#18 - Food Prep & Planning “Why”

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

thoughts, food prep, planning, lunches, dinners, incorporate, life, week, food, balance, meal prep, goal, meals, morning, family, started, overwhelm, create, snacks, drama

SPEAKERS

Trisha Barita

00:02

Hey there, I'm Trisha Barita. I'm a mother of twin girls, a wife, an entrepreneur, a psychology major, a lawyer, and a coach. With all these different roles in my life, in the past, I truly struggled with limiting beliefs in my ability to adequately juggle all these roles successfully, I often would be frustrated that time and again, I let my goals and dreams always take a backseat to everything else I was trying to do. And those dreams always seem to be on the horizon, just out of reach. Until I discovered tools and thought work to help me tackle and learn to balance all of it. Now, I don't let these titles define my limits. I define my balance in life, by how I choose to show up for myself every day. Am I perfect? Hell no far from it. But I do work every day to believe in myself, and to be present with whatever I experienced in this life, The Good, the Bad, and The really fucking ugly. to own my truth and own my thoughts. I created this podcast to talk about how that noise gets in the way of our goals as women. And now I help women and teach them tools to cut the overwhelm of noise in their life, preventing them from getting the balance they want. If you like this podcast and want to take my free course to get started on designing your balance, and saying fuck that noise, go to Trisha barita.com, forward slash free course. Now let's get after it.

02:07

Hello, fabulous friends. So today's topic is one of my favorite topics ever. I could geek out with anybody for hours about this topic. Because I am a massive lover of food prep and planning. For me, it just feels great to incorporate this into my weekly routine. And, you know, take this off of my plate early on in the week. For those of you that have taken my free course on my website, this goes into my gravity, our planning, and then the actual physical prep of the food usually occurs on Sundays for me. Now when I say food prep and planning, I mean, this can include dinners, lunches, snacks, breakfasts, all of it, only part of it. For instance, maybe just plain dinners. I've dabbled in so many different areas, experiment experimented and found things that worked for me and some that didn't. Some that worked for my family and some that didn't. I've actually found that depending on the time of year, some things work differently than others. We change things up seasonally in my house, for instance. So depending on what fruits and vegetables may be fresh, or you know, really in season at the time, we may incorporate that differently, there's certain like meals, it gets hot here in Houston, Texas, so you won't be seeing me make a lot of these like warm soups for us to be you know, eating during the, for dinner during the during the summer months. And it's hot for a good period of time. So not just like a month, right? So when it does get cooler, we start to incorporate in like these different sort of, you know, meals that would be more appropriate. So for for this season. And so you know, I kind of love that that change of it that kind of moves with it. We also have very different planning during the summer versus the school year in my house. So when it comes to food, mainly because people are all in different schedules generally. And so we have a little bit tight type of different flexibility, I would say probably where he's trying to, like, get it to be as much, you know, more structured as I can around the school year because there's so many other things going on. You know, but working on this and adjusting for myself and for my family's needs. You know, it's part of what helped me in designing my balance for my life. So, I'm going to be opening the doors to my membership for women called Design your balance. And that will be you know, coming in the next month or so. And in that membership we work together as women supporting each other, you know, on your goals, including more mindfulness through thought work, and using other tools to bring mindfulness. And one of the things I always work on with my coach In clients is your WHY for certain goals. So the goal of incorporating meal prep into your life, if you've never done it, or say you do it regularly now and you're thinking you want to change it or level it up, this goal can often be helped by a great WHY. And sometimes it can require some thought work of other thoughts to process in order for you to get to that why the why that fits for you, you know, and the why it can be important. Because your why will motivate you on the days you don't want to food prep. For example, when I when I'm talking about trying to process through some thoughts to get to that, why my love affair with food prep and planning? Well, I didn't. It didn't always used to be that way. I didn't always feel that way. I think originally, I was pretty resistant to the idea. Before I could even discover my why I had some of these thoughts to process, I had this thought, this very real thought in my head that food prep or food planning meant I had to give up being spontaneous. And I just thought it wouldn't work for my family or my lifestyle. Nobody's gonna agree to some of this stuff. So I also thought that food prep and planning was just one more thing to do on a long list the things I didn't have time to do. And, you know, as I've started coaching clients on this kind of subject, I've had, you know, discussions with them about them having these thoughts as well. And sometimes they have thoughts of overwhelm related to having time or energy for food prep and planning. You know, but a lot of my coaching clients, they eventually decided they want to work through those thoughts. So they can really try the food problem playing, see 

