Making Healthy Choices The Easy Choices
You know the scenario, you didn't get enough sleep last night and you've had a stressful day at work and the last thing you feel like doing is spending an hour in the kitchen to prepare a nutritious meal for the family. You're starving and you have a few choc chip biscuits while calling the take-away delivery person. While there is nothing wrong with enjoying a choc chip biscuit or some take away occasionally, when done mindfully and purposefully, falling into the trap of doing it every second night can be expensive and not great for your health.
Setting up your environment in a way that supports your good intentions and makes the healthy choice the easier choice will ensure that that is just the choice that you make. Below are my top tips to help make healthy choices the easy choices.
1. Stock your fridge and pantry with foods that you want to be filling your diet with. Here is a basic list of foods you will always find in my fridge, and here is a list of the essentials I like to keep my kitchen stocked with.
2. Prepare some of those things so they are very easy to add to your meals when you need them, eg. chop some veggies up, roast some sweet potatoes/potatoes/pumpkin, boil some eggs, make a tasty salad dressing. You can then make a salad in less than a minute, or have a frittata ready to put in the oven by the time it's warm.
3. Take shortcuts. There is nothing wrong with using microwave cups of rice, pre cut veggies, or tins of legumes, when you've got to get dinner on the table in 10 minutes flat. If you like making things from scratch, save it for the weekend when you've got more time.
4. Lower your standards for dinner. Eggs scrambled with frozen (or fresh) veggies is a perfectly reasonable dinner option, and is my go-to when I can't be bothered. As are tuna, rice and salad bowls, or even baked beans on toast. You don't have to prepare a roast with all the trimmings every night of the week, choose easy options that are nutritious and you'll be more likely to cook dinner from home more often.
Breakfast for dinner - it's a totally acceptable option!
5. Keep fruit on the bench instead of cakes/biscuits/lollies. Having fruit in plain sight will make it at the front of your mind when you're hungry and looking for a snack. If you're wanting to eat more fruit, this is a super easy way to help make that happen.
Do you have any tips for making healthy choices the easy choices? I'd love to hear in the comments section below!
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