Meal Prep Monday Podcast™

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

Continuing with our miniseries on BJ Fogg's book, Tiny Habits, today's episode explains Fogg's behavioral model and how to apply it to creating a new habit (or breaking a bad habit!) Overview of the Fogg Behavioral Model: Fogg's formula is B = MAP B stands for behavior. M stands for motivation. A stands for ability. P stands for prompt. So Behavior = Motivation + Ability + Prompt How it relates to Meal Prep and Healthy Eating: Prep Dish customers always start out super motivated. Motivation is your why, why you want to eat healthily. Strong motivation on its own is not enough to keep a habit going in the long term though. Ability is how easy or hard something is. Takeout is super easy, how do you make cooking at home easier too? This might be improving knife skills or investing in a food processor to chop veggies. The prompt is what reminds you to complete a new behavior. It's easy to say "I didn't have time" but many times, it's really that there was no reminder in place. Tie the new behavior to something you do already. For example, you might decide to always do your meal planning when you get home from your weekly Saturday morning trip to the park. 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

Are you interested in how to build healthy habits? This week's episode kicks off a Meal Prep Monday miniseries all about BJ Fogg's Tiny Habits approach to healthy habit formation. Prep Dish founder Allison Schaaf discusses how this approach is different from other methods you may have tried and why she loves it. Upcoming episodes will include a deep dive into how you can use the Tiny Habits approach to start a meal prep habit, improve your family eating environment and make healthy eating 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 here: prepdish.com/mpm Buy the Book

Before we get to the show notes, don't forget to take advantage of our 2 week free trial to try out our brand new weekly Super Fast menus: prepdish.com/mpm Is Imperfect Foods worth it? In today's episode, Allison Schaaf shares her review of the food delivery service including which Imperfect Foods items she purchases regularly. She also discusses how she uses the service to compliment the Prep Dish meal prep meal plans. From discounted produce to organic whole bean coffee to wild-caught seafood, Imperfect Foods delivery can be a great addition to your healthy meal plan. 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 Use my affiliate link for $20 off your first order: http://imprfct.us/v/allison_12174 Primal Kitchen Buffalo Sauce: https://www.primalkitchen.com/collections/sauces/products/buffalo-sauce Link to Tiny Habits - (Meal Prep Monday series to start next week!): https://tinyhabits.com/

Completing meal prep with a toddler around is no joke! In today's episode, mom and Prep Dish founder Allison Schaaf shares 3 items to keep toddlers busy during meal prep. Bonus - one of them is totally free! Learning Tower: This is especially great if you're doing something your toddler can be involved with. Provide some veggies to taste or safe kitchen tools like spoons and spatulas! Old Containers: Toddlers love taking lids on and off and putting things in containers. Save those old food containers to collect a variety of lids! Salad Spinner: This is the BEST toddler toy, whether or not you use it for salads! We would LOVE to hear your tips to keep toddlers busy in the kitchen in the Prep Dish Facebook group here: Facebook Groups 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: Learning Tower: https://guidecraftkitchenhelper.com/guidecraft-classic-kitchen-helper-stool-with-2-keepers-natural/ Magnetic Child Safety Cabinet Locks: https://www.amazon.com/Eco-Baby-Magnetic-Cabinet-Proofing-Kitchen/dp/B01M6Z8VB1?maas=maas_adg_D85E7E117685139B32D07285E5E465B5_afap_abs&ref_=aa_maas

You've probably heard that buying in bulk can save you money, but it's hard to know what to buy in bulk. You can't stock up on everything! Today Allison shares the top three items she always buys in bulk to save money. Here they are! Spices: Buy bulk spices at Thrive Market: http://www.jdoqocy.com/click-8743240-13895805 ( Find spice containers at the Container Store: https://www.containerstore.com/s/marie-kondo-glass-spice-jar-with-bamboo-lid/d?q=spice+containers&productId=11014538 And don't forget to label: https://www.containerstore.com/s/marie-kondo-spice-bottle-labels/d?q=spice+containers&productId=11014544 OR, recycle a glass spice container you already have. Next time your cinnamon runs out, buy bulk cinnamon and refill the already labeled jar! Tea: If you are a tea drinker, it is so much more cost effective to buy bulk loose leaf tea. You'll need a tea steeper: https://www.amazon.com/Steeper-Xloey-Stainless-Infuser-Strainer/dp/B085C9QX2C/ref=sr_1_9?dchild=1&keywords=stainless+steel+tea+strainer&qid=1611928020&sr=8-9 Meat: Do you regularly eat beef? Consider purchasing a quarter or half of a cow. You'll get a variety of cuts and it's very reasonable per pound. 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: Siply Tea: https://sipsiply.com 10 Must Have Spices: https://prepdish.com/meal-planning/10-must-have-spices/ This post contains affiliate links, thank you for your support of Prep Dish!