Not “having time” in regards to eating better is something I hear often with many of my clients. Admittedly, I also “don’t have” time, some times too. I’m using “quotations” because you’ll make time for something you want bad enough. That being said, time is a limited resource and using the tips below will help you get some time back and eat better.
So, what can you do?
1. Prepare meals in bulk
Whenever you make a meal, make more servings than you need. That way you can package the intentional leftovers in tupperware containers and reheat later.
2. Find quick, convenient, and healthy recipes
Not all healthy meals take a long to make, so try to find recipes that you enjoy and are healthy that you can make with limited time. I personally really enjoy the Protein Packed Peanut Butter Oatmeal, or Fiber Loaded Peanut Butter Jam Protein Bowl recipes for breakfast. They are quick, nutritious, and keep me full for a long time. And, I get to sleep in longer in the morning because I know I don’t have to get up earlier to ensure I have enough time to make food – this will always make me happy.
3. Pay for convenience
We live in an era where everyone seems to be busy. As such, convenience is now a product and can be bought as an add-on to regular everyday items. You are going to see parts of this point sprinkled into the other points below, but for this point I want to talk about convenience as it pertains to grocery stores. There are convenient and healthy food options at almost all grocery stores now. Yes they are more expensive, but if you want to save on food prep time then there’s value in that. Let me give you a few examples that you can use:
- Pre-packaged Salads
- Day-old rotisserie chicken (great to add to the pre-packaged salads)
- Pre-made Sandwiches from the deli (not vacuum wrapped sandwiches)
- Pre-cooked meats, like chicken (Superstore has pre-cut 5$ packs of chicken)
The above are just a few examples, but you get the picture. Are pre-cooked as nutritious and healthy as home-cooked versions? No, but, they are usually a better alternative than whatever other convenient option you were going to choose.
4. Shop for you groceries online
I’ve written a post about this (I Order My Groceries Online, You Should Too) before. Shopping online for groceries really does save a lot of time. You simple create your “cart” online, checkout, and then pick up at the scheduled time. It’s also a lot easier to search certain ingredients online instead of scanning the isles in person.
5. Pay for Pre-made Meals
There are companies out there that will cook your food for you. For example, MealKraft a company based out of Edmonton makes all of its meals on Saturday and drops them off to their clients sunday.
From a price standpoint, it’s quite affordable for individuals; especially if you’re like me and it’s hard to shop fresh foods in bulk since you likely won’t get around to using them all. For more information about my opinion on pre-made meals, read this.
6. Use The Microwave
First off, if you haven’t read my post about Microwaves and the nutritional value of foods, no microwaves don’t ruin the nutritional value of food. In fact, of all of the cooking methods out there they retain the nutritional value of food the best. Secondly, I’m not talking about microwavable dinners, I’m talking about preparing everyday foods with the microwave. There are many frozen food items that are healthy and just need to be heated up. Also, frozen is better than canned since it contains much less preservatives – salt usually being the biggest culprit.
You would be surprised what the microwave can do, and how many of the common foods and meals you can prepare with it. I wouldn’t recommend using it for large family gatherings or when the in-law’s come over, because it doesn’t always ensure thorough and even cooking. But hey, when you’re in need of something quick, it works and still allows you to eat healthy.
- My favourite is making scrambled eggs: whip up some eggs in a mug (+ egg whites if you want extra volume and protein), add whatever vegetables you like, plus a sprinkle of cheese if you love cheese like me, then nuke it for 1 minute. Click Here for some mores ideas.
It can be somewhat of a catch 22 just cooking for yourself, you want make as many extra servings as you can to capitalize on the time spent cooking, but you also don’t want to eat the same thing everyday for the next week. But, It’s hard justifying spending 1 hour to make 1 serving of Salmon, potatoes, and asparagus…
Making home cooked meals is definitely the healthier approach and is usually more cost-effective. How you choose to save time, or not save time, is up to you. My goal was to just talk about a few options that you could use.
Till next time,
-Mike