Weekly meal prep: a plan that still holds up on Friday

A concrete meal prep plan: how much protein per day, raw versus cooked weights, what actually keeps four days in the fridge, and the mistakes that ruin it.

Meal prep isn't mysterious — it's two to three hours a week spent cooking a base, weighing it, and stacking it in the fridge. Most people don't fail because they don't know what's healthy; they fail because at 7:30 pm on Tuesday there's nothing ready and takeaway wins. This is the concrete version: how much of what, how long it takes, how long it keeps, and where people go wrong.

Numbers first, containers second

Without rough math you're cooking blind. Start from bodyweight and how often you train:

Protein: 1.6–2.2 g per kilogram per day. For an 80 kg person that's 130–175 g.
Carbs: 3–5 g/kg if you train 3–5 times a week — 240–400 g at 80 kg.
Fat: 0.8–1 g/kg, and don't sit under 0.6 g/kg for long — roughly 65–80 g at 80 kg.
Vegetables: 400–600 g a day, about 150 g with each main meal.

Split protein across four meals of 30–45 g. In practice: 150 g raw chicken breast ≈ 33 g protein, 200 g thick yogurt ≈ 20 g, three eggs ≈ 18 g, 100 g dry lentils ≈ 24 g.

Cook for four days, not seven

Cooked meat, rice and legumes keep safely for 3–4 days at 0–4 °C. A single seven-day cook-up is a bad deal — by Friday the food is either off or you're sick of it. A realistic split: Sunday, 120 minutes (Monday–Wednesday) and Wednesday evening, 40 minutes (Thursday–Friday). Alternative: cook it all Sunday, but freeze half immediately at -18 °C and pull it out a day ahead.

What two hours on Sunday looks like

0–5 min: oven to 200 °C, two pots of water on the stove.
5–20 min: 1.2 kg chicken breast and 1 kg potatoes on two trays, seasoning, 20 g oil total. Chicken 22–25 min, potatoes 35–40 min.
20–35 min: 500 g rice and 400 g lentils into the pots (rice 12–15 min, lentils 20–25 min).
35–55 min: chop about 1 kg of vegetables; blanch broccoli for 4 minutes then straight into cold water — it stays firm until Friday.
55–70 min: boil 10 eggs for 9 minutes and don't peel them — in the shell they keep 5–7 days.
70–100 min: cool everything in shallow containers (no deeper than 5 cm), then weigh and portion.
100–120 min: dishes, and label each container with a day.

Weighing: raw or cooked

The most common error is mixing raw and cooked weights, and the gap runs as high as 150 %. Reference points:

100 g raw rice → 250–280 g cooked
100 g dry pasta → about 230 g cooked
150 g raw chicken breast → 110–115 g roasted (roughly 25 % loss)
100 g dry lentils or beans → 220–240 g cooked
one tablespoon of oil = 10 g = about 90 kcal; across three meals that's 270 kcal nobody counts

Weigh food raw, while you cook, once a week. Weighing every plate every day takes longer and you quit within ten days.

What survives four days, and what doesn't

Holds well: chicken breast and skinless thigh, ground beef up to 10 % fat, rice, potatoes, bulgur, lentils, beans, carrots, blanched broccoli, eggs in the shell.
Short shelf life: cooked fish and seafood (2 days max), anything breaded (soggy by day two), yogurt-based sauces.
Don't prep ahead: leafy salad, avocado, cut fruit — add those on the spot, it takes 60 seconds.

Cooling, reheating, freezing

Into the fridge within 2 hours of cooking; in a 30 °C summer kitchen, within one hour.
Keep the fridge at 0–4 °C, cooked food on upper shelves, raw meat on the bottom.
Reheat once, all the way through — the centre should be steaming hot, around 75 °C, not lukewarm.
Freezer at -18 °C: cooked meat and legumes keep 2–3 months. Thaw in the fridge over 12 hours, never on the counter.

Four mistakes that keep repeating

The same meal five days running. Cook one protein base and one carb base, then vary the seasoning and vegetables — costs nothing and you'll last months.
Not enough salt or spice. Bland food gets thrown out; 3–4 g of salt a day spread across meals is not a problem for a healthy person.
Overcooked vegetables. Pull them 2–3 minutes early, since they finish cooking when you reheat.
Ignoring fibre and fluid. Aim for about 30 g of fibre and 30–35 ml of water per kilogram of bodyweight daily; if you're adding legumes, ramp up by 50 g cooked per day.

When to see a doctor

Some things don't get solved with containers in the fridge:

Unintentional loss of more than 5 % of bodyweight in 6 weeks, or persistent fatigue despite normal sleep.
Kidney disease, diabetes, liver disease, thyroid problems, pregnancy, or regular medication — 2 g/kg of protein and large dietary changes are not neutral here; plan them with your doctor.
Bloating, diarrhoea or cramps lasting more than 3–4 weeks after a diet change.
Suspected food poisoning: fever above 38.5 °C, blood in stool, vomiting for more than 24 hours, or signs of dehydration — same-day medical care.
If counting and weighing start producing guilt or make you avoid eating with other people, that's a reason to talk to a professional, not to tighten the plan.

The short version

Budget 1.6–2.2 g of protein per kilogram daily, split into 4 meals of 30–45 g.
Cook for 4 days: 120 minutes Sunday plus 40 minutes Wednesday, or freeze the second half.
Weigh raw and remember the ratios: 100 g rice → 270 g cooked, 150 g chicken → 110 g roasted.
Fridge within 2 hours at 0–4 °C, reheat once until the centre hits about 75 °C.
Rapid weight loss, symptoms lasting over a month, or an existing chronic condition — see a doctor, not a stricter plan.