Fitting Healthy Meals into Your Busy Schedule

A common excuse I hear for people not sticking to healthy eating is lack of time. Since your health should be one of your top priorities (besides looking out for yourself, you can't take care of your family if you are in poor health!), it's important to find ways to eat nutritious meals.

Food can fuel your body in a  positive way—giving you energy and helping to fight off disease & inflammation, amongst other good things.  It can also make you feel sluggish, bloated, give you diabetes & clog up your arteries, amongst other very bad things.

Hopefully you're convinced now that you & your family should be eating healthy meals. But, you might be struggling with how to manage your busy schedule and find time to grocery shop, prepare and cook meals for one person, much less a family.

Here are a few ways to help:

1) Block off time at the beginning of the week—maybe Sunday evening—when you prepare ingredients & maybe even whole meals for the week.

• Chop vegetables & save in baggies/tupperware.
• Cook large portions of food that you can use over a few days.
• Grilled chicken is a great example of something you can cook in advance & use in multiple recipes (throw in salads & wraps; have as an entree with a side of veggies).
• I make a large serving bowl of quinoa with vegetables and eat it over the week (you can throw meat into it if you like). It couldn't be easier to make.

2) To save even more time, you can buy some things already chopped, mixed & cooked (I'm not talking about a pre-made foods or frozen dinners that have lots of preservatives! Stick to whole, healthy, unpreserved foods.) You'll pay extra for it, but it'll save you time, so you might decide it's worth it:

• Pre-cooked grilled chicken
• Pre-mixed greens (Trader Joe's has a great one called Cruciferous Crunch Collection. They also have some great prepared salads that aren't too expensive & last a couple of days in the frig.)
• Pre-chopped vegetables
• Cut-up fruit

3) Use a crock pot. Throw a bunch of ingredients in it in the morning; come home at night & your dinner is ready!

4) Shakeology—my favorite, easiest, healthiest meal. For those of you already drinking it, you've experienced its many benefits, but at the very least, it only takes about two minutes to prepare.

Use these ideas to help you do something great for yourself & your family—eat well! You deserve it!

Enjoy the Summer Without Packing on the Pounds

In some ways it's easy to eat "clean" in the summer—there is an abundance of fruits and vegetables available and grilling is a quick and healthy way to prepare meat and fish.

In other ways, summer poses a big challenge in terms of eating well. There are a lot of parties, happy hours, ball games, water parks, and pool & beach clubs that don't offer a lot of (if any) healthy food options. Instead, they serve a lot of junk & fried food, along with a lot of sugary and alcoholic drinks.

I know after last weekend, I was feeling a few pounds heavier & the summer has just begun. It's easy to get caught up in all-day grazing (& possibly drinking) while you're hanging out at the pool or beach. Before this gets too out of hand, be conscious of it & plan ahead.

If you're eating well all week, you are entitled to a "cheat meal". The problem is, many of us find ourselves in the predicament of being in these situations multiple times a week. I've been hearing this a lot and being asked what to do. So, here are some suggestions:

1) Eat before you go. Eat a healthy meal that fills you up & you'll be less likely to dive into the cheese fries & fried dough as soon as you get wherever you're going.

2) Bring your own food. I realize a lot of these situations are day outings, where a healthy breakfast before you go won't satisfy you for the entire day. In these situations, bring what you can. 

• If you're going to the beach, you can bring food for the day. Pack healthy wraps or pre-packed salads for lunch and fruit & veggies to snack on. 
• If you're going to a party, look for some healthy options (veggies) to fill up a little bit before you head over to the wings. Better yet- bring a healthy dish that you enjoy. If your hosts aren't serving anything healthy, at least you'll have what you brought.
• If you're going to a ball game or water park, you'll have a bigger challenge. You can bring some small snacks (nuts, Kind bar, apple) in your bag. 

3) In cases where you are stuck without your own food:

• Look for a salad. It might not be great, but usually there is some version of a salad available. Choose a vinaigrette dressing if you can.
• Salvage the good stuff. Look for something that contains grilled chicken & eat that with any lettuce or tomato that you can get with it.  Scrape off heavy sauces, cheeses & ditch the accompanying fries (telling them to serve it to you without that stuff is the best option, so it's not tempting you).  If chicken's not an option, do the same with a burger—ditch the bun & fries.
• See if you can find frozen yogurt. While this is more of a desert, it's better than most of the food options at those places.
• Pretzels are probably the best snack option at most of those places: either a big, soft, ball park one with mustard, or pre-packed hard ones.

4) Drink lots of water! Besides helping to keep you hydrated, flushing toxins & boosting your immune system, water increases your metabolism, helps build & repair muscles, and makes you feel full.

5) Stay active! While controlling what you consume is the most important part of controlling your weight, staying active will burn calories. AND, time spent playing tennis, riding your bike,  swimming, etc, will keep you away from those tempting foods & drinks for a while.

Summertime fun may be a challenge to your healthy lifestyle, but YOU CAN ENJOY IT without packing on the pounds! Start these habits now and continue them throughout the year :)