THE 7 LEVELS OF MEAL PREP to fit your

TIME ENERGY MONEY You have three basic resources in life:

TIME ENERGY MONEY

Here's a brief guide to choosing how you should meal prep, based on the resources you have.

LEVEL 1 EXCELLENT

Grow it Yourself EXCELLENT

SCARCE PROCESS: > Build a garden; buy seeds & top toil > Kitchen: mint, rosemary, basil, thyme > Balcony: tomatoes, kale, cucumber, zucchini > Garden: apples, lemons, carrots, corn, avocado

PAYOFF: > $15-30/week for the average garden

*$680 (yield) - $240 (set-up), via Journal of Extension; Apr. 2014, Vol. 52 (2) LEVEL 2 GOOD

Grocery Store GOOD

TIGHT PROCESS: > Pick it up yourself > from scratch > Examples: Whole Foods, Urban Fare, Safeway, SaveOnFoods, Walmart, Superstore, No Frills

COST: > $50-300/week LEVEL 3 DECENT

Grocery Delivery DECENT

OKAY PROCESS: > Order online > Cook it from scratch > Examples: Spud, , InABuggy

COST: > $100-350/week LEVEL 4 TIGHT

Prepped Delivery DECENT

DECENT PROCESS: > Order online > Ready to cook & serve > Examples: HelloFresh, FreshPrep

COST: > $150-400/week LEVEL 5 TIGHT

Pre-Cooked Delivery LOW

GOOD PROCESS: > Order online > Reheat & eat > Examples: Frankie's Meals, FitnessFoods, Vancouver Muscle Meals, Eat Your Cake

COST: > $200-550/week LEVEL 6 TIGHT

Hot Meal Delivery LOW

GREAT PROCESS: > Order online > Tip & eat > Examples: , DoorDash, , Skip The Dishes,

COST: > $300-850/week LEVEL 7 LIMITED

Personal Chef LIMITED

FLUSH PROCESS: > Pick out your favourite recipes (anything) > Go to the kitchen and eat > Examples: Thomas Davidson (Vancouver)

COST: > $1,000-3,000/week ASK YOURSELF:

Which have I been optimizing for? Which should I be optimizing for?

AND THEN GO DO THAT.