Eating healthy food with a busy lifestyle
For many, time is a precious commodity; things to do, places to go and people to see. The day to day requirements of life can make following a structured eating plan difficult. With healthy food provision a rarity when ‘out and about,’ healthy nutrition on the move can create quite a challenge. That’s not to say it’s impossible. If you’ve the motivation to reach your goals, a little meal planning shouldn’t prove too problematic.
Planning and preparation
While planning and preparation are over used terms in clichéd training courses, with catchy phrases such as ‘prior planning prevents poor performance,’ they definitely have real world application when trying to provide nutrition on the move.
For example, if you get up on the morning of a full days travelling, chances are it’s too late to prepare healthy food choices and you’re left to rely on the offerings of service stations. However, a little planning the day before could mean you cooked extra dinner that you can put in a Tupperware box and take with you for the days travelling.
The planning and preparation extends to shopping. Where possible, try to buy adequate and appropriate food for the week ahead. While the practice of not having unhealthy foods in the house means you can’t eat them, the same extends to healthy food – if you’re out for the day and have no healthy food choices in the house, chances are you’ll binge on snacks. Although this may sound obvious, many will fail to prepare fully for the week ahead.
Tips for nutrition on the move
Cook extra dinner
Preparing extra dinner, as outlined above, gives a convenient option for healthy food choices without having to spend any extra time preparing food. For example: a chicken, pasta and vegetable based dinner can easily be doubled in size, with the extra going into a Tupperware box for the following days lunch – just make sure you don’t eat it all that night! From a social standpoint, the main food choice that wouldn’t be suitable would be fish – while from a hygiene perspective it would be safe to eat, when the lid comes off the container, you’re likely to see your colleagues diving for cover to get away from the smell!
Buy a cool-bag
If you’re constantly on the move, food transportation becomes an issue. It may be that you can’t get access to a hotel fridge until late in the evening. A cool-bag provides a short-term option to keeping food cool. It also provides a central place to store all your food, so you can easily see what you have packed.
Cook in bulk
If you’re away so much that cooking one extra meal doesn’t help much, try cooking in bulk. Cook, for example, six chicken breasts to last 3-4 days – as long as they can be stored appropriately, this doesn’t create a problem.
Active Foods™
The Active Foods™ range provides convenient sources of nutrient dense foods – typically either high in protein or packed with good fats. For increased convenience, foods such as Biltong or High Protein Flapjacks provide easy to access protein that can be consumed throughout the day. If you’re going a long time without food and want to bump up the calories in a sandwich, our nut butters such as Peanut Butter and Pistachio Butter can increase the calories.
Putting it together, a combination of the above is ideal. An example of food for a day on the move could be:
- Mid-Morning – High Protein Flapjacks + Apple
- Lunch – The previous day’s dinner, such as chicken, pasta and vegetables (stored in a Cool-bag)
- Mid Afternoon – Complete Protein Blend + Banana + Handful of mixed nuts
- Extra meal – Bagel with chicken and salad. Pistachio Butter Sandwich
The simple planning and preparation detailed above can make reaching your physique, health or performance goals that bit easier.
