exactly right.
But I, it passed the time and it made it so much more enjoyable so that you don't dread
it and go, Oh God, I got to go food shopping and then meal prep.
And it's like two hours later.
Well, listen to your favorite songs and sing and have your like, my kids were dancing around.
Like, that's just what we did for an hour and a half, two hours.
And then it's over.
Yeah.
And then you think of all the time you saved and you're having fun doing it.
Have your kids help you.
The more they help you and wash the vegetables and see what they're eating, the more they're
apt to like adapt to gin into their daily life.
I need gin right now, actually, preferably with some tonic.
And make it fun.
Don't be all unfun.
I agree though, because I listen to like murder crime podcasts.
Yeah.
Same thing.
Totally.
Well, yeah, I'm chopping.
It's great.
No, I'm kidding.
But it has the time and listening to a story.
Like, I'm not really paying attention to, I guess, not how long it is because I know
that the story is going to end at the most.
It's like an hour.
Yeah.
And you can just go on autopilot really and just listen.
Exactly.
I'm chopping, I'm pushing, I'm doing stuff that I know that I want to do, but I'm really
listening to the story and it's like a really, it's fun.
It's a good time.
Yeah.
I like that, actually, a lot.
Thanks.
Proud of you.
And that takes care of, remember when you were like, we used to have dance parties in
COVID all the time and we stopped doing that.
And that's a good way to get that back.
Yes.
Now that they're home.
Yeah, it's on a Sunday, so the kids are home.
And yeah, sometimes I'm like, oh my gosh, I should be doing something with the kids.
I don't want to take part in my Sunday away from them by like doing my meals stuff, my
food, have them involved.
Play their favorite song, let them dance around, have them, you know, Melody's 10 now.
She was cutting some of the peppers because she likes peppers.
And then it's like a family thing.
Yeah.
I love that.
I love that so much.
Definitely play some Michael Jackson in our house.
It's Michael Jackson, Ben Platt, Connor Price.
Imagine Dragons.
Or the Trolls soundtrack.
Or Trolls.
But yeah, all of those, you could, you know, put on a set list and have a little concert
while you're making food.
Listen to this while you're doing it.
Oh, you could totally, you know.
So yeah, I want to shout out to Bridget who kind of emailed me about meal prepping and
I was like, my God, we need to spread the word.
We need to share this with everyone.
So you can thank Bridget if you see her at Seafit in the next upcoming classes because
she was the inspiration.
And I just think it's really, it's a really good way we're getting into September.
Schedules start to amp up.
But even if you don't have kids, like things just feel like it changes in September and
not for the easy breezy, right?
No, you want to set yourself up for the year, set set up for success.
And September is like the new January.
You want to, you start over, you know, like it is.
Yeah.
Happy New Year.
But it's true.
Like if you work a nine to five or any type of, any job, that's the last thing you want
to do is be like, I have to think about what I'm eating every single, I saw something.
It was like, I didn't know as an adult, I would be only thinking about what my next
meal was for the rest of my life.
Why?
There's no need.
Do it one day a week.
Done.
And it takes up so much more brain power for you to do other things.
So we hope this helped you.
I'm certainly ready to go meal prep right now.
I'm very excited about it.
I'm hungry.
And very usual.
We hope you remember that you are always fit to be real and always allowed to be a little
extra.
That's a lot.
Did you just say extra?
Yeah, always a lot.
Yeah.
Keeping it.
Okay.
For legal reasons, we have to tell you that this podcast is meant for entertainment
and educational purposes only.
We are not healthcare professionals for all of your health, wellness, fitness and self
care needs.
Please refer to the medical professional in your life, your primary care physician, your
therapist, a certified coach, whoever it may be.
And then let us know what they say because I guarantee we need to know what to do.
Okay?
Okay, bye.