A little help in the Healthy Eating Department can never hurt, right? I agree, maybe eating healthy is a little harder than just slapping a slice of cheese on a sandwich and hoping for the best, but it’s not atom-splitting or anything. Especially when you add a few tricks it’s even easier than you originally thought. These are things I do to make my healthy lifestyle a little a lot easier to maintain!
- I prepare most of my food for the next day the night before. The salad (sans dressing), the snack, the juice and sometimes even the breakfast. I either have to go to yoga, get dressed and look presentable or snooze it up in Manfred’s Cuddle Deadlock. I make the food for the next day either while I’m cooking or straight after dinner. Yes, it’s a time investment and you may miss the first half of [Enter Tolerable Comedy Show Here], but it pays off.
- Because of that, I assess how much and what food I need the day before. I know that if I work out, I’ll be hungrier so I add some ‘oomph’ by adding a big bottle of juice or even a smoothie. If I have a long day, I throw in an extra banana. This has helped me so much in terms of accurately calculating what foods to have on me and has decreased my need for extra snacking or buying extra food.
- I never have the same salad two days in a row. I know myself. That’s just begging for an eventual Health Food Rebellion. So I make sure to switch it up a lot in terms of ingredients. I’ll post a few different ones sometime.
- I make snacks in bulk. I usually do this with raw cacao blobs or bits, but I know of other people who do it with granola bars and somewhat healthy cookies. That way you can just grab one whenever you’re on the go and have to get something to eat real quick.
- I also cook in bulk; I am Left Over Queen. A few weeks ago I bought a large pumpkin slice that was too much for me to finish in one meal, so I only used half of it and saved the rest ‘for another time’. Of course, life gets in the way: You go out to eat, you eat in but are in the mood for other stuff, etc. Next thing you know the remaining pumpkin is no longer suited for consumption. I’ve come to the conclusion it’s better to prepare it all at once. So what you have a few extra portions! Those are great for when you eat alone or when you want a warm lunch. In other words: I make too much, and by doing so I always have some food ready as well as prevent ingredients from going bad.
- I picked this trick up from my reader Elise: I now buy my soft fruits frozen. Soft fruit is often the most expensive and the most likely to spoil quickly; the frozen fruit is an excellent option in terms of price and expiration date, while still containing vitamins and what not. Now I always have some raspberries or blueberries around in the freezer, without worrying it will go bad and without my wallet blowing her Rape Whistle.
- CLEAN YOUR STUFF IMMEDIATELY AFTER YOU USE IT. Can’t stress this enough, because it’s better to spend 10 minutes rinsing and washing everything straight after than it is to spend 40 minutes on it the next day while cursing and hating your life.
And that’s pretty much it. Basically it involves more planning than unhealthy eating, but you’d be surprised how quickly you’ll get used to that! After you’ve done it a couple of times, it’s very normal. Oh, and when Magazijn‘s latest issue pops up on-line, you can also go read my article ‘The Joy Of Healthy Eating’, I’ll add the snippit later. Cheers lovers, have a good Wednesday!
I should prepare more often as well. I usually eat a sandwich I made in the morning during lunch, but I would love to have some quinoa salad in stead. The problem is, I am afraid that it won’t taste as good the next day. Grilled veggies (zucchini, sweet peppers, eggplant) or things like avocado. Not sure if that will taste as well when I use it the next day in a salad or if the quinoa tastes the same. I know I should try it to know if it tastes well or not, but it keeps me a bit discouraged.
Same with smoothies.. haha!
Leuke post weer. Ik ben echt gek op alles wat met eten te maken heeft en vooral op tips die me helpen om gezond te eten. Ik heb trouwens ook raw cacaopoeder, bijenpollen, chiazaad en hennepzaad gekocht. Mijn ontbijt is nu echt iets waar ik van zeven uur s’ochtends tot 1 uur s’middags op kan teren. Ik heb zelf granola gemaakt en dat eet ik nu s’ochtends met warme melk, cacao, chiazaadjes, hennepzaad en honing.
Ik merk wel dat ik nu in de winter meer behoefte heb aan warm eten in plaats van salades. Dus in plaats daarvan ga ik denk soepen maken en meenemen naar stage. Soep is ook te maken in grote hoeveelheden en dan in te vriezen.
Dank voor de tips!
Or better yet, only sometimes clean your stuff, and for the rest of the time just rinse it and let fruit flies accumulate around your blender, and receive a new super fancy new blender THAT YOU CAN PUT IN THE DISHWASHER from your manfriend for your birthday. Hooray! Oh and since you also received your first blender from him, say ‘I hope you’ll buy blenders for me the rest of my life’ and then all is well.
Have been reading your blog for a while now and generally really enjoy your posts, your writing style and your outlook on life. However, I don’t appreciate the “Rape Whistle” reference. Rape is not a joke. Ever. Just by using a ‘cute’ joke like that in reference to ‘forcing’ money out of your wallet, you can trigger a lot of bad feelings/thoughts from girls/boys who have experienced rape and/or sexual harassment. I honestly don’t understand why people, especially women, still make rape jokes.