Meal Prep, Less Fret: College Students Try Meal Prepping

Ever seen the trending hashtag #mealprep on Instagram?

I interviewed two meal prep enthusiasts on my school campus, Evan Yang and Xu Yuchuan, on why they have bought into this trend.

What is Meal Prep?

Meal prepping, short for “meal preparation”, has become increasingly popular among student populations in recent years.

A search of the hashtag #mealprep generates more than 10.7 million results on Instagram.

Eatbook, a Singapore food site that covers food reviews and trends, posted a video on ‘How to Meal Prep on $3 a Day’. The video, which was posted in November last year, garnered over 90,000 views on YouTube.

Fourth-year NUS student, Evan Yang from the School of Science, began meal prepping just last month.

Evan makes weekly supermarket trips to purchase his meal prep ingredients

Evan, like many others, found meal prepping effective in helping him to be mindful of his diet.

“It’s hard to count calories while eating out,” he said, explaining that meal prep has allowed him to keep track of his calorie intake as he can decide the exact ingredients he uses.

“I thought I was eating a lot,” Evan continued, “But now that I started tracking my calories, I realise I was not eating enough to bulk up.”

“It is fun to prepare a full vegan meal too as it forces me to be creative to improve the taste.”

Evan’s favourite meals to prepare usually consist of vegan recipes such as steamed sweet potatoes, stir-fried broccoli and marinated tofu.

Rejecting Meal Invitations

Evan, however, admits that he has to reject invitations from friends to eat out at times.

“When my friends ask me out for lunch, I have to say no,” he added, “It is a sacrifice as I do not wish to waste food.”

On the bright side, Evan, who stays in his college dormitory, added that time spent meal prepping has allowed him to get to know his hallmates better when they pass by the pantry and stay to chat with him.

Final Advice: Starting Out Simple

Evan advised those interested in starting meal prep not to be overly-ambitious.

“At first, you may buy many ingredients to try out fancy recipes, but it’s not sustainable,” said Evan, who learnt to prioritise convenience given his busy schedule by choosing easy-to-follow recipes.

With the exception of weekends when he will eat out, Yuchuan typically prepares for ten meals a week

Xu Yuchuan, a third-year NUS student majoring in Statistics, has also taken an interest in meal prepping since August this year.

“It’s a big change in my life”, said Yuchuan, who started a low-carb, low-fat and high-protein diet to improve his physical fitness.

Yuchuan's meals usually consist of stir-fried chicken breasts as his main source of protein, with a side of carrots, broccoli or potatoes.

After weeks of meal prepping, he realised that having a healthy diet is extremely important in improving his physique.

“When I previously exercised, I couldn’t really see a difference in my built because I didn’t watch what I eat,” Yuchuan said.

“Now, I don’t experience food coma anymore as my diet is a lot less heavy on carbs.”

Yuchuan added that he no longer experiences sudden dips in energy levels, which is a common occurrence known as 'food coma'.

Cutting down expenses on food

Another reason why Yuchuan started meal prepping was to save money.

Since he started meal prepping in August, he observed that his food expenses per month went down by fifty percent from $500.

Yuchuan believes that this habit will also reap long-term financial benefits.

“I see this as an investment in my health too,” said Yuchuan, who also worked as a financial consultant for the past 2 years. “Taking care of my health helps me to save money in the long run, and that’s the best financial decision anyone can make for themselves.”

Final Advice: Having an end goal in mind

Ultimately, Yuchuan's new routine comes with its own challenges too.

“I think my biggest challenge so far is getting bored of eating the same food five days in a row,” he laughed.

“You have to tell yourself that it is good for you and continue with the routine,” he added.

The 22-year-old said that meal prepping has allowed him to reflect on how he spends his time, as people often questioned him on how he finds time to do it.

“You need to remember why you started meal prepping,” he emphasised.

“Some people might think spending 2 hours cooking is a waste of time, but if you think about it, 2 hours is like watching two episodes of Stranger Things,” he quipped.

“It’s not about how we find time, but whether we want to.”

Note: The above article was written in 2019.