Meal hacks are easy meals that can be “assembled” versus prepared in advance. They require no (or very little) preparation. Each meal or snack can be made quickly and a shopping list is provided at the end.
I pulled these snack lists together after a failed attempt to survive a week without protein bars. While I love protein bars and find them useful for staying on target with my nutrition goals, I can become over reliant on the convenience to the detriment of my whole food consumption.
These snack hack plans are for people, like me, who don’t spend all day Sunday meal prepping and struggle eating leftovers, but want to hit their macros or eat simply all week long.
If you struggle to meal prep, need ideas for healthy snacks, or want to avoid excessive snacking, this approach could make it easier for you to meet your nutrition goals or change a frustrating bad habit.
This edition features the canned green bean, which might sound like the worst thing ever, but this humble ingredient was single-handedly how I successfully navigated my first-ever weight loss cut.
The canned green bean offers two incredible benefits:
Of course, you can prep some fresh green beans too, but if you don’t have time, or you miss your prep day, here is a fallback. The question is what can you actually make with it?
17C, 8F, 28P; 250 Calories
This meal helped me stick to my macros and lose weight even if I didn’t prep food for the week. I probably ate it 5 times a week for 3 months, which I realize is not great for nutritional variety, but it offered convenience, 60-second prep time, which makes it highly desirable. I get the Safe Catch tuna to reduce mercury risk.
27C, 13F, 36P; 365 Calories
25C, 9F, 10P; 210 Calories
25C, 12F, 19P; 276 Calories
17C, 9F, 28P; 250 Calories
21C, 11F, 20P; 274 Calories
20C, 11F, 28P; 300 Calories
Base
Meats
Produce
Dairy
Prepared / Canned Foods
Condiments