Meal Prep for Weight Loss

by Kelli Shallal, Rd

[annieb123]

Originally published on my blog Nonstop Reader.

Meal Prep for Weight Loss is a tutorial and recipe guide for weight loss written and curated by Kelli Shallal. Released 15th Oct 2019 by Callisto on their Rockridge Press imprint, it's 265 pages and available in paperback and ebook format.

The book has a logical format. Chapter 1-2 covers the background of weight loss and benefits of meal-prep and planning as well as a very general layman-accessible discussion of the mechanics of weight loss itself. Chapter 3-6 cover meal prep and planning, making lists, batch cooking, food safety and storage. There is a lot of good advice in these chapters which are applicable to any meal prep and planning sessions, not just for the AIP. The author also includes some logical pointers about containers, ingredients, and supplies. Chapters 7+ include a number of batch-friendly recipes arranged thematically: carbs, veggies, proteins, snacks.

The meal plan chapters include a surprisingly varied selection of multiple day to weekly meal plans with different tastes and representing different world cuisines: Italian, American, Asian fusion, and more.

The recipes have their ingredients listed bullet style in a sidebar. Measurements are given in US standard only. Special tools and ingredients are also listed, along with yields and cooking directions. The ingredients are all easily sourced at any moderately well stocked grocery store.
It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately. The book also includes a short author bio, and a metric conversion chart, but lacks any index or ingredients lists.

My one small quibble with the book is that the recipes are mostly not photographed. There are some photos, and they're clear and attractive, but they only represent about 5% of the recipes.

Well done. This book would make a great gift/housewarming for someone looking for sensible weight loss recipes as well as fans of food prep planning / batch cooking.

Four stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.