Cooking for Too Many Days
The appeal of meal prepping is that you can cook all your meals for the week to help your future self. However, this might create some issues for certain foods. The main problem with cooking for the entire week is that food such as chicken tends to go bad after three to four days, which can lead to food poisoning. However, this is usually just the case with meat, so you can get away with cooking plenty of vegetables ahead of time. Plus, too many food containers can make it difficult to find space in your refrigerator to store it all.
Warming Up Food in Plastic Containers
Another issue might have to do with the containers in which you’re storing your food. It’s fine to keep food refrigerated in plastic containers, but the one thing you don’t want to do is warm up the food in the same containers, because it can cause BPA and phthalates to seep into your meal. A much safer option would be to store and microwave your food in safe glass or ceramic containers.
Sticking with the Same Meals
Sticking to a diet doesn’t mean you have to eat the same thing every day; in fact, you have a better chance at staying on it if you try new foods. As you meal prep, don’t be afraid to try something that’s new but that still falls into your diet. One thing to avoid when you do this is making too much of something you don’t know you’ll like. Mix in a new meal or two instead of being stuck with it for several days.
Putting Dressing on Your Salad Ahead of Time
Salads are usually major parts of any diet in some fashion because they’re not only easy to put together, but also delicious. A reason why salads can be delectable and healthy at the same time is because of the dressing, but the final biggest meal prep mistake to avoid is putting on the dressing too early. If you put dressing on the night before or in the morning as part of your meal prep, then you run the risk of eating a soggy salad by the time lunch comes around. An easy way around this is to put salad dressing in a separate container from the dry ingredients.
