Eating healthy can be a difficult task at times, let alone keeping up with cooking during a long work week. Here are some tips to make life a little easier:

1. Wash your fruits and veggies when you get home from the grocery store. Then when you’re ready to use them they are ready to go right away!

2. Meal prep at the beginning of your week. You don’t have to cook all your meals, but having items prepped saves a world of time. Our favourite items to pre-cut are: fruits, veggies, onions and garlic you will need for the week. Having at least one protein ready to go helps.

3. Pre-cook foods that keep well in the fridge and pair well with other items. You can get the advantage of resistant starch [1]with many cooked and cooled starches. Some good options are: spaghetti squash, sweet potatoes, carrots, brussel sprouts, chicken, and ground beef.

Grocery IQ is a free app that helps you and family members keep track of your grocery list anytime, anywhere!

4. Plan out your grocery list so you buy what you need. Try to buy enough food to last you the week so you avoid making unnecessary trips to the grocery store. You’re more likely to stay on track if food is available at home.

5. Stay in the perimeter of the grocery store. You can pick up everything you’ll need for healthy meals from the produce, meat, and dairy sections.  Only go down the middle aisles if you need a nonperishable item, which isn’t as frequent. Try to keep the shopping trip as an adventure, not a chore.

6. Buy what’s in season. This will give you a variety of fruits and veggies to choose from, and you’re less likely to get bored with what you’re eating. We know it can be hard to stay motivated to eat healthy if you feel like all you’re eating is spinach and chicken day in and day out. Another added bonus to buying what’s in season is the money saved! Often, the fruits and veggies that are out of season will have much higher prices than what’s in season.  If you are interested in learning more about eating produce when they are in season, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver is an interesting read.

 7. Use the produce drawers in your fridge, they really do keep your food fresh longer (based on controlling the humidity levels, air flow and ethylene gases [2]). If your food remains fresh you won’t be scrambling mid-week to make something healthy because your food went bad.  If you have them, use them!

8. When you have left over veggies make a soup! It’s a great way to clean out your fridge, and not have so much waste.

9. Don’t over complicate. As an In Demand Woman with an active lifestyle, it is a great idea to stick to quick and easy dinners through the week and save more extravagant meals for the weekend. Simple meals can be both delicious and nutritious!

10. One pan meals are excellent for when you’re running short on time! In a perfect world we would have everything planned out and ready for all our meals, but that’s not realistic. Sometimes life happens, and your plan goes out the window. Grab your favourite veggies, a protein and mix it into a roaster with some spices. Then bake it in the oven, and you’ll have a healthy dinner in less than an hour!

Living a healthy lifestyle doesn’t have to be difficult, our best advice is don’t over complicate! Always keep it SIMPLE, SUSTAINABLE & FUN!

References:

1. https://drchristianson.com/30-amazing-resistant-starch-foods-for-better-digestion/

2. https://www.tasteofhome.com/article/how-to-use-your-crisper-drawer/

Ann Wallace

Ann Wallace is a health and wellness coach, specifically focusing on gut health, and her mission is to educate as many people as she can! She is passionate about keeping life simple, but also full of adventure! Aside from health and wellness, Ann is passionate about the outdoors, she loves dogs, and is a newlywed. Ann loves a good adventure, and believes deeply in the power of connection. Ann is most known for her crazy curly hair, and her empathetic nature.

You can contact Ann at ann.marie.wallace@icloud.com and follow her in Instagram @hi_from_ann