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“I’m Too Busy to Eat Healthy” is a BS Excuse.

Real Food Tips for a Modern Lifestyle

When I was asked to write a blog about tips for eating healthy for busy professionals I originally thought that I would be coming from a more compassionate, forgiving perspective. But after thinking of all the busy professionals I counsel in nutrition that have adapted right away to my suggestions and began eating a diet of only whole, real foods - no grains, no legumes, very little dairy and sugar only for the occasional treat – and how those people were very busy, some working 50 plus hours a week – I told myself if they can do it, so can everyone else.

All it takes to make a change in your diet and your lifestyle is a desire and a commitment to change. If your life is really too busy to allow for you to take care of your basic needs: nutritious food, adequate sleep and moderate exercise - you need to check your priorities. Your health is your life. Good, vibrant, non-medicated, long term health makes you a better worker, a better parent, a better friend and a better lover. We can only give to the world as much as we get from it and we get so much more if we are energetic, active, clear thinking, non-dependent, and healthy people.

My own adherence to my nutrition and lifestyle principals was put to the test recently when I opened my new business. Could I eat well, get rest and exercise while running my own business full time with ridiculous hours? While I did find that my coffee consumption increased and my sleep temporarily did decrease, after a week or turmoil, I managed to set in a healthy routine that allows me to work hard, eat real food that’s grain, legume and mostly dairy free, workout some, rest well and enjoy life.

Quit feeling guilty about your bad habits. Guilt is a pointless emotion. Just take ACTION and change things. Baby steps are not a required method for change. Jump in head first and make your health a priority.

Here are my tips for all your busy people out there:

1) Eat real food. Put down the protein bars and shakes. Most are full or nasty sweeteners, and powdered proteins. Soy protein is the worst of them all – but any protein powder is a processed food. Making dairy your main protein source at a meal does not favor fat loss and for many causes gut irritation. If you are trying to GAIN weight I might recommend protein shakes with good grass-fed whey protein… but again real food does the job better. Real food will satisfy you longer, cost less in the long run and doesn’t have a list of ingredients you can’t pronounce.

2) If you say you have no time for breakfast you are full of s#!* - get off Facebook at 11am, you don’t need to be shopping on EBay after dinner, really. Power down all electronics by 10pm skip the cocktail, beer or wine with dinner which can affect sleep - set your alarm 15 minutes earlier and get up to make a breakfast with protein and fat. Eat eggs, sausage, bacon, chicken, etc with veggies or avocado, and maybe a small apple or some berries too. Eat real food and eat until satisfied. Breakfast should sustain you 5 hours until lunch time. If you find you are hungry earlier you probably didn’t eat the right stuff or you didn’t eat enough.

I used to be a protein shake whore. It was one of the last processed foods I clung to in my diet and like a stubborn athlete I just couldn’t give it up. I was addicted to the convenience and the fact that I could make it taste like a milk shake (that should have given me a clue to its real health benefit right there). But after switching to a hot real food breakfast I have more energy, lower body fat and less food cravings. I’m totally satisfied until 12pm or 1pm… AND I get to have bacon a few more times than just brunch on weekends. It’s a win-win in my book!

3) Skip the lunch truck. If you can pack your own lunch, great! It will save you money and be the healthiest bet. Leftovers are great for packing. Just make extra for dinner and save the rest for lunch. Get over the nerd factor of packing your lunch. Avoiding diabetes by not eating pizza and donuts in the office is very sexy and cool… but these cute bento boxes are super sexy.

Don’t want to pack your grub? Fine. There are plenty of options. My favorite is the Whole Foods salad bar/hot food bar. I can go there and always find some form of meat/poultry/fish that is of good quality and some veggie side dish or salad to accompany it. Just make sure to avoid the canola oil and hidden gluten sources in the prepared foods (check the ingredients list on the display case). If there is no acceptable protein at the salad bar/hot food bar, I order something from the deli case and add it to my salad. Grab a big bottle of water or some green tea and you are good to go. I’m a sucker for the $3.69 bottles of Kombucha, but try not to have them every day so my pocketbook doesn’t take a hit.

