The best meal prep food for weight loss

Meal prep bloggers suggest planning your meals two to three days before you want to start preparing your food. Photo / Getty

Meal prepping is the ever so slightly smug Instagram craze for preparing all your weekday meals in advance.

It's an efficient way for health and fitness fanatics to make sure they still eat the right foods when pressed for time.

But if you're looking to join the masses of people who meal prep every week as they try to achieve their weight loss goals, then you need to know the best foods to fill your plastic containers with.

Meal prep bloggers suggest planning your meals two to three days before you want to start preparing your food so you can go out and buy the ingredients you need, rather than be tempted by impulse purchases.

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Comment below: What's your favorite 3 ingredient #mealprep combo?

A post shared by Meal Prep On Fleek (@mealpreponfleek) on Jan 7, 2017 at 8:50am PST

All the ingredients can be mixed and matched. MealPrepOnFleek suggests a combination of salmon, quinoa, and spinach, or chicken, kale and rice.

Then all that's left to do is cook your food and fill your boxes, which can be done on a Sunday or Monday - the most popular days for meal prepping.

Just be careful with certain proteins such as fish, which only keep for a maximum of two days once cooked.

THE BEST INGREDIENTS FOR YOUR MEAL PREP BOXES

• Protein

Chicken breast
Chicken thighs
Turkey breast
Salmon
Cod
Haddock
Shrimp
Tilapia
Tuna
Steak
Lean ground beef
Pork
Sausages
Bacon
Eggs
Greek yoghurt
Cheese
Protein powder
Black beans
Lentils
Garbanzo beans
Tofu
Tempeh
Edamame

• Vegetable

Spinach
Green beans
Broccoli
Brussels sprouts
Asparagus
Kale
Carrots
Snow peas
Squash (butternut, acorn, spaghetti squash, kabocha)
Jicama
Mushrooms
Salad (lettuce, tomato, cucumber, peppers, onions, etc)

• Starch

Quinoa
Rice (brown, white, jasmine, black, wild grain)
Potatoes (sweet, Japanese, red bliss)
Whole grain pasta
Rolled Oats
Oatbran
Whole grain cereal
Whole grain bread

• Healthy fat

Coconut oil
Avocado oil
Olive oil
Flax oil

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🙌🏼🍴🏋🏽 #mealprep #motivationmonday #militaryfitness #militarymuscle #militarydiet #isobagfitness #bodybuilding #fitnessgoals

A post shared by Alexandra Kowalchuk Strong (@kowalchukstrong) on Feb 6, 2017 at 12:36pm PST

WHAT'S FOR BREAKFAST, LUNCH AND DINNER?

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Meal prep done! Boom!💥👊#mealprep #chicken #healthyeating #veggies #yay

A post shared by Laura Price (@lau_pricexx) on Feb 6, 2017 at 12:33pm PST

Breakfast: Egg white muffins with tomatoes and spinach

Optional snacks throughout the day: Cucumbers, tomatoes, avocados, peppers, spinach, black beans, bananas, apples

Lunch: Meatless meatballs topped with bbq sauce, brown rice and baked carrots

Dinner: Black bean/veggie burgers with baked carrots, baked peppers and brown rice mix

Dessert: Greek yogurts and blueberries