Healthy Living for Busy Lifestyles

In today’s world, everyone lives a very busy lifestyle making it seemingly impossible to fully commit to a healthy meal plan. Many people end up succumbing to fast food or freezer food (myself included). As a result, obesity is continually increasing in the United States making it more important to establish healthy living so that oncoming generations can change this growing trend of obesity. Despite all the obstacles we face in everyday life, if we commit to eating well, then nothing should be able to change that. There are many techniques that can be used.

Organize a Meal Plan

Plan out what you are going to eat for the rest of the week or half of the week, whatever you prefer. In your meal plan, incorporate the meals you are going to eat out (try to make healthy choices). Your meal plan should include the time or meal of the day, the name of the dish you will cook, the ingredients needed, and where to find the recipe. For example, on page 212 in “Healthy Cooking”.  Having a meal plan will allow you to be faster and more efficient. No more time spend dwelling on what to eat.

Make a Grocery List

As you walk through a grocery store, the more things you look at the more you want. You will end up buying many items that you probably hadn’t initially thought you would. If you have a grocery list handy with all the things you need then you will be able to head straight over to these items and avoid scanning the shelves for other unnecessary items (in most cases junk food).

Breakfast, Breakfast, Breakfast

Breakfast is undoubtedly the most important meal of the day. However, many people end up skipping this meal because of their busy lifestyle. Breakfast should never be missed, even if you have to wake up a little earlier for it. You could even prepare your breakfast the night before so that you do not have to rush in the morning. Another great idea is to take something on the go like a fresh fruit smoothie or a healthy baked muffin.

Don’t Eat Late

For many people, working late is a part of their day-to-day life. The best thing to do is to take a break at around 7:00 pm and have your dinner then. If you feel hungry when you go home, grab some fruit or veggies to eat. Nuts would also be a nice tasty little snack. If it so happens that you cannot get a break at the said time and have to eat a meal at night when you come home, it is recommended you eat something light. Soup is a good choice as it is not too heavy but yet fills you up. Homemade soup is the best. You could prepare some and even freeze them in separate containers (one serving size each) so that you can use them when needed. Now that’s good freezer food! If you have to rely on a can buy something very low in sodium and fat.

Family Participation

As a family there is so much you can do to facilitate healthy living. Cooking together is a great way to bond within a family and have everyone work together as well. For those that have children, having them help you prepare dinner or lunch would be a great way of teaching them the right types of food to eat and what a balanced diet is all about. This is probably the best way to pass it on to other generations. For example, if your children always see you eating chips or what I call lazy food such as chicken nuggets and frozen pizza then in the future they too will lean towards those types of foods.