It’s tough to eat healthy and avoid food waste when you have a packed schedule. The fact is that if you have to juggle lots of tasks and responsibilities, eating healthily can definitely fall to the bottom of your to-do list, if it even features at all, and that can have a devastating impact on your health and wellness. You are also likely to waste food, as it’s difficult to plan meals when you’re running from meeting to meeting. In this post we’ll unpack how you can maintain a healthy diet, and avoid food waste.
The good news is that although it might seem impossible, maintaining your healthy eating habits when you’re busy can be done, and it doesn’t have to be time-consuming or stressful either. It only takes a few simple ideas and plans and you can keep up with your health goals on even the business of days, so keep reading to find out more.
Meal Prep: Write a Shopping List
Reducing food waste is an essential practice that not only benefits the environment but also helps save money and resources. One effective way to minimise waste is by planning meals ahead of time. By creating a weekly menu and shopping list, you can ensure that you purchase only the ingredients you need, which reduces the likelihood of buying excess food that may go unused. Additionally, being mindful of portion sizes when cooking can help prevent leftovers from piling up, allowing you to enjoy your meals without the worry of throwing away uneaten food.
Meal Prep: Batch Cooking
One of the best ways to make sure you’re eating healthily even if you’re really busy and you’ve barely got time to think is to batch cook – you’ll need to dedicate a few hours to this once a week, when you do have some time (perhaps in an evening or over a weekend), but if you can manage that, you’ll always have nutritious, delicious food waiting for you, and they’ll just have to be warmed up to be ready to eat.
The crucial thing to do here is to make sure you create dishes that actually are healthy, so part of your prep time should be about gathering the right recipes and getting the right ingredients. It’s also not a bad idea to mix and match a little – make different components to dishes rather than complete ones, and then you can create new things to eat, which keeps things interesting as well as healthy and well-balanced.
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Recipes: Soups & Shakes
Takeout and microwave meals are so convenient, and they can definitely be tempting not just because they’re quick, but because they’re tasty too. And the true is that once in a while, a meal like this isn’t the end of the world (it can even be an ideal treat when you need a pick me up, for example), but when you eat like that all the time, or at least a lot of the time, that’s when it can become a problem, and you’ll start to damage your body. If you’re looking for fast, convenient options, that makes sense, but you’ll also need to make sure you’re getting healthy food at the same time, and that’s not as tricky as it might seem.
You could try a soups and shakes diet, for example, because that’s something that can tick all the boxes. It’s quick, convenient, tasty, and it’s always going to be convenient. The great thing about this kind of diet is that you’ll never have to miss out on good food again, and there’s no need to skip any meals. This kind of diet really offers a practical solution to the problem of trying to eat healthily when you’ve got so many other things to do, so it’s well worth thinking about it and seeing if it could work for you.
Recipes: Eliminate Food Waste Get Creative with Leftovers
Consider getting creative with leftovers and food scraps. Instead of discarding leftover meals, think about how you can repurpose them into new dishes. For example, yesterday’s roasted vegetables can be transformed into a delicious soup or stir-fry. Additionally, food scraps like vegetable peels and stems can be used to make homemade broth. By embracing a mindset of resourcefulness and creativity in the kitchen, you can significantly reduce food waste while enjoying a variety of meals that are both tasty and sustainable.
Recipes: Keep Healthy Snacks In The House
You know when you go shopping and you don’t buy any snacks because you want to be healthy, and then later on you really come to regret that decision because you need a snack? What tends to happen? For some, they’ll just say hungry, which isn’t great, and others might find anything to eat, which is often going to be something unhealthy. It’s a bad situation all round.
The interesting thing about snacks is that although we’re told to avoid them and that they’re bad for us, that’s not necessarily the case – the fact is that having a couple of snacks during the day is a good thing, as it can raise our energy levels and stop us from overeating during mealtimes. The key, as with everything on this list, is not to avoid the snack, but to make sure it’s a healthy one when you have one. That could mean having fruit, which is a cost-effective and nutritious option, but for those who would prefer something different, there are a good number of snacks available that are low in calories and sugar and contain the important nutrients you need. It’s a case of reading the labels and taking your time over your purchases, and even if that’s something you’re short of, if it means you can snack when you want without worrying about the health consequences, it’s something you might want to do.
Storage: Reduce Food Waste, Invest in Glass Tupperware and Label Leftovers
Another strategy to combat food waste is to properly store food items to extend their shelf life. Understanding the best ways to store fruits, vegetables, dairy, and grains can make a significant difference in how long they remain fresh. For instance, keeping certain fruits and vegetables in the refrigerator can slow down spoilage, while others may do better at room temperature. Utilising airtight containers and labelling items with their purchase or expiration dates can also help you keep track of what you have on hand, ensuring that you use items before they go bad.
Photography by Jason Leung
