My husband Brandon is chatting with me today on how we live a healthy lifestyle and honor our bodies with nutrition and fitness while on a busy schedule.
5 Practical Tips For How To Stay Healthy On A Busy Schedule
As business owners Brandon and I are super busy and always on the go. But our work is super different. I work from home while Brandon spends most of his time in the office. with a more structured schedule, so we thought we would chat about our different perspectives of how we stay healthy while on a busy schedule.
Want to listen instead of read? Listen below to this week’s podcast where we chat all about staying healthy while being busy and traveling!
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1. Plan Out Your Day For Success
Whether you’re like me and you work from home or you’re like Brandon and you spend most of your days at an office or on the go..planning your day will help you live a healthy lifestyle. I like to graze throughout the day while working at home while B will usually eat lunch out so what does planning look like for both of us?
- When you’re constantly moving through out the day make sure you’re getting enough food in to fuel yourself an easy way to do this is to plan ahead and pack snacks. Some super easy snack ideas are protein bars!
- Start your day off with a light nutritious meal that wont make you feel heavy and tired. We both do this by starting our day off with a freshfitnFIVE smoothie. This smoothie includes protein, fat, smart carb, healthy fat, and a boost such as cinnamon to give it flavor and extra nutrients. We both love to get in a lot of our nutrients at the beginning of the day, plus it keeps us feeling energized and full. For more about my freshfitnFIVE smoothie click here!!
- Don’t skip meals!! Another tip is packing healthy meals/snacks so you dont go the whole day not eating. When you go the whole day without eating youl feel exhausted and hangry. You’ll be more likely to eat everything in sight the moment you get home!! And less likely to feel energized to go to honor your body by being active after work!
- Eat a light lunch! Skip the pizza or fast food and go for something thatll keep you feeling energized and full such as a salad or 6 inch sub. Don’t weigh yourself down by eating something greasy in the middle of your day or you’ll want to crash and take a nap.
2. Fuel Your Body The Correct Way
- Once something becomes all in or all out it becomes unhealthy. Fuel your body by setting up your meals the correct way and then allow yourself to have a little treat after if you’re still craving it! It’s all about portion control and balance not restriction.
- We set up our dinners mainly the same way every night, there’s always a salad, a main lean protein like chicken, and a smart carb like a sweet potato. Our healthy fat is usually the olive oil that we use to cook with. Eating healthy doesn’t have to be chicken and broccoli or a salad every night. Learn to view your foods as fuel to energize your body. Do you have a protein, carb, and fat source for every meal?
- We still eat ice cream for dessert but we opt for single servings of the good stuff, or portioning out a little on a cone. For a healthier alternative we loveee frozen yoghurt bars or cones from Skinny Cow or Yasso. Other nights dessert is frozen banana slices with PB or a little cereal.
3. Utilize Batch Cooking To Save Time:
- Meal Prepping may not be for you but have you tried batch cooking? As busy business owners we love and utilize pre cooking tonnss of protein. Some of our favorite lean proteins to batch cook are chicken breast or ground turkey. I’ll cook a ton of bland chicken and then spice it up later to use for so many different recipes. I’m all about saving time in the kitchen! The same chicken I use for spaghetti squash casserole one night I can shred up the next night and add some BBQ sauce!! It makes life so much easier on the go.
4. Don’t Be Afraid Of Frozen Foods/ Easy Snacks:
- Frozen foods are a staple in our house and a huge part of how we stay healthy with a busy schedule. Whether its protein pasta, precooked chicken, or vegetables, it’s so easy to heat up and serve. Frozen foods can be healthy you just have to know what to look for!! Brandon and I love the brand Birds Eye, some of our favorites from them are their protein pasta, side, and veggies! Your favorite meals can be swapped for healthier, faster options to save time! One of Brandon’s favorite meals is mac n cheese and hot dogs. I make a healthier version by getting natural, low fat hot dogs, and frozen birds eye mac n cheese made from vegetables.
- Healthy, Easy snacks are also a life saver for us. Some of our favorites are
- Daves killer bread with almond butter or PB
- Carrots and hummus
- Apples and a nut butter
- With snacks make sure you’re pairing macros together to stay full for longer. For example pairing either a protein with a carb or pairing a protein with a fat. This can look like an apple with a nut butter or low fat cheese sticks. Just eating an apple alone will leave you hungry again in 30 minutes. Grab combinations and be creative with it. For some fun, quick snack ideas click here.
- Were always looking for new snack and meal ideas so share your healthy protein/fat/carb creations and tag us on instagram, @sarahgracemeck & @brandonmeck
5. Stay on Track While Traveling
I get asked a lot how I live a healthy lifestyle while traveling so much!! Here are some of Brandon and I’s tips!
- Wake up early and honor your body. We love to explore the city by walking or running instead of taking a car! If B is on a trip for work he will walk around the city before his meetings and get those steps in. Honor your body and start the day off the right way. Not only are you getting your exercise in for the day but you’re also getting to see way more of the city then you would if you took a car everywhere!
- Save your big meal for dinner. When traveling opt out on the big breakfast buffet filling up on tons of high fat foods will only make you feel sluggish. We tend to eat light and not sit down for breakfast and lunch and make dinner the big meal of the day instead…with lots of healthy snacks in between of course!! Food is usually the main attraction of traveling and we of course
- Share meals when eating out! Brandon and I love splitting meals when we go out!! Not only do you get to enjoy more tasty foods, but this will help with not overeating!!
- Get The Dessert. When you’re traveling do let yourself indulge and have that treat just practice portion control and stop when you’re satisfied! Remember you don’t have to eat until your plate is empty! No matter where you are its not about restriction, its about eating to feel your best!
Don’t forget to share your healthy protein/fat/carb creations and tag us on instagram, @sarahgracemeck & @brandonmeck
