How do you find time to cook and eat healthy? I find it hard

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  • Sublog
    Sublog Posts: 1,296 Member
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    With such busy and active schedules, how do you make the time to cook healthy & eat healthy? My husband & i fall into the trap of eating out alot. Can someone give me some tips on finding the time to cook & eat healthy? Some tips on preparing some things ahead of time and such as that? I need to do something here, we are eating out to much.

    Whats wrong with eating out? I eat out once per day 6-7 days per week and lose weight. You just need to make better choices when you eat out. Calories are calories.
  • czechsmate
    czechsmate Posts: 556 Member
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    I cook a lot of meals that do not take a long time to cook...baked boneless skinless chicken breasts, salmon filets, chicken sausages, turkey burgers...lots of salads, veggies. All of these things can be prepared and cooked in about 30 mins.
  • masterfitness4u
    masterfitness4u Posts: 107
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    That exactly what I have been doing for the past 3 weeks. I have one day for shopping and another day for preparing the food in containers that are pre weighed and measured in the refrigerator and cabinets. The night before, I pack my breakfas,lunch in my lunch box that is not too big and when I get to work, I pace the meat and cold stuff in the frig. When it comes to lunch I go to a builidng with a kitchen and it takes me 30 min to cook, eat and clean my pan. You can you do that when you go out, by standing in line, waiting for your food and sitting down to eat? I have so much time now during my lunch now. Dinner, I add what I may eat on my diary just incase and again, 30 mim or less. Hope this helps.
  • aolani
    aolani Posts: 80 Member
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    The slow cooker is my best friend.
  • ArroganceInStep
    ArroganceInStep Posts: 6,239 Member
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    My fiance and I cook lunches every sunday (when I'm in New York, I'm currently away on business so not so much lately). We make a big amount and then divide it up. It generally takes about 3 hours for the more complex meals to cook/divide/clean up. Breakfast we both have our usual breakfast and since I take less time to get ready I make them. She has a toasted honey wheat english muffin very lightly buttered with 2 slices of turkey and 1 slice of pepperjack cheese, microwaved on high for 15 seconds to melt the cheese a bit. I have a protein shake with 2 scoops of protein, 1 banana, and one spoonful of peanut butter.

    Dinners vary, but we often pick something up, the trick there for us is to eat something very light and healthy (we'll often split one entree). Dinner is my smallest meal, and for my fiance is about the same as her breakfast. We have a few places that we generally go to.

    What I'm getting at here is that we have a very organized routine. For me at least, a set schedule is the most important thing to eating right. I'm away on business right now, and my routine is all messed up, so I'm stuck on the treadmill for 1-2 hours a day to work it off.

    Try to find a routine that works for you and stick with it.
  • Brandicaloriecountess
    Brandicaloriecountess Posts: 2,126 Member
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    Plan ahead and use a slow cooker often.
  • Econonut
    Econonut Posts: 5
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    It's not as difficult as it sounds or as people make it to be. Before doing groceries on Thursdays, I sit down with my husband and we plan out our menus for the next 7 days. We buy our veggies and protein and once home, I cube/slice my protein, put them in tupperwares and in the freezer. In the morning I take them out so they're defrost by the time I get home. If I forget, I have my little helpers, like pea soup (takes no time to make and is healthy ! ). I always make enough food to put in lunches the next day. Once a week, we go to Subway to get out of our routine (usually the night we do groceries!). Hope that helps.
  • staceyGO
    staceyGO Posts: 376
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    BATCH COOK!!!

    hard boil 12 eggs - snack, egg salad, mash on toast or melbas
    bake 10 chicken breasts - add to salads, make chicken sandwiches, wraps or dice and add to soup
    section big bags of veggies into small assortments.. carrots, snap peas, broc, cauli, cuc, cherry tomatoes - with hummus?
    same thing with fruit... grapes and berries - dip in yogurt?
    make lunches the night before
    I make veg chili, section and freeze

    Stock your fridge with ready to go stuff, yogurts, cottage cheese, fat free pudding, cheese strings, babybels, laughing cow, fat free deli meat...

    It's pretty easy once you get in the groove!! Good luck!
  • wolfchild59
    wolfchild59 Posts: 2,608 Member
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    Ultimately, I just have to make the time because I see it as a priority. I work 8-6, head home, cook dinner, eat dinner, clean up from dinner, cook my breakfast and lunch for the next day, go workout, back home to shower and hopefully be to bed before midnight to start it all over again the next day.

