Preparation is to healthy living what location is to real estate: EVERYTHING! With a little prep, you can avoid these common health-sabatoging behaviors:
Do any of these scenarios sound familiar?
* You are working a 40 + hour week and can't find the energy to cook (much less exercise) after a long day so you just grab something quick like a bottle of red wine, a box of crackers and a hunk of cheese and head to the couch to unwind. A few hours later you notice that the box and the bottle are empty and you just consumed 8 servings of cheese, all while watching mindless reality television.
* You are so busy during the day that you call a Lara Bar eaten on the way to the gym "lunch." When you get home from the gym you are so hungry you throw a frozen (organic, natch) burrito in the microwave and call that "dinner." But around 9 pm you realize you are starving (because the body needs more than 600 calories in a day) and the next thing you know you've devoured a pint of Ben & Jerry's and all the frozen girl scout cookies.
* You are a busy stay at home mom who finds herself eating her kids's snacks and leftovers and whatever else isn't nailed down once the kids are in bed because as far as you are concerned, when you only have a little free time, why would you spend it cooking? Then again, you are not happy about still carrying around your "baby" weight now that your kids are 5 and 7...
Well the good news is that by shopping smart and devoting just a few hours on Sunday afternoon to prepping, you can overcome common health-sabatoging behaviors such as eating junk on the run, not eating enough during the day and compensating at night; and grazing all day on snack foods instead of enjoying fresh, healthy meals. All you have to do is learn to be prepared. If a 9 year old boy scout can do it, so can you!
Shopping: Go in with a game plan for your evening meals. Say you decide you want fish two nights, red meat one night and something vegetarian two nights. Make sure you buy fish that is fresh enough to last up to 3 days. If you like seafood or meat on your salads at lunch, buy 3-4 oz extra of each and save it each night for your salad the next day. Buy vegetables that make sense with each meal (perhaps you want heavier, starchier veggies with the fish but just greens with the meat) and buy a few different grains (make sure you know if you need to soak them ahead of time as this can be done before you leave for work) so you can mix it up a little each night. I find whole wheat pasta and cous cous, quinoa, farro, and brown rice are all good things to have in the pantry for either a veggie meal (the grain salads on this blog or reserve lasagna are great options!) or to add a little fiber and heft to an otherwise light meal.
Also, don't be afraid to think outside the box when it comes to what you eat at which meal. Most of us think of eggs as being for breakfast and lunch involving a salad or sandwich but there is no reason why you can't have grilled salmon and veggies at lunch and a veggie omelette for dinner. Perhaps you have more free time in the mornings than at night - make breakfast your healthiest and largest meal (perhaps an omelet, whole-grain toast and a green salad) and then have a quick-to-fix bowl of yogurt, nuts and fruit at night when you are exhausted.
Stock your kitchen with all or most of the following: cheap white wine (for cooking), vegetable or chicken broth, garlic, olive oil, mustard, honey, light soy sauce, ginger (fresh, ground or paste), lemons, fresh or dried herbs and worcestershire sauce. When you get home, google each of your ingredients with one or more of your spices or condiments and find simple recipes that sound good and print them ahead of time. You can never go wrong with a lemon-herb roasted chicken or salmon marinated in soy sauce and ginger. If you know you are roasting your fish or veggies, turn on the oven the minute you walk in so you don't have to stand around (and munch on nuts or cheese) waiting for it to heat once your prep is complete.
Buy tons of fresh and preferably seasonal fruit and veggies so that you can never make the excuse that you had nothing healthy in the house to eat so you had to eat a bag of pita chips.
Sunday Prep for the week : Wash all veggies and fruit so they are ready to be eaten. Rinse the blueberries, cut melon into chunks, take the tops of strawberries, etc. so that fruit is just as easy to grab as a cookie for a snack. Chop up veggies that you like with stir-frys, on salads or in omelets; go ahead and lightly steam ones that need to be cooked if you don't like raw veggies. You basically want to have the makings of a salad and omelet bar in your fridge. Empty and rinse a can of black beans or chick peas and put them in tupperware so they can be quickly added to a salad to make it more filling. Wash and rinse your lettuces and store them in large ziploc bags or just leave them in the salad spinner and refrigerate.
If you can control yourself around nuts (buying unsalted ones really helps), have a jar of nuts - preferably unsalted roasted or raw almonds and/or raw walnuts - in the pantry so you can grab a handful of these instead of junk if you get hungry between meals. Although cashews are my favorite, I don't buy them because I am incapable of sticking to a handful, but this is not problem for me with walnuts. Even generally healthy foods can trip up some people when they are trying to eat well so be conscious of which foods are good for you to have in the house in the first place. It's easier to exercise control once a week at the grocery store than it is every second you are home.
For those of you tempted by soda or sugary drinks, have a healthy drink option other than water in the fridge - something like a cranberry spritzer (made with pure cranberry, sparkling water and fresh lime) or a pitcher of healthy lemonade (water, fresh lemons, a touch of agave or honey and fresh mint) so that when you are thirsty but tired of water, you will drink that instead of drinking a sugary soda or toxic diet beverage.
Pack your purse (or man bag) with healthy snacks: raw almonds, an apple, a Lara Bar, etc. Have something in your purse that you can grab on the go if you know you will be running around a lot that day. Finding yourself starving and near a fast-food drive through is the shortest road to health sabotage.
As far as prepping when you go out, most restaurants have their menus online so if friends ask where you want to eat, study menus online and choose restaurants that offer healthy options like grilled fish and veggies or a whole wheat pasta (sans cream sauce).
Prepping is key for me. I love food and I do not claim to be the kind of person that can say "no thanks" to sweets when they are put in front of me. But with a little forethought and a little prep, I find it's fairly easy to stay on track and make healthy eating a habit.
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