06:58

if it is something they like, see if it is something they want. But in order to kind of get there, you kind of want to work through any sort of like stubborn thoughts that are or, you know, demotivating, your ability to kind of dry this, this whole thing out for you or your family. So let me tell you a little bit about just working through these thoughts. And then I'll get into the why that led me on on this food planning and prep journey, and maybe some ideas for you. So, food prep and planning is amazing, in my opinion. But it takes number one planning. And number two, it takes some time. So when you have thoughts about planning, more things into your pack schedule, or your time or lack thereof, you're going to have thoughts about incorporating any of this into your schedule. It's super funny how your mind works. Because once you feed thoughts of you have no time or this isn't for me, then your mind will go on this wild goose chase seeking out evidence to prove that true. Every stumbles, like another flashing neon sign saying, See, I told you, this wasn't for you. So you have to first make space for how you think about time, you may try to incorporate food prep into Sundays at 2pm, only to find that time doesn't work for you. And rather than have a big drama about that, you could just try another time. But your brain sometimes will say See, I told you so. And you know, kind of feed this idea that this isn't going to work for you. So you have to step outside those initial thoughts. And kind of be the watcher of those thoughts. Look down and recognize, hey, brain, you know, we're trying something new here. Your brain likes routine. And if you have a different routine that you've been doing for a long time may not like this sort of adjustment that you're doing. So what I'm saying is if you want to think I'm overwhelmed, I have no time for meal prep and planning, your brains often gonna look to prove that true. Another example would be that you simply Google meal plan, meal prep and planning. You then try like tried to do everything at once that you find a lot of stuff out there on the internet about it. And you're totally having thoughts of overwhelm and those first few weeks of planning all these dinners, lunches, breakfasts, etc. Because it doesn't go all like perfect and amazing. You know, when really maybe you just needed to try one thing and see how that goes. You know, these are the you know, these thoughts can sort of leave you stranded before you get started I think with meal prep and planning. You know, after I worked through those thoughts for myself about time it was only then that I could really focus on my why and the how I was going to be able to do this actually had to start to understand how to do meal prep and planning. I mean, this is quickly how to do it. And some of that takes some research on what, you know, the different options, so but don't get overwhelmed. There's a lot of information out there. But I mean, I, you know, I, when I say physically how it's like what type of containers are you going to use? You know, what should I plan? What ingredients or foods do I need to buy? You know, how far ahead should I buy them? What will you know, keep well, and what won't. And like I mentioned before, with all the blogs and information out there on this subject, it is pretty easy to go spiraling down the track where you tried to do all the things suggested by the internet for meal planning. So you may think, Well, where do I start? Or if you've, you know, already got, you know, a method into food prep and planning, how do I level it up. And this is kind of where you think your y comes in. Because this can sort of help helped you. I mean, if you if you lean into the why, I think then the how is more figured out double. So to give you a perspective, let me just tell you where I started my food, rapid planning why really, he actually was very simple. I just wanted less chaos and drama in the mornings when I started creating lunches for myself and the kids. I wanted to plan what I would have for lunch in a thoughtful way. And I wanted to make sure that the kids lunches were ready to go in the morning. So I could focus on all the other parts in the morning. That's it. I just started with a very simple why for getting into meal prep and planning. And then I got to work on that. And when I got really good at that, I added in something else. So for lunches, all discussions with the kids about what they want in them well for for my house that happens 