    I run most of my grocery errands on my lunch break at work. Then I have Fridays as a rest day from workouts, so I can catch up on non-grocery errands that night. Saturday's are my weekly trip to the market for fruits, veggies and bulk goods. And any household chores I can fit in. (plus any leftover errands that didn't make it in on Friday). Sunday is my day with the hubby. I do my weekly long run early, we have a standing lunch date at a local cafe, any errands he needs to run (he does plays and is at the theater every night). Then the rest of the day Sunday is for relaxing together and watching our DVRd shows.

    And when comparing cooking dinner at home to eating out, unless you're talking about just grabbing fast food through a drive through, it's faster to cook at home. Most meals I make for myself or for the hubby and I are about an hour from starting cooking to finishing eating. Anything longer than that means stovetop simmering or oven cooking, which means downtown watching shows with the hubby anyway. Getting ready, driving somewhere, ordering, eating, paying, and driving home usually take longer than anything I make at home, so it doesn't seem to be a "convenience" to me in the time aspect of things.
  • maura1110
    maura1110 Posts: 171 Member
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    Make time.

    If you really want to get it done you'll do it. If not you'll make an excuse.

    this. if you want something badly enough, you will make it happen.
  • whatshesaid
    whatshesaid Posts: 53 Member
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    Batch cooking all the way! Every Sunday I make a giant batch of something, and I freeze individual portions for my lunches *could be for suppers also* ... for example I spent like 2-3 hours this weekend making a huge batch of meat and veggie chili, I've made spaghetti sauce with spaghetti squash, soups, etc. I used to be like you - personally i was very lazy, hungry right after work and never felt like cooking and all that. It was easier to throw some chicken fingers and bag fries in the oven - but now i LOVE cooking and I experiment with spices, and i rarely touched pre-packaged food. Plus I eat later now when i take the time to cook so if i'm eating supper at like 6:30 I am less likely to snack at night!

    I think it's all about pre-planning and cooking large quantities at once, if you're going to spend so much time on it you better have leftovers!
  • MB_Positif
    MB_Positif Posts: 8,897 Member
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    I prep everything on Sunday afternoon that I am going to need to cook meals for the week, so any veggies that need chopping (except anything that would brown like avocado or potatoes) or meat that needs to be cut, I take care of then so when I get home from work at 6 I can just start throwing the food together. And I love my crockpot!
  • Sidesteal
    Sidesteal Posts: 5,510 Member
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    I got a wife.






























    i'm not a dck, seriously....
    my wife does cook though. BOOM.
  • chocolateandvodka
    chocolateandvodka Posts: 1,856 Member
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    you realize it is hard, and make it a priority.

    or you just continue eating terribly, and reap the results.

    as my friend Gary says - you choose your hard.
  • Qarol
    Qarol Posts: 6,171 Member
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    as my friend Gary says - you choose your hard.
    I like that Gary...he's smartness
  • lor007
    lor007 Posts: 884 Member
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    I find that it takes no more time to cook and eat healthy than it does to cook and eat unhealthy.
  • melsinct
    melsinct Posts: 3,512 Member
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    Anything that is a priority is gonna happen. If you have time to be on the computer, use that time to cook instead. Got time to watch tv? Cook instead. Get up a half hour earlier to pack lunches/dinners etc.

    Exactly. We all like to talk about how busy we are, but most of us have time. We just choose to do other activities.

    I cook things in large batches on the weekend when I have more time, which makes for leftover dinners and lunches during the week. Sometimes I will make large batches of soup and freeze into portions = super quick lunch. Slow cookers are a great idea for the time crunched. I keep myself to a rule that weeknight dinners must take 30 minutes or less to prepare. Sometimes I will do some prep work the night before (chopping vegetables or other time consuming tasks).

    It doesn't matter who you are- single, married, no kids, multiple kids, work full time, in school full time, or both work and school- most of us are busy and lead busy lives. You have to make yourself and your health a priority and make the time to cook or exercise or whatever else you need to do to keep yourself healthy. I know for me, excuse making made me fat. You just have to do it.
  • LeeKetty1176
    LeeKetty1176 Posts: 881 Member
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    6 Ps

    Proper Plans Prevent Piss Poor Performance
  • ilookthetype
    ilookthetype Posts: 3,021 Member
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    I prep everything over the weekend. I'm gluten intolerant so I even make my veggie noodles on saturday and sunday then just slap them into tupperware at night for the next day's lunch.
  • FitnActiveMom
    FitnActiveMom Posts: 42
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    go to my blog www.fitnactivemom.blogspot.com....I talk about how to fit it all in with kids,husbands, work, etc. It's a work in progress, so much more to come!

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