The biggest obstacles to healthy eating I hear about most from clients and patients are time pressures and inconvenience. After all, who wants to cook meals every day? I sure don’t (that’s right, and I don’t!).
But your busy lifestyle doesn’t have to sabotage your healthy eating habits. Whether your eating plan is for weight loss, or a therapeutic diet for a medical condition, just a little planning can go a long way.
Instead of cooking dinner every night, try batch cooking. Cook two or three different meals in large portions on, say, Sunday so you’ll have meals and leftovers for lunch and dinner the next three days. Then batch cook again on Thursday so you’ll have enough meals for the following three or so days. If you have more than three days’ worth of leftovers, freeze the rest. Most foods can be frozen for up to two months.
While you’re batch cooking your lunches and dinners, don’t forget breakfast! Hard boil some eggs so you can have some ready and waiting for you in the fridge. Also, cook up a batch of breakfast sausage so you have some variety. And remember that breakfast food need not be just eggs or sausage or bacon. Have some leftover cold poached salmon over a bed or greens and avocado slices, or sardines or baby mackerel with some chopped onion, mustard and cucumbers, or that leftover lamb chop you didn’t have at dinner last night. Try a handful or nuts and seeds with a piece of fruit when you’re in a hurry. Think outside the breakfast cereal box!
If you’re extremely busy, or balk at the idea of cooking at all, you can consider a meal delivery service. Better still, if you have the resources, hire a personal chef. However, if you eat out most of the time for convenience, as long as you’re choosing good quality restaurants and not fast food, you can still make healthy choices. Keep in mind restaurant meals are often served on platters, much bigger than our standard at-home dinnerware. Decide that you will only eat about two-thirds of your meal and doggie bag the rest for lunch tomorrow. Want to eat it all? Order a second entrée to go and you’ve got leftovers for the next day. Easy fix!
So you see, you don’t have to cook every day to maintain your healthy eating habits.
To your health!
Leyla Muedin has clients all over the country via telephone consultations. No need to travel to New York City for a nutrition consult at the Hoffman Center. Should you require her services, please call our office to set up an appointment: (212) 779-1744.
