Eating Healthy With A Busy Schedule

So we’re all busy right? Running to and from places. To Starbucks, to the office, to visit an elderly grandparent, to the gym, to an extra-curricular activity, a meeting. Running running running. And yet, I always roll my eyes at those skinny girls who say, “I just don’t have time to eat!” Yah, WHATEVER! Rome could be burning, and there I am, chompin’ away. In fact, I can count on one hand the number of meals I’ve missed in my ENTIRE lifetime. If you ask my husband, he’ll attest to it! No joke. I NEVER miss a meal.

So, how do you do it? With all the running and juggling, how do you make time for good healthy meals, and avoid skipping? Believe me, I’m just as busy as the next person, but I always make time to eat. I’m not saying I haven’t eaten a salad in my car on my way to a meeting, but I make food a priority, as funny as it sounds. For women juggling it all, food is in fact paramount to your success. And good food, may I add.

Eating healthy with a busy lifestyle. You on the fence with how to incorporate this into your hectic life?

A few tips that help me stay nutritious and energetic:

I ALWAYS keep snacks on me. I have a nice mixed bag of nuts, and organic yogurt covered raisins in my glove compartment and/or purse at all times. It always comes in handy. This way, I don’t binge on my next meal. Healthy snacking helps cut the binging for sure, because eating a little food every few hours stablilizes your blood sugar levels so your brain is much calmer when it sees your next meal!
I have my Erica’s To Do List notepad in the kitchen, and it’s visible at all times. It’s my running list of whatever we’re low on. The minute I’m almost done a ketchup, for example, (which is like every week), it goes on that list. Keep your healthy stuff on this list the minute you’re low. You’re much more likely to always buy the good stuff if it’s staring at you on a piece of paper at the grocery store.
I try and stop eating before I’m stuffed and gorged. My friends know, I never leave any food on my plate, EVER. It’s been ingrained in my brain since I’m little. My father grew up lacking many resources, so he always cleans his plate, as do it. But the right way to go, is to really stop before that full-feeling sets in. Portion control baby!
The same rule for my kids, applies to me. I aim for a protein, a carb, a vegetable and a fruit with every lunch and dinner. This has worked well for me.
If you anticipate a busy day, and foresee a McDonald’s drive-through day (okay, it’s yummy), PLAN AHEAD. Make your lunch the night before. I was truly in the best shape of my life when I was working. Now that I’m at home, I snack all day, or eat whatever, whenever. When I packed myself a lunch for the office, it was a nice turkey sandwich, with hummus and carrots, celery and fennel (yes I LOVE fennel, and am the only one in my family), a V8, and some pineapple. Nuts or cheese and crackers for snacks. There was portion control, and it was all energizing food. I felt and looked great.
When I look to buy new foods that I have never purchased before, I always read the ingredients. Remember, THE LONGER THE LIST, THE WORSE IT IS FOR YOU. The healthiest foods have simply one; strawberries, broccoli, oranges… catch my drift? The long lists contain MSG, sugar, salt, and more crap.
My advice, take it or leave it: if you can go organic on one or two things in your life, go for organic dairy (milk, cheese, yogurt), and meats and/or poultries. I do believe in buying organic for these two, even though some studies say there is no difference. I am a sucker however, for pretty much all organic lines of kids snacks (even though here, I highly doubt any real difference exists). But for the other two I mentioned, I take them very seriously. I truly believe all the hormonal injections in our dairy and meats is what’s giving us cancer, and our kids early puberty onset. There are also pesticides in fruits and vegetables, so if budget allows, I would suggest buying the organic stuff where you eat the skin (ex; apples, strawberries, broccoli), and not necessarily the fruits and veggies like bananas and oranges, where you peel off the skin.
And finally, WATER. My water bottle comes with me many places. I fill it up along the way. Water is important. We know this already. Unfortunately, I was born with my dad’s skin, and not my mom’s, (which is creamy, milky and always blemish free), so I do my best to hydrate as much as possible to help with my skin. I really notice a difference in how I look and feel when I drink a ton of water.

Yo, busy women! Can any of you share some of your tips that keep you lean, healthy and energized?

And thank you ladies for all your emails of concern. The grandfather is stable, and alive. So, it’s wedding weekend as usual for now.

Until next time…

xoxEDxox