Sticking With Your Nutrition Plan When Life Gets Busy

“I can’t keep up with my nutrition plan because I get too busy to prep meals and can’t find the time to cook.” Have you said something like this to yourself? Does following a well-rounded nutrition plan seem challenging when life gets in the way?

The integrative nutrition coaches at our Cincinnati and New York City locations understand the challenges of staying consistent with a nutrition-conscious meal plan. That’s why we take work obligations, personal demands, and other time and energy-draining issues into account when working with our clients to create changes that are feasible, healthy, and sustainable.

Nutritional guidance from our local team of holistic medicine providers helps you identify foods and nutrition habits that support your wellness goals, regardless of your schedule. This also means adopting the following healthy eating strategies, even when you’re busy.

Make Meal Planning Simple and Convenient

One common piece of advice for busy folks is to plan meals ahead of time. But when that strategy feels overwhelming or time-consuming, you may want to skip it altogether. However, you can hack your meal planning at home by keeping it simple and convenient

To keep it simple, try one-pot, crockpot, or sheet-pan meals that require minimal preparation and cleanup. With these efficient tools, you can cook soups, casseroles, pasta dishes, and other meals in larger batches, giving you a week’s worth of leftovers that you just have to reheat.

Whether you’re cooking in bulk or preparing a multi-course meal, you can still streamline the process with shortcuts so you don’t spend hours in the kitchen. Where possible purchase pre-chopped produce, frozen fruits or vegetables, or pre-cooked meats like rotisserie chicken. Consider making enough for left overs that can become lunch or another dinner. Even with these shortcuts, you still have significant control over how nutritious your meals are.

Follow These Guilt-Free Tips for Eating Out

Sometimes, the thought of cooking another meal at home can be mentally draining and leave you pressed for time. Perhaps you want to celebrate a special occasion or a productive workweek, and a nice meal out can feel like a special way to reward yourself.

Planning ahead, including looking at menus online, can give you a heads-up on what a restaurant offers in terms of lighter or more nutritious entrees. Some establishments even include nutritional information, giving you an idea of whether you can indulge in that ravioli dish you’ve been craving all day.

As you look over the menu, consider one or more of these hacks to make choices that best align with your nutritional goals:

• There’s often no such thing as portion control, especially at many mainstream chain restaurants. See if you can share an entrée with someone or order a half portion. Otherwise, request a box or doggie bag as soon as your meal arrives and box half your portion right away so you’re not tempted to overeat.
• Opt for meals without the oil, grease, or creamy sauces. You will do best to let the server know you need to be gluten and dairy free, as well as low carb. You can always have a salad with protein. Many restaurants offer gluten free pasta that is not corn based. Do not be bashfull, you are not the only one and the restaurant might have a gluten free menu.
• Focus on entrees that include at least one vegetable side. If that veggie burger comes with waffle fries, ask for a side salad, steamed vegetables, or a non-creamy soup instead.
• Consider meats that are baked, grilled, or broiled instead of fried. And do not eat food deep fried in canola or peanut oil.

Even if you’re following a nutrition plan, you shouldn’t have to sacrifice enjoyment when eating out. You can even save room for dessert and enjoy sorbet or fresh fruit.

Be Smart About Fast Food

When you’re running late or in between errands, hitting your favorite drive-thru can feel like the only realistic option. But making the choice that seems easy at face value could set you back in your nutrition goals. Besides, at Blatman Health and Wellness Center, our stance on fast food is clear: We don’t recommend it. Fast food, like other processed foods, is deficient in many essential nutrients and contains harmful chemicals, fats, cholesterol, and excess calories.

However, if you must choose fast food—and that should be an extremely rare occasion—you can make smart choices that won’t totally sabotage your nutrition plan. For instance,

• Avoid anything fried, which includes chicken fingers, fries, onion rings, and other items.
• If you’re ordering a sandwich, request extra veggies and gluten free bread.
• Be mindful of saturated and trans fats, the unhealthy types that are plentiful in burgers. Choose a skinless chicken breast instead.
• If you’re at a place that lets you build your own plate or bowl, take your pick of healthy ingredients like fresh veggies, grilled meats, and other vegetarian options.
• Order the smallest size available. Choosing from the kids’ or value-meal menus makes it easier to cut calories.
• Avoid sugary sodas, and especially the “diet” versions with artificial sweeteners. Stick with water, or unsweetened tea.

If you have no choice, order the grilled chicken that never saw a bun, lettuce, tomato, and pickle. No fries, salad but lemon for dressing, and iced tea where water has been boiled.

As with eating at a sit-down restaurant, the key to fast-food dining is to maintain control over what you order. This means making adjustments and choosing healthier options whenever possible.

Keep Healthy Snacks Available

When dinner is still hours away, or if you’re going to be away from home for a while, it’s easy to grab something you crave to tide you over. Fortunately, a midday snack is an excellent way to stabilize your blood sugar, boost your energy, and prevent overeating at meals—as long as you avoid candy, chips, and other processed foods.

When you’re at home, stock your fridge with raw veggies and hummus or goat milk yogurt. If you’re at work or away from home, try these flexible snacks that don’t require refrigeration:

• Bring nuts with you always… no peanuts or cashews. Focus on pistaccios, walnuts, almonds, etc.
• Protein bars with natural ingredients or homemade protein bites , but read the ingredients carefully.
• Seed based crackers like Mary’s Crackers.
• Organic meat sticks

Personalized Nutrition Support That Fits Your Busy Life

At The Blatman Health and Wellness Center, we believe there’s always time for good nutrition. However, we also understand that busy schedules and personal constraints can make it harder to follow your nutrition plan. But when you make small adjustments here and there, you won’t have to compromise on your dietary choices.

If your eating habits could use some tweaking, contact us today to learn more about our holistic nutrition counseling. We’ll work with you to understand your medical needs and how dietary changes and proper supplementation can address any underlying health conditions. We serve clients at our Cincinnati and New York City locations.