Consistently eating a healthy diet is challenging. We all work long hours, family and friends demand our time, the house chores are never-ending, our exercise programs require a few hours each week, and heaven forbid we have a little time to ourselves. However, the key to eating healthy on a regular basis is to plan and prep. (I struggle to eat healthy when I don't do this.)

When you create a routine, eating healthy isn't such a chore. Below are additional tips for prepping food for the week:

Plan what you are going to eat so you know what food to buy at the store. (It's also a good idea to plan when you will cook your meals.)
Go through your fridge and pantry to see if you need to restock your "staple" foods (i.e. the foods you eat on a regular basis for snacks or meals. It's also not a bad idea to buy frozen fruits and veggies. They still maintain their nutritional value and they are easy to prepare if you are in a pinch.)
When you cook, cook enough food so you have enough leftovers for a few meals. You can even go the extra mile here and portion the leftovers into containers so they are ready for you to grab before you leave for work.
Ask for help from your roommates, significant other, or kids. Doing this will turn a chore into a social activity, and it reduces the amount of work and time it would take if you do it alone. You can make it even more fun by turning on some music and jamming out while you prep.
If you just really don’t have the time or energy, there are a lot of meal prep services that can help, such as Power Plate Meals, Blue Apron, Hello Fresh, Home Chef, etc. (These aren’t always quite as healthy of meals as I normally recommend to my clients to cook, but it is better than getting fast food or eating at a restaurant every day.)

Bottom line, if you don't make meal prepping and planning into a routine, it will be very difficult to maintain a healthy diet because life always has a way of getting in the way. If you're serious about making healthy eating a lifestyle, this is a must!