Who’s busy? Better question, who’s NOT busy?

I’ve alluded to this in other posts recently, but I’m feeling insanely busy with a full time job, school, the blog, AND being out of town almost every weekend in the summer – not that I’m complaining about getting out of the city to enjoy cottages 🙂 What often happens when we get busy is our ‘good nutritious decisions’ are thrown out the window and replaced with the vicious cycle of takeout for dinner, caffeine cravings for breakfast, eating out for lunch, followed by the 3pm slump and a sugary snack.  Sound familiar?  Well…it doesn’t have to be this way!! So for today’s Nutrition Tip Tuesday, here are a few things that truly help me with staying healthy and on track while juggling a busy life.

1)      Grocery Shopping with a Meal Plan

I always plan out what I’m going to eat for the week, or at least for Monday – Friday.  There are a few reasons why.  Not only does meal planning cut costs as you don’t end up buying extra groceries, but if you’ve planned out what you’re going to eat, you are way more likely to actually eat that.  If you think about it, you never PLAN to make unhealthy choices; it’s only when a meal time hits and you’re starving with nothing to eat that you make the poor choices.

When I’m meal planning, I choose 2-3 snack items I’m going to eat all week, and 2-3 big meal ideas.  Summer is always quick and light meals because with the heat I don’t have the appetite for a massive cooked meal, and if I do, I’ll likely have it over the weekend when I have more time.

I meal plan on Sunday afternoon and head to my local grocery store.  If I’ve been around on the weekend I will hit up a farmer’s market.  Another great option is to get organic produce delivery weekly or every other week, as that way your healthy food is delivered right to your doorstep!

Here’s a sample meal plan and you can find the recipes here:

2)      Sunday Night Assembly Cooking

So, now that you have a meal plan for the week, and done your grocery shopping, it’s time to get cooking. For me, Sunday nights are dedicated to cooking, and mass cooking at that.  Everyone has at least a couple of hours Sunday night to cook, and I recommend cooking all your meals Sunday night, or at least enough to get you through to Wednesday or Thursday when you have a free night.  I might not have a free night during the week, so do it all Sunday.  Throw on a movie, or some “Cooking” with Songza and treat it as relaxation time.

Then, get the Tupperware assembly line out and divide up the meals into lunch and dinner portions.

3)      Fast, High Intensity Workouts

Exercise will help keep your energy levels up, help you sleep better and lower your stress levels, something that can be high when you’re super busy.  Lately I’ve been loving this 7 minute workout that I read about in the NY Times.  I do three rounds, and it ends up taking me slightly longer than 7 minutes a round, but definitely less than 30 minutes total, and I can really feel it the next day (which is always satisfying!)

Here are three other tips for keeping moving:

• Go for a walk during your lunch break
• Take the stairs
• Park further away or walk to work

So there you have it.  Three things that keep me on track while I’m running in 15 different directions.

What other tips or tricks do you use to stay healthy?