By Claire Bacon, ACN, CNC
As we prepare for heading back to school next week, maybe you’re making an internal vow to do better than how it was last year? Ever feel like this? The morning rush is chaos—getting kids out the door, grabbing a quick bite, and racing off to work. Meetings and pressure take over and next thing you know, you’re starving with no time to go out. You hit the vending machine for a quick fix. So much for that healthy eating plan, right?
If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. Life gets busy. Planning meals and actually eating well can feel nearly impossible when you’re on-the-go, traveling for work, or juggling deadlines.
But here’s the good news: there’s a way to make it easier—and we’re here to help. Here are 5 easy ways to make your life easier and healthier…
1. Think Ahead and Keep Favorites On Hand
You might be intimidated, but don’t be afraid to start, because meal prep truly does work! Sit down for 10 minutes each week and decide on 4 dinners to fix. Lunches can be leftovers! Make a list of: proteins/produce/grains/freezer/other. Write down all the ingredients you will need under each category. You can even have a service like Instacart do the shopping and delivery for you!
Here are a few staples that Dr. Bob and I rely on during the week:
- Boxed salad greens with cucumber, chicken sausage, carrots, and peppers for homemade salads
- Coconut milk for a quick protein shake
- Chicken burger patties
- Prosciutto and mozzarella roll-ups
- Chicken thighs with the skin on
- Ground turkey and beef
- Justin’s almond butter packets
- That’s It bars
- Aloha bars
- Archer Farms meat sticks
- Thin Stacker rice cakes – good with avocado and sea salt
- Seeds of Change Brown Rice & Quinoa packets
- Milton’s cauliflower crust roasted veggie pizzas
- Eggs and turkey bacon – when all else fails for dinner.
In addition, we always like to keep ground meat, frozen berries, bananas, and veggies in the freezer. When there’s no time to chop, having some good options in the freezer saves so much time!
2. Create meals in bulk and pre-chop veggies
What would you like to make a big batch of? Bulk dishes include: crockpot meals, beef or turkey chili, roasted veggies, meatballs, lentils or quinoa, or soup. Think about foods that freeze well, like bone broth. These kinds of meals involve minimal work for maximum result. Use any leftover ingredients for another meal the next night.
Need some ideas? Check here for some good freezer-prep meals to make your life easy!
3. Try one new recipe a week
When planning out your week, no need to have elaborate meals every night. One night a week, try a new recipe you’ve found in a cookbook or on social media. These are usually so simple you can get the main idea just from watching the video. Keep an eye out for an unusual ingredient – like fennel, curry paste, or roasted garlic – that transforms the flavor of the meal. Make plenty so you can have leftovers for lunch!
Trying something new should be fun and engaging. Roasting eggplant for the first time or making a homemade pesto should be inspiring and give you a nice satisfaction. Even if that’s the only thing you cook for a couple days, you should feel good about your effort f you’re at a loss, one night can be easy, like “breakfast for dinner”. That will bring variety but no headache or stress!
4. Overdo the portions
Make more than you will need, so you and your family can eat the leftovers for lunch or a snack the next day. That’s one less meal you need to figure out!
And what’s the best way to dress up leftovers? Add them to a big pot of bone broth, and you have a quick and easy delicious meal! Or just as good – heat them up and serve over a bed of lettuce! Either way, you’ll be glad that you’re not letting anything go to waste.
5. Plan around your busy nights
Even if you are not ordering takeout too much, choose which nights are stressful and target your plan around that. You’ll want to have all your good timesavers on hand, the meat defrosted, and a salad or veggies chopped the night before. And if you’ll be eating dinner on the sidelines or in the bleachers, have a good cooler packed up early with a variety of bars, drinks, chopped veggies, deli meat, cheese, hummus, and jerky.
You may also like for those busy practice nights to have the meals pre-made for convenience. Need a good company you can trust? We love Sunbasket! They have added ready-made meals and protein bars to their options. Good to check out!
What About Eating Healthy with Travel?
Let’s take a look at how to shift your mindset for how you plan the trip. Let’s think about what you’ll need to recreate your healthy meals from home.
Before you go, check for local specialty stores or farmer’s markets, or check the online availability of the local grocery store.
- Book an Extended Stay or an apartment on Airbnb with a kitchen, coffee pot, and a blender.
- Or stay in a hotel room with a refrigerator and coffee pot.
- Stay in an area that has a nice grocery store nearby. Even better if they have a hot bar!
- Plan your client dinners at restaurants with healthy options, like salads and grilled vegetables.
- Draw a hard line that fast food is not an option.
- Order groceries online for home delivery the night you get back.
- Do not drink unfiltered tap water. Carry a water bottle that has an incorporated filter.
- Bring some greens powders and protein or collagen powder packets to reinforce your nutrition.
When Packing Your Own is Best for Eating Healthy
Maybe your trip is in an area without a lot of healthy options. In that case, you should plan ahead and check out what stores are convenient to where you’ll be staying. You’ll enjoy the trip a whole lot more if you bring your own food and eliminate the worry.
If you can take a small cooler with you:
- Organic lunch meat that lists only meat and salt on the label can work well.
- Cheese sticks (organic and pasture-raised) can also work, if you can tolerate a little dairy.
- Fermented pickles from the refrigerated section are another option for a snack on the go. Just make sure they don’t contain sugar or any other unwanted ingredients.
- Cut up vegetables and fruit can be a good snack or part of a meal on the go.
- Hard-boiled eggs can work if you don’t tend to get heartburn.
- Gluten-free meatballs or sausages that are cooked ahead of time and frozen are good.
- Non-dairy yogurt or Hummus or Guacamole in individual cups are convenient to take, too.
Or pack in your suitcase:
- Protein shake packets are easy to carry along and mix in a shaker bottle with water or nut milk.
- Greens powder packets add a lot of nutrition and don’t take up hardly any space. You could pack a Ziploc baggie of Nitrogreens so you don’t miss out.
- Meat Jerky that you dehydrate yourself with your own seasoning and spice is perfect. Or you can try Chomps, Nick’s Sticks, or Tanka bars.
- Raw Nuts and Seeds are a good snack for on the go. And of course Justin’s nut butter pouches are the bomb!
- Protein bars like Standard Process Cocoa Crisp, Cocoa Cherry, or Berry bars are based in almond butter; Bulletproof bars made from collagen are probably the best for a hypoallergenic diet appropriate for autoimmunity.
- Dried fruit bars like That’s It or a small bag of dried mango slices can be a good dessert.
- Bring your vitamins! If you’re taking a targeted protocol, these will give you a lot of grace for when you’re not able to eat well. Especially Carbo-G, Diaplex, or Gluterase.
Speaking of Vitamins…
Yes of course, we have a few favorite vitamins to keep us well while traveling:
- E-Z Mg guarantees we’ll get our dark leafy greens, even when we can’t cook! Swiss chard and buckwheat leaf contain 5 kinds of naturally occurring magnesium. Great for nervous system support and sleep!
- Gluterase because we’ll probably be eating more unwanted gluten.
- Carbo-G to help with digesting any other food senstivities. Available in office.
- Betafood as a great source of beets! Beets contain betaine, which prevents constipation, something you don’t want to happen when traveling!
- Ultra-VirX, Thymex, or Ortho-Mune for a better chance of staying well after flying.
Eating Healthy is Worth the Time
You know you’re going to get hungry; it’s just a matter of time. And you’ve already been working so hard to stay healthy! Don’t mess it up just because you’re busy!
With a little forward thinking and planning ahead, you’ll be meal prepping and packing like a pro in no time.
It will be well worth any trouble. Your future self will thank you!
