You might think you are saving time and being more efficient by grabbing a burger and working through your lunch hour, then filling up on energy drinks when you start to get tired. It’s important to know how to start eating healthy and what healthy foods to eat especially when time gets busy. That is why these healthy eating tips for a busy person who is always on the go are perfect to try out today.
The busier you get, the less likely you are to think about how to start healthy eating. Unfortunately, acting in this way is counterproductive. When you are always busy, grabbing food mindlessly is usually how things go during the day.
However, you are actually reducing your productivity levels by eating in this way. A poor diet causes you to feel tired and lose energy during the day, which has a direct impact on the amount of work you get done.
It also contributes to many more serious health problems, including chronic disease and weight gain.
The good news is there are plenty of ways to turn your diet around with these tips and start eating healthy, even when you are super busy.
In this article, I share 10 of my top tips for eating healthy when your time is minimal.
10 Healthy Eating Tips for When You Have No Time!
Here are my favorite top 10 healthy eating tips, especially when you have zero time in the day.
1. PLAN AHEAD
Many people say; “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail” and when it comes to healthy eating, this is valid. If you don’t put together some sort of plan to eat healthy, especially when you are busy, then you will end up eating unhealthy junk foods.
The best way to plan ahead is to list the foods you plan to eat tomorrow at the end of each day.
So, then prepare what you can the night before. You may argue you simply don’t have the time to do this. But realistically, it’s only going to take 10 minutes to pack a few healthy snacks and prepare a healthy lunch. Meal planning is the key to success.
Surely you can find 10 minutes at the end of each day to do this?
2. DON’T DO WEEKLY SHOPPING WHEN YOU ARE HUNGRY
As part of your healthy eating plan, you need to start buying healthy foods when you do your weekly shop. Doing your weekly shop when you are hungry makes this task a lot more difficult, as your hunger will naturally draw you towards convenient junk foods.
Therefore, make sure you have something to eat before you do your weekly shopping trip.
3. TAKE FULL ADVANTAGE OF FRUITS
When you are busy, and you start to feel hungry, what’s your usual course of action?
If you answered; “Head over to the vending machine and grab a quick snack”, then you are not taking full advantage of fruits.
Fruits can be just as filling as chocolate or crisps, provide much more nutritional value, and contain fewer calories. They are just as quick and easy to eat. So, even if you are super busy, fruits are the perfect snack food.
Make sure you pack a few pieces of fruit into your bag each day. Then when hunger calls, you have them readily available.
4. ALWAYS CARRY NUTS
Nuts are another fantastic, healthy food that you can use as a substitute for vending machine snacks.
They provide your body with a selection of health-boosting vitamins and minerals, along with adequate amounts of protein and fat.
To avoid the temptation of unhealthy snacks, make sure you always carry a bag with you so that you can quickly grab a handful whenever your stomach starts to rumble.
5. INCORPORATE VEGETABLES INTO EVERY MEAL
This may sound like too much of an effort when your time is limited.
However, if you choose the right vegetables, it hardly takes up any of your time at all.
Salads, soybeans, sun-dried tomatoes can now be purchased from supermarkets in a ready-to-eat form, while chopped tomatoes can be heated up and used as a sauce in under five minutes.
6. LOOK FOR LEAN FISH & MEATS
When you are busy and have forgotten to bring your healthy packed lunch, grabbing a quick burger or hot dog might appear like the best option.
However, there are plenty of healthier meat choices out there. Most hot deli counters allow you to buy a roasted chicken, both tasty and nutritious. Most supermarkets also sell cooked chicken breast slices.
Lean meats are just as quick to eat as burgers and hot dogs, but provide your body with higher quality protein and no nasty added ingredients.
7. GET A TRAVEL COFFEE MUG
One bad habit I have noticed among busy people is they regularly buy branded coffees.
This doesn’t seem like such a bad habit on the surface but when you consider that six of the drinks on the current Starbucks menu exceed the 300 calorie mark, it’s a habit that can easily add over 1,000 empty calories to your week.
So instead of hitting the coffee shops daily, get yourself a travel coffee mug and fill it with coffee or tea. Both these options will give you easy access to your favorite hot drink, without adding hundreds or thousands of calories to your week.
This is one of the easiest healthy eating tips that can make a huge difference.
8. USE SMOOTHIES
Smoothies are an excellent way to fit multiple fruits and vegetables into one convenient drink, and the best part is they take only a few minutes to prepare.
To make a smoothie, you first need to pick the fruits and vegetables you plan to use. Then chop them into chunks, place them in your blender, add a few other optional ingredients if you like (crushed ice, fruit juice, milk, etc). Blend until the mixture becomes smooth, and then pour the smoothie into a flask.
If you are stumped for ideas, check out some of my delicious smoothie recipes below or inside the Healthy Smoothie Recipe Book.
Delicious Smoothie Recipes
- Low-sugar healthy strawberry smoothie
- Delicious hormone-balancing green smoothie recipe
- Easy low-sugar raspberry smoothie
- Vegan good morning green smoothie
- Festive holiday gingerbread spice smoothie
- How to make a dreamy orange creamsicle smoothie
9. USE YOUR FREEZER IN THE RIGHT WAY
Your freezer is an invaluable tool if you want to eat healthy and save time.
If you know you are going to be having a hectic week, then cook up a large batch of healthy food at the start of the week, divide it into individual servings, and freeze these servings.
Then on the days when you don’t have time to cook, simply get these frozen servings out of the freezer the night before and warm them up when you are ready to eat.
Doing this will allow you to enjoy healthy, nutritious meals without having to cook nightly. Preparing healthy foods to eat doesn’t have to be complicated.
10. CHOOSE THE LESSER OF TWO EVILS
Sometimes, despite your best efforts, events will conspire against you, and you won’t be able to eat healthy. You’ll accidentally leave your healthy lunch at home.
The local shop near your work will have no fruits or vegetables left, and your only choice is to head to a fast-food outlet.
In these situations, simply choose the lesser of the two evils. Take a look at the amount of salt, the calories, and the numbers of trans fats in each option on the menu, and then choose the least damaging. This isn’t exactly healthy, but it’s making the most of a bad situation.
Start These Healthy Eating Tips Today
Sticking to a healthy diet is tough at the best of times, but when you are busy and stressed, it can sometimes seem impossible.
I hope the tips in this article have shown you that eating healthy when you are super busy is not only possible, but it’s also handy if you approach it in the right way.
Eating junk food doesn’t do you or your body any good, so if you are one of those people who feel they are too busy to eat healthy, now is the time to change. Start today.
Let’s Discuss Healthy Eating Tips
If you have ever been too busy to eat healthy, didn’t know how to start to eat healthy, let me know your experience in the comment section below.
I would also love to hear what you think, or take a photo and tag me @Eat_Your_Nutrition on Instagram. I love seeing your photos. #EatYourNutrition #LauraVillanueva
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