10 Healthy Eating Tips for Super Busy Women

Are you too frazzled and rushed to make healthy eating choices? Then read on to learn some healthy eating tips for busy women.

There is plenty of books, articles, and advice on healthy eating tips. But few address the unique circumstances of the busy lifestyle of an executive-level woman.

You might think you are saving time and being more efficient at work by grabbing a burger and working through your lunch hour. And then filling up on energy drinks when you start to get tired.

However, you are actually reducing your productivity levels by eating in this way. A poor diet causes you to feel tired and lose energy during the day which has a direct impact on the amount of work you get done.

And continuing to eat this way may contribute to a number of more serious health problems such as developing a chronic disease.

That is what exactly happened to me. In my mid-50s I was diagnosed with prediabetes and high blood pressure. My diet consisted of mainly refined carbs, high in fats and caffeine, and low in lean proteins. I thought I was fueling my body so I could get more done. I was actually tearing down my body and getting less done.

It was time to make a change to turn my diet around and start eating healthily. And when I incorporated these changes, I had more energy, was more pleasant to be around, lost weight, and was more focused on my work.

I know it’s hard to eat well when you’re a super busy career woman. But you can do it. In this article, I share 10 healthy eating tips that you can start using today.

1) Plan Ahead

A lot of people say; “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail” and when it comes to healthy eating this is absolutely right. If you don’t put together some sort of plan to eat healthily, then you are going to end up eating unhealthy junk foods.

The best way to plan ahead is to list down the foods you plan to eat tomorrow at the end of each day and then prepare what you can the night before. You may argue that you simply don’t have the time to do this but realistically it’s only going to take 10 minutes to pack a few healthy snacks and prepare a healthy lunch.

Surely you can find 10 minutes at the end of each day to do this?

2) Don’t Do Your Weekly Shopping When You Are Hungry

As part of your healthy eating plan, you need to start buying healthy foods when you do your weekly shopping. Doing your weekly shopping when you are hungry makes this task a lot more difficult as your hunger will naturally draw you towards convenient junk foods.

A good rule is to drink a glass of water and eat a snack before you do your weekly grocery shopping.

3) Take Full Advantage of Fruits

When you are busy and you start to feel hungry what’s your usual course of action?

If you answered, “head over to the vending machine and grab a quick snack” then you are not taking full advantage of fruits.

Fruits can be just as filling as chocolate or chips, and they provide much more nutritional value and contain a lot fewer calories. Fruits are just as quick and easy to eat so even if you are super busy, fruits are the perfect snack food.

Make sure you pack a few pieces of fruit into your bag each day and then when hunger calls you have them readily available.

4) Always Carry Nuts

Nuts are another fantastic, healthy food that you can use as a substitute for vending machine snacks.  They provide your body with a selection of health-boosting vitamins and minerals along with good amounts of protein and fat.

To avoid the temptation of unhealthy snacks, make sure you always carry a bag with you so that you can quickly grab a handful whenever your stomach starts to rumble.

5) Incorporate Vegetables into Every Meal

This may sound like too much of an effort when your time is limited. However, if you choose the right vegetables it hardly takes up any of your time at all.

Salads, brussels sprouts, green beans, asparagus, sweet potatoes, and broccoli can now all be purchased from supermarkets in a ready-to-eat form. Chopped tomatoes can be heated up and used as a sauce in under five minutes.

6) Look For Lean Fish & Meats

When you are busy and have forgotten to bring your healthy packed lunch, grabbing a quick burger or hot dog might seem like the best option. However, there are plenty of healthier meat choices out there.

Most hot deli counters allow you to buy a roasted chicken that is both tasty and nutritious. Most supermarkets also sell cooked chicken breast slices. Lean meats are just as quick to eat as burgers and hot dogs but provide your body with higher quality protein and no nasty added ingredients.

7) Get A Thermos Flask

One bad habit I have noticed amongst busy people is that they regularly buy branded coffees. This doesn’t seem like such a bad habit on the surface but when you consider that six of the drinks on the current Starbucks menu exceed the 300-calorie mark, it’s a habit that can easily add over 1,000 empty calories to your week.

So instead of hitting the coffee shops every day, get yourself a thermos flask and fill it with coffee, tea, or water. Both these options will give you easy access to your favorite drink without adding hundreds or thousands of calories to your week.

8) Drink Smoothies

Smoothies are an excellent way to fit multiple fruits and vegetables into one convenient drink and the best part is they take just a few minutes to prepare.

To make a smoothie, just follow these easy steps:

• Pick the fruits and vegetables you plan to use.
• Chop them up into chunks.
• Add a liquid ingredient such as fruit juice or milk.
• Place all ingredients in a blender and some ice.
• Blend until the mixture becomes smooth.
• Pour the smoothie into a flask and sip it throughout the day.

9) Use Your Freezer in The Right Way

Your freezer is a very valuable tool if you want to eat healthily and save time.  If you know you are going to have a particularly busy week then cook up a large batch of healthy food at the start of the week, divide it into individual servings, and freeze them.

Then on the days where you don’t have time to cook simply get these frozen servings out of the freezer the night before and warm them up when you are ready to eat.  Doing this will allow you to enjoy healthy, nutritious meals without having to cook every night.

10) Choose The Lesser of Two Evils

Sometimes, despite your best efforts, events will conspire against you and you won’t be able to eat a healthy meal. You’ll accidentally leave your healthy lunch at home and your employee offers a tempting offer to pick you something up from the nearest fast-food outlet.

In these situations, simply choose the lesser of the two evils. Look at the amount of salt, the calories and the amount of trans fats in each option on the menu and then choose the least damaging. Or just order a salad, split it into two portions, eat one and save the other for your next day’s lunch.  Make the most of a bad situation.

Summary

Sticking to a healthy diet is tough and when you are busy it can sometimes seem impossible.

I hope the tips in this article have shown you that eating healthy when you are super busy is possible. Eating junk food doesn’t do you or your body any good.

So if you are one of those people who feel they are too busy to eat healthily, now is the time to change.

Ready to jumpstart your weight loss? Then click on the button below to grab a FREE copy of my 4-Day Slim Down Plan.

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