Can You Live A Busy Lifestyle And Eat Healthier?

In short, yes! BUT how? This is the post for that very answer.

No matter if you work 12-hour shifts or are a stay at home mom – we all have those days where we are busy and the last thing you want to do is come home and cook a big meal. The easiest option does sound like a trip to the drive-thru. AND while on occasion I fully support that, doing this every day is not great for your wallet or your waistline.

The problem with eating out often

While delicious, convenient, and easy, eating out can add extra calories to each meal that you wouldn’t add on at home. Portion sizes are often much larger too which can result in you eating more.

How you can live a busy life and eat healthier

I’ll share 4 things that you can do every week to help ensure that you are doing all you can to make your health a priority no matter your lifestyle.

An animated cartoon of a busy woman asking for help.

I am here to help you

Start with mindset. Perhaps the most important part.

Ask yourself why you want to start eating better. You have to want the change and will need to focus on it. When things get really busy, the ultimate fallback of going to the drive-thru will look really appealing. If you don’t want to eat at (insert your fast food place of choice), keep your eye on your ultimate goal.

You can do this by:

Putting sticky notes on your desk, car, or mirrors in your home to help remind you of your goal.
Enlist in support. Tell someone your goal and have them be your accountability partner. If you need someone, I would love to be yours!
Following the suggested steps below 🙂

2. What are the days you can prep just a few things?

First, you have to figure out what days you can do your prepping. This is very important. NOT prepping entire meals, but having just about one hour to cut some veggies, cook a few staples, and prep things to help save time during the week.

You can do this by:

Blocking out time in your calendar for your health
Make a menu, set out a plan for the week, and write it all down.

3. Prep your ingredients

I have written a blog post on this very topic so be sure to check it out. Don’t focus on prepping whole meals but think about prepping just a few ingredients to make your busy weeknights go quickly.

You can do this by:

Take only one hour. It needs to be easy, manageable, and something that doesn’t seem like a chore.
Make a soup or chili that can be eaten during the week, chop up a few veggies so they are ready to go, or cook grains like rice or quinoa. Anything that will help cut time during the week.
Make it fun! Grab your favorite drink, put on a podcast or your favorite music, and set the scene. Make it as enjoyable as possible so that you’ll want to continue doing it.

4. Maximize your time

Time is going to be maxed out so it is what you do with your downtime that will help. Can you cook meals while others are cooking or while you eat?

You can do this by:

While you are preparing one night’s dinner, chop up some extra veggies and put them on a roasting sheet. When you sit down to eat, place the veggies in the oven and they can cook while you eat. By the time you are done eating your next days’ veggies are done!
You can do the same thing during your breakfast or lunch. Whenever YOU have time in your schedule to squeeze something in.

Here are my final thoughts on this topic

It is important to be flexible as you start to transition to a healthier lifestyle. Keep your menu flexible and allow yourself to eat the foods you still enjoy.

Often times we start changing our habits AND the food we eat at the same time which can be overwhelming. If you are making your menu, add in one night a week to eat at your favorite restaurant. Make tacos but add on a side veggie. Serve spaghetti with add in some veggies to the sauce. Get creative with your food, make it enjoyable and healthy.