In this day-in-age, everything moves so quickly that most of us barely have time to catch our breath, let alone plan out and cook healthy meals three times a day, seven times a week. From class to families to work, responsibility to anything but our health trumps keeping an eye on what we put into our bodies.

Taking the split-second nature of meal planning out of the equation may be the key to keeping up a healthy lifestyle. Many health gurus suggest meal prepping, which mostly involves chopping veggies and fruit and even cooking some meals ahead, sticking it all in tupperware containers and pulling them out whenever meal time comes around. 

Meal prepping has become quite popular, and many on Pinterest and other social media sites have tried to innovate the practice. 

Enter: mason jar meals.

What began as a way to use up old, indestructible mason jars has transformed into a meal prep revolution. Perfect for storing foods for long lengths of time, nearly unbreakable and unquestionably trendy, mason jars have become the canvas for meal prep.

Breakfast and lunch are arguably the most stressful meals of the day, the former being a rush job and the latter being prone to office take-out and on-campus fast food options. Avoid it all by making your breakfast and lunch ahead of time.

For breakfast, we have the overnight oatmeal phenomenon. Oatmeal has been touted as one of the healthiest breakfast options. Full of fiber to keep the tummy rumblings away and customizable in almost every way, oatmeal is the way to go if a gourmet breakfast omelette is simply not an option - and let’s be honest, with early morning classes and workplaces to get to, and sleep being the most precious commodity these days, it’s not.

Making overnight oats is a simple process, and removes any sort of stove-top cooking method that most use when making oatmeal. Instead, dry oats sit in a wet mixture of milk (dairy or non-dairy) and flavors overnight in your tupperware of choice (mason jars, obviously) and soak up all of the goodness. Some recipes include chia seeds, which create a gel when combined with liquid, adding more volume to your oats. Add-ins for flavor include anything you would put in regular oats, such as agave syrup, cinnamon, fresh fruit and nuts. The trick with overnight oats is timing; some ingredients go into your mason jar overnight after a vigorous shake, while others are dropped atop right before chowing down. 

The oat mixtures will last up to about a week in the fridge (only if you use air-tight tupperware, such as a mason jar), so make a whole week’s worth of breakfast on a lazy Sunday, and grab one mason jar every morning on your way out the door.

Here are four recipes to get you started.

1. Banana Nut Oats (dairy-free)

2. Mango Almond Oats

3. Pumpkin Spice Oats (dairy-free)

4. Blueberry Maple Oats

After a mason-jar-filled morning, follow it up with a healthy and jar-filled lunch. The mason jar salad has become very popular on Pinterest, and with good reason. Easy to build and customize and able to be made in bulk, busy moms and students use them as huge time-savers and to keep up with their health goals. 

Grabbing a salad from the nearby bodega may seem like a healthy option, but most packaged salads have unnecessary ingredients that up the calorie and fat content. Not to mention, those on a budget save a ton of money packing their own lunches instead of buying out every day.

Packing lunch everyday, however, can become tedious. Many people also run into ruts, tossing leftover dinner into dingy tupperware and calling it a day. Avoid the old lunch routine by taking the time on a quiet day to pack a mason jar salad for every day of the week. Pick different kinds to keep your taste buds on their toes, or buy ingredients in bulk and pick a specific salad each week. Either way, the mason jar salad is both a delicious and fresh option that will keep that afternoon slump away.

Stacking mason jar salads requires a bit of technique to ensure your lettuce doesn't get soggy, so check out the Kitchn's how-to guide here.

Here are five recipes to get you started.

1. The Caprese

2. Zucchini Noodle, Feta, Avocado & Quinoa Salad

3. Deconstructed California Roll Salad

4. Shrimp & Feta Cobb Salad

5. Mediterranean Bean Salad

Reach Staff Writer Ashley Seruya here or follow her on Twitter here.