How to Make Healthy Eating Easier When Life Gets Busy
When we're trying to eat well, we often focus on what we should be eating.
But there's another question that's just as useful: How easy have you made it to actually eat that way?
As we move from summer into autumn, our routines and eating habits often begin to change. The evenings get darker, the weather gets cooler and we may start wanting warmer, more filling meals.
And on a busy evening, when you're tired and hungry, that's probably not the moment you want to start deciding what to cook from scratch.
A little preparation can make all the difference. Not a rigid meal plan. Not spending your entire Sunday batch cooking. Just a few simple things that make good food easier to reach for when you need it.
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1. Keep the ingredients for a few easy meals at home
Think of two or three meals you enjoy that you can put together fairly quickly. Then make those ingredients part of your regular shopping list.
Your choices will depend on what you enjoy eating, but the principle is simple: have a few reliable options available for the days when you haven't planned dinner. It removes one more decision at the end of a busy day.
2. Cook once, eat more than once
If you're already cooking something that freezes well, make a little extra.
Soup is an obvious example. Rather than making enough for one lunch, make several portions and freeze a couple. The same applies to curries, stews, sauces and other meals that are easy to portion.
You're already chopping, cooking and washing up — so why not get another meal or two from the same effort? Over time, you'll build up a small selection of homemade meals in your freezer.
My freezer trick for leftover ingredients
Here's something I mentioned in my recent video that I find particularly useful.
Large ice-cube trays.
And mine were actually designed for whiskey glasses!
If I open a tin of coconut milk and don't need all of it, I portion the remainder into the tray and freeze it. I do the same with things such as leftover tomatoes and stock.
Once they're frozen, I transfer the cubes into labelled freezer bags. Then, when I'm cooking, I can take out just the amount I need rather than opening another full container. It's simple, reduces waste and means I often have useful ingredients ready to go.
3. Make variety easier too
Preparation isn't only about having complete meals ready. It can also help you bring more variety into what you're eating.
Keep a selection of plant foods you enjoy available and think about where you can easily add them to meals — vegetables, fruit, beans, lentils, nuts, seeds, herbs and wholegrains, for example.
Rather than making it another target you have to achieve perfectly, look for opportunities to increase the variety of plant foods you're eating over the course of the week.
4. Make your routine work for you
The same principle applies beyond meal preparation. If there's something you want to remember regularly, make it easy to remember.
If you take a supplement with a meal, for example, think about where you keep it. Is it somewhere you'll actually see it at the right time?
Small systems can remove some of the effort involved in remembering everything.
You don't need to eat perfectly
Planning ahead isn't about making every meal nutritionally perfect. There will be evenings when you want a takeaway. There'll be desserts, meals out and days when the plan goes completely out the window. That's life.
The purpose of having a few meals and ingredients ready is simply to make the choices you want to make easier when you're tired, hungry or short on time.
So before you do your next food shop, ask yourself: What could I prepare now that will make eating well easier later?
Even one or two things could make next week that little bit easier.
Edel
The Wellbeing Clinic
