Healthy Eating Tips for the Busy People

Lisa Franchi July 01, 2015

People have gone busier these days than they were years ago. Most of us live in a fast-paced world wherein we often compromise good health over our hectic lifestyle. Most of us would rely on vending machines, frozen meals and fast food with the sole purpose of easing hunger, and not really feeding our mind and body.

But having a busy lifestyle should not be an excuse to live healthy. Below are some great eating tips for a busy pro like you. By incorporating them into your diet, you can make sure that you are still getting all what your body needs from your diet.

Plan ahead.

Planning ahead is one of the golden rules busy people live by. The worst thing you can do is to wait for your food until you need it. When your blood sugar goes down and you start feeling the hunger, you are sure to eat anything that is available in a snap. Yep. Like fast food. And you don’t just eat it right then and there. You eat more of it too. It may feel like too much effort to plan ahead, but it is a strategy that will help you stick to a healthy diet. Before you start another work week, plan on the meals you are going to eat. List down healthy stuff on your grocery shopping list. Planning ahead is also a habit that can benefit many areas of your life.

It helps to prepare.

You don’t go to a battle unprepared. To make healthy diet changes, you need to plan ahead and prepare. Just letting it run in the background gives you a little chance of success. Part of the preparation should be learning some quick meal recipes, like that of Jamie Oliver’s thirty-minute meals. Don’t think that cooking healthy takes time. Because it doesn’t. It’s always advisable to try a different recipe once in a while, but you should have something that you would be willing to eat on a regular basis.

Don’t let hunger strike you.

When you are hungry, your defences fall down. You are unable to make good food choices, and you are unlikely to control your portion sizes. The best rule of thumb is to eat small meals frequently (every after two hours whenever possible). When you are satiated, you are less likely to give in to unhealthy food temptations.

Snack wisely.

Opt for a little of fruit salad for your morning snack and then a cup of yoghurt and a handful of nuts for the afternoon. Even a handful of potato crisp or a half slice of burger can cause you plenty of empty calories.

Block the temptation.

It is just too hard to eat healthy when what you have in the fridge and in your pantry are all but unhealthy stuff. So make things easier for you by taking away those process food that used to stay in your kitchen. The next time you shop for grocery, favour natural whole foods. If you used to have a chocolate box on your desk, replace it with a pretty basket of berries.

It’s fine to make mistakes.

Making healthy lifestyle changes is never easy. Because if it is, there would be fewer people complaining about gaining weight. When trying to make changes in your eating habits, accept that once in a while you are going to stumble and give in to the temptation. But that’s fine. Just let the little things slide. Instead of punishing yourself, remind yourself that mistakes can and will happen. What is important is that you are able to identify that something went wrong and you have to determination to start all over.