Sometimes people think eating healthy and making healthy choices with limited time is impossible, but Kim and Tony share tips in today’s podcast for making meals that are just as fast as the unhealthy options that can feel so tempting when there’s not a lot of time.
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Show notes below:
Why Do People Think eating Healthy Takes More Time Than Unhealthy?
Any time you make a shift, more energy goes into it at first. It’s an unknown and we fear it. There’s a fear of not having enough time, and there’s a block or barrier that’s created. Those thoughts are a perception, not a reality.
Tangible Tips for Quick, Whole Food Meals
Do a Little More Planning
- Lunch is easier to do than fast food if you make something simple one day that you can take with you to work for several days.
- Have the foresight to make sure you have the ingredients you need on hand to create quick, go-to meals, things you can take to have around the office, or thing you can have on hand that will allow you to make quick, easy dinners.
Keep It Simple and Plan Ahead
- Have some simple recipes on hand that you can make in just a few minutes when you come home from work exhausted and don’t want to work on dinner for an hour.
- Keep your recipes for a day-to-day basis very simple and then use the more complex ones for weekends at home or entertaining.
- Throw vegetables in the oven and let them cook while you do something else. (Example: Spaghetti squash can go straight in, then be cut when it’s softened. Cook it more, then scrape it into a bowl and add marinara sauce and greens.)
- Try to make things that last a couple days.
- Practice “time-blocking.” When you’re cleaning up at night and already in the kitchen, go ahead and start cutting up fruit and veggies for the next day to speed things up.
- Salad is a big part of Beauty Detox. It’s simple, but sometimes washing and preparing the greens can seem like too much work. Get pre-packaged, triple-washed greens, put them in a bowl, squeeze in some lemon and add your other dressing ingredients, then add some pre-sliced vegetables if you already have some in your fridge, and you have a salad in about a minute.
- If you use heartier greens and don’t oversaturate with dressing, you can save them for the next day. Or bake vegetables and have them the next day.
- When you’re at home, throw a couple sweet potatoes in the oven as you feel yourself starting to get hungry, then have one with a salad.
- The fastest food is fruit—just be sure to eat it on an empty stomach.
- GGS is another late morning/before lunch option. Making it can be fast when you have your rhythm down and you’ve been doing it a while. When you make it in the morning, make extra for the afternoon.
- GGSo and kale wrap-ups take the edge off hunger so you can have a more substantial meal later.
Keep Staple Items Around the House
Try keeping things around the house that will make it easy to put something together but also last a while, like nori wrappers, nutritional yeast, and Probiotic & Enzyme Salad.
The Beauty Detox Foods truffle recipe keeps well in the freezer and addresses the sweet tooth without being unhealthy. Make a big batch and keep the mixture in the freezer, then defrost as needed.
Bee pollen is also good for a quick pick-me-up.
Make the Alkaline Grain Veggie Burgers and freeze them for later.
Other things to keep in the freezer: acai packets, smoothie packets, frozen bananas for quick smoothies. Also keep coconut water, chia seeds, hemp seeds, etc in the fridge to make the Power Protein Smoothie or Rainforest Acai Smoothie.
Shift Your Mindset
When you shift your mindset to see the possibilities to try out, you will be amazed.
When switching to a new way of eating and it’s not second nature yet to prepare a meal, recipes that are time-consuming can fool you into thinking you can’t eat this way. Save those recipes for special occasions. Create meals that are as fast or faster than what you’re used to for everyday. You can cook quinoa in about 12 minutes and make a fast salad while it cooks. That gives you a dinner in less than 15 minutes.
Rely on a few staples instead of learning tons of new recipes. Rotate your ingredients based on what’s in season. Keep your kitchen stocked with your staples by making at least one trip to the grocery store per week.
It can be fun to discover and make new things. Approach mealtimes with a sense of adventure and joy.
Build your new diet around your personal needs and tastes. Make whatever you love. For example, bake a lot of squash and keep it around. Keep things around that you personally love and find easy to work with, then build from there. Have fun, keep it simple, and don’t worry about specific ingredients.
wonderful insight. Really enjoyed skimming through this blog.
Keep up the good work and to everyone keep on learning!