With life just seeming to move faster and FASTER, one of the HARDEST things for us to stay on top of is our NUTRITION.
Did you know… Nutrition accounts for 80 PERCENT of weight loss and health!
YES! You can be working out, but if you’re not eating right, you STILL might not be healthy.
The biggest problem we face is figuring out HOW to eat right when we’re constantly on the go.
It’s VERY hard to eat right and stay on track when we’re so busy that we just don’t have time to STOP and prepare our food. And believe me… I GET IT!!! :)
I’m constantly hauling three older kiddos to school and soccer practice, coaching two kids soccer teams and going to board meetings in addition to working at home, watching the two littles, homeschooling one of them and running a household.
In all honesty… cooking is usually the LAST thing on my mind.
So I took a good look at how we have been able to still eat clean and pretty much stay on track, and here are some tips that I’ve come up with to hopefully help YOU to stay on track while traveling at the speed of life.
In essence… these tips can help you PLAN without actually planning.
So…. without further adieu…
Here are my Three TIPS to EATING RIGHT when you just don’t have the TIME.
TIP ONE:
Take a couple of hours on a Sunday evening (or whatever day you have off during the week), and prepare some “Must Haves.” You know… must haves… those things you find yourself eating often when you’re trying to eat healthy… right?
*** IMPORTANT!!! Don’t hesitate to pour yourself a glass of wine to do this if you need to! Find a way to make this relaxing and something you can actually look forward to, so it ACTUALLY get’s done. ***
Here are some of my FAV must haves (Remember… I have 7 mouths to feed!!!):
Cooked/Prepared on SUNDAY:
chicken breast – Grilled or fried (in a small amount of coconut or avocado oil), then sliced
cooked ground beef
freshly par-boiled & diced tomatoes
hard-boiled eggs
cantaloupe – cut up
brown rice or quinoa
TIP TWO:
Always have certain things on-hand that you know you can eat, and have most of them be things that won’t go bad if not eaten in a week.
I shop a LOT at Costco, because I can buy food that’s fresh & organic or “clean” in bulk. You can hit up your local grocery store… Trader Joes… Whole Foods… places like that.
*** Tip: We have a local grocery outlet where I purchase a lot of my fruit, cheese, and yogurt. We can get great clean and often organic food for a fraction of the cost that it can be found any other store. So if you’re on a tight budget, try places like Aldi’s, The Sharp Shopper, Save-A-Lot. ***
Here are our family’s ESSENTIAL MUST HAVES
Frozen
Frozen green beans
Frozen broccoli
Frozen asian stir fry veggie mix
Frozen chicken breast
Chicken thighs from Costco (I throw immediately in the freezer)
Frozen Fish (of choice)
Dairy/Eggs
Almond milk (30 calorie)
Eggs
Full-fat ricotta cheese
Full-fat yogurt
Dried/Pantry
Almonds
Raw Cashews
Pistachios
Almond Butter
Peanut Butter
Raisins
Dates
Dried Nut/seed/fruit mix (no sugar added)
Mary’s Gone Crackers (whole grain, gluten-free crackers)
Organic tortilla chips
Corn tortillas (organic are best, but not always easy to find)
Dried noodles – Brown rice, quinoa or whole grain
Brown rice
Quinoa
Oatmeal (steel-cut or old-fashioned)
Granola (home-made is BEST, watch the sugars in the store-bought brands)
Black beans
Diced tomatoes (label check – make sure there is NO sugar in it)
Chia seeds
Organic salsa (LOVE the Kirkland brand from Costco)
FRESH
Tomatoes
Apples (or apple sauce)
Bananas
Lemons
Limes
Onions
Yams
Garlic cloves
Fresh Spring Mix organic lettuce
Baby carrots
Celery
Cucumbers (the long skinny ones are often best)
Cilantro
Fresh Organic Baby Spinach (*** Tip. If your spinach tends to go bad, because not eaten fast enough, put half of it in a container, and the other half in the freezer. You can throw it in your eggs or other hot dishes later! ***)
Cooking/Condiments
Olive oil
Coconut oil
Avocado oil
Sesame seed oil
Balsamic vinegar
Apple cider vinegar (Braggs organic)
Liquid Aminos (Braggs soy sauce alternative)
Honey
Palm coconut sugar
Maple syrup
Seasonings
Granulated or powdered garlic
Organic no-salt seasoning (Costco)
Cumin
Chili Powder (make sure it has NO msg or ingredients you don’t recognize)
Basil (dried)
Oregano (dried)
Parsley (dried)
Cinnamon (ground Saigon)
Vanilla extract (the real stuff)
Of course we have the baking soda, baking powder, etc… but this gives you a REAL glimpse into our kitchen. Pretty much any time you pop in, unless it’s time to go shopping… you’ll find most of this stuff stocked and ready to use.
TIP THREE:
Make sure you keep some easy to grab snacks on-hand. One of the BIGGEST areas that busy people struggle with is often not eating ENOUGH.
So make sure you’re getting your 3 square meals and 2 snacks a day :)
Easy Snacks
Lara Bar
Kind bar
Apple
Banana
Grapes
Trail Mix (no added sugar)
Almonds
Cashews
Dried (baked) apple slices
Fruit to go (adult variations on the GoGo Squeeze)
Individually apple sauce servings
Mozzarella Cheese Sticks
Baby carrots (you can buy them bagged or bag them yourself)
Celery
Pre-packaged organic hummus & bag of carrot sticks
Hard-boiled eggs (usually 1-2 are a serving)
Meal Replacement
Shakeology
These are just a few of the things we always try keep on-hand in our family. The best thing to do is to take a good look at what you like to cook and eat when you’re eating healthy… and then build your list from there.
Example of how this works…
This week, from the list above, I had to make dinner in a half hour or less and then get myself out the door. I took a pot roast package we had put together on Sunday (potatoes, carrots, onions, garlic cloves and cut up chuck roast), threw it in the crock pot and was DONE! The pot did the rest. The kids LOVED it! Healthy. Quick. Easy.
One day for lunch, I was SOOO busy I didn’t want to stop to eat… so I rushed into the kitchen, grabbed a plate, threw a handful of that organic lettuce mix on it, followed by a handful of cut-up grilled chicken breast, spoonful of fresh diced tomatoes, chopped up one of our hard-boiled eggs, threw on some balsamic and olive oil, salt and pepper and had a healthy lunch that I literally threw together in 5 minutes!!!
Finally… we LOVE the Shakeology meal replacement, because it’s 100% whole foods and CLEAN. It’s a full meal replacement. We love it. Our kids love it. We often make everyone a shake when running out the door on game day or when the kids are strapped with not knowing what to make for their school lunch.
It’s FAST, EASY, and easily… the healthiest meal of our day.
Hopefully this will help to give you a basic guide from which to get started. Just remember… just because you’re busy, doesn’t mean you can’t take care of yourself and be healthy.
Make sure to check in again, as the hubs and I are getting ready to launch a new series on YouTube called The Unplanned Kitchen. We hope to share every-day tips on how we make healthy eating and living possible with an insanely crazy lifestyle.
Have questions? Want more healthy-eating recipes from our “unplanned kitchen?” Ask in the comments.
Better yet! Please friend me on Facebook! fb.com/MichelleHillaert I’d love to get to know you better :)
