How to Eat Healthy on the Go

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One of the biggest struggles that most people face today is a hectic and crazy schedule. Being so busy all of the time makes eating healthy a real challenge. It can become so easy to choose less healthy foods just because they are quick and convenient. These less-than-ideal food choices put us on the hamster wheel of experiencing low energy, weight gain, and potential health problems. But it’s time to break that cycle! Here are my top tips for  how to eat healthy on the go…

When You’re Not Home

While you might fill your house with healthy food options, this doesn’t help you much when you’re not at home. And this can make it a lot more challenging to make healthy choices. It’s important to take some time to plan ahead for your day so that you can relax knowing you already have healthy food planned and available.

Daily Errands and Activities

Most days it’s easy to find yourself spending a lot of time in your car whether its running errands, going to work, or taking kids to and from activities. But if you plan ahead for these car trips, you won’t even be tempted by the neon drive-thru signs. If you instead wait until you’re starving to think about food, then you’ll be less motivated to make a healthy choice. Instead, plan ahead, so you don’t have to rely on your willpower alone to keep you on track. Pack easy to carry healthy snacks, and keep them in either your purse or your vehicle. This way you always have healthy choices right at your fingertips.

Road Trips

Whether you’re on vacation or traveling for work, it doesn’t mean you should take a total break from your health goals. You can still live a healthy lifestyle on the road by packing healthy foods to eat in the car. If you know you’ll be in the car for several hours, you can even pack a cooler to keep in the car. Or if you’re planning on stopping at rest areas along the way, pack a nutritious picnic lunch to eat before you head back out on the next leg of your trip.

RELATED POST: How to Stay on Track During Vacation

Airports

Even though you can’t pack liquids in your carry-on bag, there are still plenty of options for what you can bring. You can pack wrapped whole food snack bars, nuts, seeds or even pieces of fruit in your personal items bag. With a little creative planning, you can keep your nutrition on track, and save yourself a bundle of money you would have otherwise spent on pricey (and often unhealthy) airport food and snacks.

Easy to Pack Foods

So now that you’re ready to plan ahead for these extra busy days, here is a list of convenient and easy items to take with you. Make sure to keep any perishable foods in a cooler or use an ice pack.

• Baby carrots, celery and cucumber slices with your favorite hummus
• Sliced or whole apples with nut butter
• Clementine or mandarin oranges
• Grapes
• Sliced or whole pears
• Bananas
• Smoothie (make sure to either keep this in a cooler or drink it within 30 minutes)
• Nuts and raisins (you can even make your own trail mix!)
• Pumpkin or sunflower seeds
• Whole Food Snack Bars (such as Larabar or RX bars)
• Sandwiches or wraps (make sure to keep these in a cooler)
• String cheese or cheese cubes
• High quality beef jerky (just keep an eye on the sodium content)
• Cut-up rotisserie chicken (keep cool with an ice pack)
• Hard boiled eggs (you can even pre-peel these to make them even easier to eat!)

Midweek Meals Made Easy

Once your hectic day winds to an end and you’re exhausted, it doesn’t mean you should now resort to unhealthy foods for dinner just because they’re quick. With a little planning, you can make sure that you and your family have healthy meals ready to go when you walk in the door.

With the rising popularity of Pinterest, you now have thousands of healthy Crockpot meal ideas available for free. Do a quick search and see what recipes may interest you and your family. If you prep everything the night before, or even earlier in the morning, you can come home to a delicious home-cooked meal that is ready to serve. I have over 200 crockpot recipes saved on my Pinterest account, you can check them out HERE.

TIME SAVER TIP:  Batch cook and plan for leftovers. When you do have time to cook, simply double the recipe and set the extras aside to use later in the week on a particularly busy day. It takes very little extra effort to double the recipe, and you will reap the benefits of time savings later in the week. Or you can even freeze leftovers to use later in the month.

Make Healthy Eating A Priority for You

Even with a busy schedule, you can still make sure that you are eating healthy, nutritious meals. By putting in a little bit planning, you can ensure that you and your family enjoy healthy foods that support your lifestyle and your goals.