It’s that time of year again, which means it is back to breakfasts on the go and packed lunches. No more room service delivering snacks, and no more days off to spend running on the beach or sleeping in until noon. With summer coming to a close, kids are going back to school and adults are going back to their nine to five schedules and two-hour commutes.

Sounds fun.

After a long day at work or in class, the last thing anyone wants to do is put together a dinner; the second to last thing anyone wants to do is end his/her day with a sub-par meal. Let’s face it: healthy, quick, and satisfying are not words that go together when it comes to food, especially not for the busy person. Staying on track with my diet wasn’t easy in college when I bounced around from class to track to work, and it isn’t easy now with graduate school, work, and internships. Coming home at 10pm either starving from a day of malnutrition, or stuffed sick from a day of convenient snacks, I decided I needed to start planning my meals in advance.

It can get overwhelming. Sunday night is stressful enough without 20 empty tupperwares lined up across the counter. Here are a couple of tips to make the process less intimidating, and to make staying on track less of a hassle.

1. Cook in Bulk

Instead of making separate meals for every day of the week, it might be smart to cook the bulk of the meal, like the meat, in bulk. Throwing a couple of chicken breasts into a crock-pot, or roasting a huge tray of vegetables, is a perfect example. That way, throwing some of that pre-cooked food into a bed of lettuce is easy and mess-free for the busy mom or the college student. Another easy, high protein food to make in advance is eggs. Hard-boiled eggs are easy, quick, and last about a week, so they are the perfect snack to prepare on a Sunday night.

2. Keep it Consistent

As ideal as it may be, it’s hard to eat a wide variety when you’re on a time (and budget) constraint. The easiest way to prep a week of breakfasts and lunches is to be as consistent with foods as possible. It takes a lot less time to prep 5 meals of chicken than it does to prep two meals of chicken, one meal of turkey and two meals of eggs. It’s easier to cook in bulk when you have a bulk of days for which to cook.

3. Take it One Meal at a Time

It can get overwhelming when you have a week worth of meals to plan on top of the exams, papers, and whatever else is on the crazy schedule for the week. One meal at a time makes it easy. First, just focus on how you’re going to plan breakfast. Once all five weekdays are set and ready to go for that, then move on to planning lunch or a snack.

4. Pre-Prep

It isn’t realistic to cook all three meals for all five days in one night. Dinner is best served on a hot plate rather than out of a Tupperware, so for meals that you may want to savor a bit more, don’t prep them entirely! For the meals you want to enjoy withut the hassle of putting together, it may be helpful to pre-prepare the meal rather than to pre-cook it. For example, chop the vegetables, clean the chicken, or set up the pots and pans. That way, when you come home from a stressful day, all you need to do is throw it in the oven, or turn on the stove.

5. One Pot Meals

The crock-pot is your best friend!!!! Soups, chillis and stews are easy to prepare, and contain a perfect ration of carbs, proteins, and fats to get you through a hectic day. One pot can last you a week, which makes for an easy cleanup, and an even easier way to get your nutrients in when you’re too busy to even check your Twitter feed.

6. Plan Fun Foods

Bringing a fun food with you will help keep you sane and provide a perfect pick-me-up for a busy day. Not only that, but it’ll help keep you on track without feeling deprived or bored with what you’re eating.

Meal prepping is a great way to plan for a busy week ahead, and jump-start back into a busy schedule with the right fuel. Not only is it good for your wallet, but preparing meals ahead will keep you focused and energized, in addition to bringing consistency to your constant resolution to get healthy.

Saving more money, having more energy, and dealing with less stress… I think they call that a win, win, win.