| September 7, 2026 |
NatNews |
ISSUE 234 |
MEAL PREPPING FOR SIMPLIFICATION + HEALTH
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Life is often filled with difficult decisions, but trying to figure out what to eat doesn’t have to be one of them. Preparing meals for the week can offer several advantages, especially for individuals with already jam-packed schedules, as the question of what’s for lunch or dinner becomes nearly non-existent. One significant benefit is saving money, as those who meal prep are more likely to buy only what they need at the grocery store, minimize food waste by portioning out their meals, eat out less frequently, and opt for cost-effective recipes. Preparing meals ahead of time also offers a higher-quality diet, as the choices individuals who do so make generally offer higher nutrients and a decreased intake of ultra-processed foods. Dallas-area resident Nikki East said she has been meal prepping for more than a decade, estimating that she started sometime around 2013. “I began doing so to have healthy, nutritious meal and snack options on the fly,” she said. “Life gets so busy, and not having to cook every meal every day is such a lifesaver.” Dallas resident Blake Blanton initiated his meal-prep routine in 2020 when he was a teacher and coach as a way to save time and be able to eat well-rounded meals. “My days were busy with little time to eat or go get something from a restaurant,” he said. “When I started, I was able to eat a healthy well-balanced meal in the 30 minutes I had during my planning period. Over time, I began to enjoy having meals planned out and taken care of. It puts time back into my day.” |
Blanton said he typically preps meals for himself and his wife, Bailey, on Sunday afternoons, and he appreciates the benefits allocating such time each week offers. “Meal prepping simplifies your week and grocery shopping,” he said. “I enjoy putting 30 minutes to an hour back in my day.” Like Blanton, East uses Sunday, which she said is the one day a week that is usually quiet and calm, to prepare her meals for the week ahead. She also acknowledged how advantageous doing so has been to her lifestyle. “I have quick access to complete meals that are healthy, balanced, nutritious, tasty, and filling, rather than stress eating poor choices after a hectic day because I don’t feel like cooking,” she said. “It also gives me more time to relax at the end of the day—again, not having to worry about cooking. It makes the week run a bit more smoothly.” While meal prepping saves time, money, and the daily stress of deciding what to eat, having the same meal throughout the week might become mundane for some people. But Blanton has found a way to fight flavor fatigue. “By Thursday or Friday, you become tired of it, but I usually will add a sauce or something to mix it up a little,” he said. “You just get used to the flavors by the fourth day, so it can become bland to you.” East said, for the most part, she is content with eating the same meals each week, though she’s also OK with going rogue when she wants to. “I change it up from time to time,” she said. “Also, there are times I crave something else, so I do have a few other options handy if I want to cook something else. I keep those options simple so that cooking time doesn’t take away from relaxing time.” |
DID YOU KNOW?
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With more than 560 buildings taller than 150 meters, Hong Kong has more skyscrapers than any other city in the world. |
BUT WHAT DO YOU ACTUALLY DO?
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If you’ve ever had someone ask you what a friend, partner, or family member does for a living, and you respond with a blank stare or incoherent explanation, you are not alone. It’s not uncommon for individuals not to fully understand what their friends’ jobs are. Sure, they may know the industry or a general job title, but as to what that actually means, that can often be a mystery. Dallas resident Abby Cartwright is an environmental engineer, primarily responsible for remediation of contaminated soil and groundwater, and has worked in this role for approximately seven years. Cartwright said she thinks that her friends would be able to describe her career if she asked them to do so. “I feel like I have a job that is simple to explain,” she said. On the flip side, Cartwright said when it comes to her friends, it’s contingent upon the person as to whether or not she knows what the individual does. “Some of my friends have straightforward jobs that everyone has heard of,” she said. “But a lot of my friends have vague titles like ‘project manager’ or ‘account specialist’ that provide no information about their specific tasks.” Dallas resident Aaron Byrkit is a wealth advisor who has been in the industry for 16 years and said he believes that many of the individuals who know him have a general idea of what his role is. “I think people know I work with and advise on other people’s money,” he said. “I don’t know if many people fully understand what all is involved in how I go about that.” Similarly, Byrkit noted that his knowledge of what his friends’ careers involve is on a similar depth level, as he broadly knows what they do for a living. “With most of them, I may not understand what their day to day is actually like, though,” he said. Perhaps a PowerPoint presentation night could help with that. Southern California resident Khuyen Vu, who recently changed jobs and has been in an analyst role for four months, acknowledged that the people in her life would likely not be able to give an accurate description of her career. “No one really knows what I do, probably because I just switched roles from a manager before,” she said. However, Vu said she is knowledgeable on the careers of her close friends and family members, noting that they talk about their work often. She does think that one reason it’s often challenging to know what people actually do if their jobs aren’t positions such as teacher, police, firefighter, etc., which are roles more generally well-known, is simply a result of the current world in which we live.
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“It’s difficult for people to remember general information these days, so it’s understandable when people forget everyone’s job titles,” she said. “But I think it’s important to know what the people in your life do in their careers to make sure you can show that you’re actively listening and paying attention to each other’s lives.” Cartwright said she thinks it’s not always easy to understand people’s careers because there are many roles that are highly specialized within an industry or often within a company, so even if the job is explained to an outsider, a lack of background knowledge of the industry or company creates obstacles. “A lot of my friends use software programs I haven’t heard of or acronyms I’m unfamiliar with, which means they first have to describe those things to me before they can describe their day-to-day responsibilities,” she said. “Sometimes things are better understood through hands-on experience rather than verbal explanation.” Byrkit noted that the innovation and other changes that have taken place over time have made it more difficult to accurately describe the roles some people work to earn income. “There are industries that exist now that did not when many of us were growing up, and the roles needed in those industries often involve skills that are new,” he said. “Many of those roles don’t fit into traditional conceptions of the professions we grew up hearing about.” But Byrkit said he does think that it’s important to know what the people in one’s life do in their careers. “I believe that what a person spends so many waking hours doing tends to tell you something about that person,” he said. Cartwright said she also thinks it’s essential to have a general understanding of her friends’ careers, as she is interested in their lives, and their careers are major parts of their lives, though she doesn’t believe that the precise specifics are always necessary. “I think just knowing what industry they work in is sufficient,” she said. “I do not think it’s important to know exactly what they do in their careers. If they’re not my coworker, that level of detail doesn’t concern me.” WEEKLY PHOTO OP     .jpg)  Some of the NatNews girl gang recently assembled to discuss important matters |
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