Everyone has a lot on their plate. I get it. If you find yourself saying, “I’m Too Busy To Eat Healthy” in 2022, here are five easy ways you can change that right now.
- Remove Quick, Unhealthy Snack Options From The House
Personally speaking, I don’t have much willpower at home when I’m hungry– if something better tasting is in the house, I’m going to choose it. However, if I don’t have any unhealthy snack foods to pick, then I’ll be forced to make a better choice. This is definitely hard since I have kids, and kids typically have snack foods that I LOVE. Those mutually delicious snack foods are going “bye bye” this year. - Don’t eat after dinner.
There is a good reason we tend to eat bad foods after dinner when our body is tired– the limbic brain takes over as we approach sleep. Therefore, we make less logical and more emotional decisions when it comes to what we eat. For example, I’ll eat well all day long and then after I put the kids to bed, I grab the half gallon of ice cream and go to town! There’s also a lot of evidence to support the fact that eating and drinking within 1-2 hours of bedtime reduces sleep quality and quantity. - Drink a lot of water.
This one isn’t complicated. Drink water as often as you can. Not only does it have numerous positive effects on your body on countless levels, it also helps you feel more full. Pro tip– find a water bottle that you enjoy drinking out of, and keep it with you during the work day. - Eat tons of fruits and vegetables.
Have you ever heard the phrase “stick to the sides of the grocery store”? That’s where the produce lives, and that’s what should fill up your grocery basket. It doesn’t really even matter which fruits and vegetables you get (for now), just find ones you like and eat them– A LOT. In addition to providing incredible micronutritional value, fruits and vegetables have the added benefit of filing you up with way less calories than processed foods. - Make one change at a time.
Years of working with people has taught me that extreme, restrictive dieting doesn’t work over the long term. People can stick with them for a few weeks or maybe even a few months, but then they revert back to their old habits. Eating is emotional and habitual, and habits are hard to break. Start with one small change for a week or two before adding on another adjustment.
