A balanced diet is an important component of a healthy lifestyle. If you make sure you have a sufficient supply of vitamins and minerals, you will have more energy and be more productive in the long term. In everyday working life, however, it’s not so easy to always cook fresh. The time in the morning and during the lunch break is limited – in the evening you are usually exhausted from the day. So it’s not surprising that many people reach for ready meals or grab a quick meal from the nearest takeaway. But healthy eating in everyday life is not rocket science – it often comes down to planning.
Plan your purchase
The day has been long, you come home exhausted, the fridge is empty – going out again now costs most people a lot of effort and is even an impossibility for some. This makes it all the more obvious to reach for the phone to order something quickly from the delivery service. If you want to avoid this in the long term, you should make sure you plan your weekly shopping wisely. On the one hand, this means making a firm note of purchases in the calendar. Refrain from going to the supermarket almost every day for a handful of groceries at a time. This costs an unnecessary amount of time and energy. Instead, it’s better to shop once or twice, but with a system – in other words, with a shopping list. Focus mainly on simple, natural foods that you can quickly process into simple meals – lots of fresh fruit and vegetables, frozen products and pulses. In the event that you really don’t have enough time to go shopping, it makes sense to stock up. Make sure you always have a few non-perishable foods in the cupboard that you can fall back on to prepare something quick.
Have food delivered to your home
If you want to save even more time when shopping, you can have the fresh food delivered directly. There are various ways to do this. Organic farms, for example, often offer to deliver weekly fruit and vegetable boxes. Ready-made cooking boxes from providers such as HelloFresh are an alternative. The principle is quite simple: you choose the recipes you want to cook from a selection of different recipes beforehand. The ingredients are then delivered directly to your doorstep with step-by-step instructions. This kills two birds with one stone: you don’t have to worry about where to buy less common ingredients. It also eliminates the need to trawl through websites and blogs in search of recipes. Although it is fun to look for inspiration in this way, it also takes time.
Bring your own lunch
Most employees only have a fairly short lunch break of around 30 minutes. It is not possible to prepare anything extra during this time. So how do you get a healthy and balanced lunch within the prescribed time? A good tip is to simply prepare an extra portion if you have cooked the evening before. You wrap them up and simply warm them up again the next day during your lunch break. An alternative to this is the classic “snack”. This is not just a practical solution for pupils to have something to eat during the long break. If you choose a dark wholemeal bread topped with healthy ingredients, you have a quick and uncomplicated snack for the office.
Healthy eating in the restaurant
Some days you just can’t manage to cook something for yourself – either because you’re too exhausted or because you don’t have the time. Eating in a restaurant or from a delivery service – unless it is explicitly health food – is often better for the soul than the body. In most cases, there is more fat and more sugar than in food that you have cooked yourself. Sometimes it just has to be a tasty, greasy pizza. However, if you want to make sure you eat healthily, you can follow these tips and put them into practice when you’re out and about:
- Eat only until you are full. The plates in restaurants are often fuller than you would make them at home. This does not mean that you necessarily have to eat up. Leftovers can usually be packed up easily.
- Green salad or starter salad can be ordered with almost any dish. So you have already eaten a large portion of vegetables with lots of nutrients. But be careful: it’s best to avoid greasy dressings and use vinegar and oil instead.
- Be careful with liquid calories: Drinks such as juices, soft drinks and the like are often high in calories and sugar. Instead, choose still water or a delicious tea.
