Eating on the Go
It’s really hard to eat healthy when your day involves rushing from one thing to the next, but that’s how some days are.
If you know that you’re going to have a super busy day, you can sometimes be more planful and actually have healthy foods available to grab and go when you need them.
Tuesdays are one of my favorite days because I get to work with clients for 3 hours before playing pickleball for 2 hours. I then meet with 2-3 more clients before going to the gym to meet more friends for a group class, followed by a Costo run.
It’s a great mix of work and play but the scheduling doesn’t leave me with much time to eat. I start work at 7 AM and am not ready for breakfast that early so will have a protein shake (which gives me 30 grams of protein to start the day) and a green tea with a little bit of honey.
Sometimes I’ll also make a green smoothie if I have time, which my taste buds really don’t like but the rest of my body loves! I no longer put fruit into my green smoothies so they’re a little harder on the taste buds but this starter smoothie really does taste good if you want to try one.
By 10 AM I have time for a quick meal before rushing off to play pickleball and when I take my motorcycle (which is my preference), I can’t eat on the way so need something that’s quick and easy (no heating up).
Some recent options for this meal have been:
1 cup of cottage cheese with blueberries or cherries
yogurt, granola & berries
a lettuce wrap with tuna fish
A cold piece of salmon or chicken with some fruit (e.g., banana, apple) or vegetables (e.g., carrot, celery sticks)
4 Costco chicken pineapple meatballs and a leftover cooked beet or a raw cucumber
Grab and go food is essential on this day or I either can’t eat, or can’t play and I’m not willing to do either of those things. I also want healthy foods so there has to be some advance planning.
If you can precook or prepare lean proteins, you always have something healthy (e.g., chicken, tuna, shrimp, etc.)
Summer is grilling season which makes it easier to cook lots of vegetables and proteins all at once and have them available when you don’t have time to cook.
It’s also farm season so there are so many fresh vegetables available to eat raw right now. Cut some up in advance and have them ready to go when you need them.
If you’re in an office all day, pack your food the night before so you have healthy options available
It’s definitely some work but it’s time well spent. If you can avoid a fast food restaurant because you packed a cooler with some healthy foods that literally took you 5 minutes to throw together, your body will thank you every time.
You will feel better, you’ll have more energy and you’re likely to feel a sense of accomplishment because you did something good for yourself.
Action Steps:
Think about the next 5 - 7 days of your life and determine which days are really busy and which you have more time available.
Consider doing some extra cooking and food prep on your less busy days so you have extra food available during your busier times.
If you have more than one super busy day, you may have to do extra food prep twice in a week.
You can also consider treating yourself to a healthy quick meal out, like as a vegetable sushi roll, a salad with lean protein on it or a yogurt parfait , if you really don’t have the time or energy to cook.
