Many of us are fighting a constant battle between making sure we’re living a healthy lifestyle, and keeping on top of all the other responsibilities we feel weighing down on us. As much as we want to make healthy choices in life, it’s easy to feel that you simply don’t have the time. When you’re rushing to get to work, it’s much easier to grab a pain au chocolat than to whip up a nutritious veggie dish. Believe it or not, being busy and being healthy can go hand in hand. Here, we’ve listed some easy habits you can make coincide with your busy day-to-day routines…
Make Friends with the Microwave
When you hear “microwave”, it might conjure up images of frozen vegetables and dubious-looking meat. However, microwaves can be used for way more than heating up TV dinners. Things like quiche in a mug, flaky salmon dinners, and cinnamon maple breakfast quinoa are delicious, healthy, and can be prepared in a matter of minutes in a microwave, with no complicated, time-consuming prep work involved.
Make Meals with Three Ingredients
PB and J on whole-wheat bread is the obvious choice for simple, three-ingredient meals, but I’m sure you’ll agree it’s not the most exciting thing you can have in your palette. Fortunately, there’s a range of easy, healthy and delicious meal combinations you can try out. For example, try stuffed sweet potatoes, pancakes or chili. Trying more of these meals will mean minimal grocery shopping, but maximum nutrition and flavor.
Be Kind to Your Teeth
Most of us do horrible damage to our teeth simply by not paying enough attention to what we’re eating and drinking. One good habit you should try to fit in with your day-to-day life is getting more calcium. The best sources to go for are yogurt, cheese, and other dairy products, along with veggies like broccoli. It’s also important to make a point of getting enough Vitamin B complex, which will protect your gums and teeth from cracking and bleeding. It can be hard to fit in, but regular check-ups at clinics such as Platinum Smile Dental Clinic are also a very important habit. There’s a lot more a dentist can tell about your teeth than you can!
Try Some Soups and Stews
Aside from being one of the healthiest types of comfort food there are, soups and stews are a brilliant way to save yourself time and money. Yes, you’re going to have to play chef at the beginning of the week, but after that it’s plain sailing! Just make a big batch of a healthy soup or stew at the beginning of the week, divide any leftovers into Tupperware containers, then freeze and thaw them as and when you want to. Don’t worry about getting bored with the same old thing – there are countless healthy soup recipes to try and experiment with.
Use the Weekend to Prepare Seamless Weekday Meals
On the surface, salads are easy to prepare. Just chop up your veggies, sauté your protein, toss it all with some dressing, and there you have it! Though this sounds easy enough, you know as well as I do that all this chopping, mixing and prep work can take up valuable time. You can spare yourself some of the work by pre-cooking protein and grains, and chopping and storing veggies over the weekend. You can also make a big batch of dressing. Assembling all of this for each salad should take no more than five minutes.
Caffeinate!
Finally, some good news! You probably know as well as me that there’s all kinds of conflicting information about whether or not coffee is good for you. It’s enough to make anyone’s head hurt! Having said that, there are some findings that are indisputable. Getting a daily dose of coffee will bolster your metabolism, and provide you with that energy boost we all need to get through the day. You can also save a bit of money by buying a small French press to keep on your desk.
Pre-Packed Smoothies
Smoothies are an excellent way to get a lot of healthy nutrients into your system with very little effort. They’re simple enough to make as it is, but if you want to save yourself even more time, just mix your berries, spinach, and whatever else in a zip-lock bag. This means that when you want to puree your healthy drink, all you have to do is open the bag and dump its contents into your blender. If you’re making smoothies week in, week out, you can also save yourself some time by keeping sliced, frozen produce in the freezer.
Eat, Don’t Snack
When you’re having an incredibly busy day, it can feel like there’s barely any time at all to sit down and enjoy a proper meal. It’s much easier to grab a bag of trail mix when you’re on the go, some kind of pastry, or some chips. I know that it may not feel like you’re eating as much as you would by having actual meals, but all-day snackers often get more calories than people who make time for meals. You may not think it, but there are many healthy meals that can be prepared quickly and easily, and will fit in neatly with your busy schedule.
Get a Smart Slow Cooker
You may already know all about the benefits of slow cookers, but now you can make it even better by controlling one from your phone! These multi-tasking “smart” slow cookers from companies like Crock Pot can prepare anything from meats to soups to porridge. All you have to do is leave yourself enough time in the morning to throw the ingredients in, then reach for your phone and tell it to start at the right time. When you come home, you’ll have a delicious, nutritious meal sitting there waiting for you.
There you have some of the best ways to make a healthy lifestyle coincide with a busy lifestyle. Though it can take some doing to make everything work together, you’ll get there eventually!
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