11:59

all in my food prep planning time during the weekend. And before buying the food, I don't have debates in the morning, or have to run around, follow the kids about what snacks they want, or what sandwich they want, or whatever. They've already made all those decisions. So that that is a really helpful way in my house for how we handle everything. And you may you may try something different. But for me personally, I also use it as a way to sort of organize my own lunches as well. So when I first started, I, I would just pick one lunch that I usually will have every day for that week. Now I did I did think at first I wanted a ton of variety and freedom. Memories, I've you know, had thoughts about all of this. But after actually testing it out for myself. I'm actually okay with just picking a theme for that week for my lunch and running with it. So now I do change it up from you know, one week to the next week. So don't get bored. So one week, I may have like a Greek salad with feta cheese, and grilled chicken every day. And then the next week, I may have a turkey and cheese tortilla wrap everyday for that that week for my lunch. Now remember, my stuff may not work for you or your family. So your your kids may want a different sandwich depending on the day of the week, or whatever that is, but these are just some ideas on kind of things that have worked for. For me, after doing some experimentation, I think it takes a minute to kind of figure out what you like. I mean, some people are okay with just like the same lunch every day, honestly, like, just totally might be able to do that. And they're like, this is totally fine. You know what I mean? I just doesn't even I just felt like not thinking about it. And I just made that decision and you know, that's what it is. Or you mate but you may also be like, Hey, I don't want to eat that same thing every day for one week. You know, like, I'm okay with that. Right? So as you work through that you can experiment but you know, meal prep and planning, it's not for everyone. So if it's not your thing, hey, you do you but for those that want to try it or level up their food prep and planning, I think that's super awesome. And if you get stuck and you want to start something new, go to the why that's leading you there. Like why do you want this change in your organization Food Prepping and planning? You know why do you want this goal for yourself or your family life? Say you're in a Food Prepping and planning and you're feeling like kind of stuck you know, maybe lean into the seasonal thing that I was talking about like hey, you know, or every month you want to change up you know, how you approach you know dinners differently like say you want to do like more crock pot meals in this particular month or you want to try to you know, do more casseroles or maybe you want to like Make you incorporate the breakfast for dinner kind of thing, which I've always loved as a as a meal prep planning idea when you're planning out your dinner, so those kinds of things can change. And if you do the same thing all the time, and you yourself have thoughts that, hey, I want something different in that realm, you don't have to have a lot of drama about it, you just have to think about what is it that's really here? What's the why that one that I want to change? If it's just getting into food robbing and planning, that's one thing. But if you're just wanting to level up that what is the why behind that? Are you trying to find more protein in your meals, you know, there's tons of information about how to, you know, make sure you're getting a certain amount of protein, say you're doing like, you know, weightlifting. And you realize, hey, I need to get, I need to get this much protein in order for me to like, be able to, you know, grow muscle and like actually build muscle the way that I want to, or say you're like, you know, what, I just realized, I don't have enough vegetables in my life, you know, how can I get more greens in there? Or maybe you're like, hey, you know what, I want a green smoothie in my life. So I'm gonna do that. How do you make these changes? Well, all of that kind of starts with your why like, because you can get into this place where you're sort of like just changing tons of things all the time. And then you're sort of lost as to like, why you started all of this. And it can start to feel overwhelming. Like I said, the internet is got a lot of stuff on food prep and planning. And I think your Y can sort of center you, it can focus you and you don't have to, like, stick with, you know, one particular thing and do that forever. You can try a certain thing and then try something else. And kind of just you find what works for you, and your personal life and what works for your family as well. So I think, you know, I think your thoughts lead this process, not the other way around.

16:56

You know, in reality, the chaos and drama of my mornings back then when I started, you know, Food Prepping and planning. That was really just a thought about my time in the mornings that it was chaotic and drama filled. You know, but the why of wanting more organization in the morning is what led me to create a goal of trying something different, and how I organized lunches for the week. In the end, it really wasn't the change in the lunches that made the morning feel less chaotic or less drama, although you would think so. It was actually how I started rethinking my approach to that part of my morning, I started to believe that while the mornings may not be perfect, they aren't necessarily this chaotic thing that I had created my mind. It was more about the fact that I realized I had control over the decisions of how the morning was gonna go. And food prep and planning just gave me more confidence and strength in that in that world. And, you know, creating the thoughts that I did around that helped. So it helped me create that designer, you know, balance that, you know, I want for each of you. And let me just add, in regards to my personal journey. I am not a chef goober in the kitchen or anything I do I do like to cook and bake when when I decide that there's something that I want to make or that I'm working on something for my family meals. But you know, even though I'm not like this chef Guru, I have to say that dieting and food prep and planning has really revolutionized my thoughts about family eating and organization. And actually my organization over my own personal eating habits as well. And maybe that's why I just have totally fallen for it. But I could go on and on with this one. My wins and fails in this department, by the way are epic. But I will save all of that for another day. Oh, and if you're connected with me on Instagram, I'm going to post a few quick fixes of some lunch and snack preps that I've done. But for now, I'll leave you with that. Now go get after it. You got this

19:24

Hey, thanks for listening today. If you enjoyed this episode, and are a woman ready to say fuck that noise, so you can start designing the balance in your life. Go take my free course to get started at Trisha barita.com forward slash free course. Now Have an awesome day and I'll see you next week.