10 Tips for Healthy Eating On-the-go
We would be lying to ourselves if we said we had all the time and energy required for extensive meal-planning every week. Our lives are too chaotic. We deserve time to relax and be in the moment rather than planning for the future. However, proper eating habits are still an essential part of anyone’s healthy lifestyle routine. So, how do we achieve this seemingly impossible balance? Check out the following tips on how to stay on top of your health and mind on-the-go. You will undoubtedly notice the difference in your emotional, physical, and spiritual well-being!
Beverages Can Be Silent Enemies
Marketing companies are ingenious at deception. Next time you think about grabbing a pre-packaged smoothie at your local store, remember that things are not always as they seem. Be sure to read the label of everything you purchase. This is a good habit for knowing what is nourishing your body. Hidden ingredients and added sugars can turn something as innocent as a green smoothie or yogurt-based drink into something as heavy-hitting as a dessert! Opt to make your smoothies instead of buying them at the store. In a time crunch? You can prepare a batch and separate it into small jars to freeze for the entire week.
Store-bought smoothies are not the only sneaky culprits! Any sugary drink or juice has the potential to throw off your calorie intake. Never replace a meal with them. Swap out hyper-processed beverages with a good coffee (no added syrups!), green tea, or spruce up your water and make it sparkling to keep it healthy and exciting.
Pass on the Processed Foods and Go for Whole
Speaking of checking labels—this goes for every item in your shopping cart. Label checking might seem daunting at first, but you will find it will feel like second nature in no time. Fresh food items are infinitely more nutritionally valuable than fried or treated products. What is perhaps more surprising is that processed foods, although they make you feel fuller faster, do not keep you full as long as whole foods, leading to chronic over-snacking.
Instead of potato or tortilla chips, try nuts or dried fruit. You can get creative too and try your hand at a personal trail mix or granola blend easily made in bulk portions. Who knows, maybe you know your flavor better than companies do!
Make Extra Whole Grains Every Chance You Get
At the heart of every meal are our whole grains: rice, lentils, and quinoa are some of the most popular, versatile, and timeless. Often, preparing whole grains for your meals are the most time consuming, and not having some at hand can lead to an impulse store or take out buy. Next time you are making a meal, throw an extra cup or two of your whole grain on the stove. Having extra grains to recycle into the base of your upcoming meals will make it easier to stay on track!
With these new tips, you will find ways to make your healthy eating habits more sustainable for your on-the-go lifestyle!