What I also like about Whole Foods is I can pick up a snack for later If I know I’m gonna be working late. Like jerky or raw nuts or coconut water for post workout.

No Whole Foods? Trader Joe’s or you local supermarket has some options too. When in a pinch I can grab some deli turkey slices, some baby carrots and/or snap peas and an avocado and have a lunch and leftover snacking options.

Business lunch? Order meat/poultry/fish and veggies. I don’t know why people complain that this is so hard. Just make requests to the waiter. You are paying and they are happy to accommodate. Order a salad no cheese, olive oil dressing with meat on it; order a piece of grilled fish or chicken with double veggies no grains. Ballin’ it at a steak house for lunch? You rock, I’m jealous and that’s super easy - get steak and broccoli or a pork chop and asparagus. If you are unsure about the quality of a sauce ask for it on the side and just use a little. This is not rocket science; it’s simply changing the way you order stuff. If I can do it after being raised vegetarian and eating a grain/soy based diet that destroyed my health for 20 plus years, so can you.

4) Dinner is just about having a stocked fridge. When planning your week plan what day you go grocery shopping. Buy some fresh meat and some for freezing; you can then defrost it the night before as needed. Get an assortment of fresh veggies (frozen if you must) and a little bit of fresh fruit and raw nuts. Eggs don’t go bad quickly so buy a dozen even if you live alone. Apples keep well in the fridge so buy a bunch of those – if everything is gone at least you have eggs and apple to eat for breakfast until you go grocery shopping. Buy some yams/sweet potato/squashes for higher starch meals if you are active.

Have coconut oil and ghee (clarified butter) on hand for cooking, olive oil for dressing or drizzling on steamed veggies and plenty of organic spices and seasonings.

Invest in good non-toxic cook ware. Like Pyrex, stainless steel or ceramic and non-plastic cooking tools. Buy a veggie steamer basket. They are cheap and easy to use - delicious veggies in about 5 minutes or so.

It takes me about 20-30 minutes tops to cook a delicious meal for dinner. If you don’t have 20 minutes at the end of your day to cook for yourself and your family you should re-evaluate your life choices that got you to that point and make some changes so you can live better.

If I’m really rushed or simply exhausted from a long day I pick up a whole roasted chicken from Whole Foods and just steam some veggies to go with it. Boom.

5) You can live it up a little bit on the weekends (if you really want) and still be pretty healthy. Gluten free pancakes for brunch, gluten-free pizza for a Saturday night dinner while watching a movie with friends, some brown rice sushi or corn tortillas, a little Haggen Das maybe and a couple Vodka martinis of Nor Cal Margaritas for a twist… Don’t go hog wild, just live a little and make mostly smart, real food choices with a couple fun “cheats” and then when you get back to work Monday cut out the slack. Don’t plan your binges like you are planning a Charlie Sheen style crack run - that’s neurotic food behavior. Just indulge occasionally when you feel it’s right (hopefully gluten free) and then go back to normal.

6) Get your butt to the gym. Even in you only make it twice during the week you can take a nice hike on the weekends - and get some natural vitamin D from the sun. That’s enough to maintain muscle mass and get some general health benefits. You don’t have to slave away at the gym. 45 minutes is fine from warm up to cool down. Lift some weights, do some body weight exercises, sprint a little, push it hard then leave. If you don’t know what you are doing hire someone that does from a few sessions just so you can learn. Check credentials and references; don’t just hire your local Globo gym trainer. Pay cheap and get cheap.

7) Sleep. The single most important thing you can do for your health is be well rested aim for 7-8 hours a night and get 9 hours when you can. There is no excuse for poor sleep. If you have trouble sleeping you are having health issues that need to be addressed. Cut down caffeine, power down electronics early, get your hormones and gut function checked. Sleep is paramount. Get it.

This may sounds like my “tough love” blog – and it kind of is. But I care that much about your health that I want you to realize how serious it is that you make these things a priority. Now put down that skinny vanilla latte, skip the fries get the burger no bun extra salad, stop kidding yourself that Balance bars are healthy and make some choices in your life that really matter. You’ll feel so much better that you’ll have more energy and drive to do everything you love… and isn’t that what really matters.

10 March 2011 ·