“I know how to eat well, I’m just super busy at the moment.”
“Between working, my three kids and their afterschool sport, finding time to cook is impossible.”
“I work long hours and we’re [the family] never home at the same time for me to bother cooking dinner.”
Busy is the new chill.
I get it. As a mum of two, a local business owner and someone who frequently overcommits herself, I know first-hand that consistently making healthy choices is difficult. It’s even harder when you’ve had certain poor eating habits for many years. Change is difficult, especially when you try to change everything all at once and especially when life feels chaotic. In fact, trying to overhaul your daily eating pattern and sticking to a special ‘diet’ is super difficult to do, especially when you’re busy. This is NOT what healthy eating means.
Don’t think about your food choices as black and white.
I don’t like to think of healthy living as having a ‘healthy’ or an ‘unhealthy’ or a ‘good’ or a ‘bad’ day. I like to think of it as a continuum of small, healthy things that feel easy for me to achieve each day and do consistently. These small behaviours add up over time and because they become part of my daily routine, it doesn’t matter whether I’m stressed, busy or tired, I still do them.
How I fit small healthy choices into my day:
To show you that small healthy behaviours are possible even when you’re busy, here is a day in the life of Kate Freeman (me) and how I manage to live a healthy lifestyle, even though things get a little bit crazy!
6.30am – Wake up. I have a coffee. The kids have breakfast.
They choose from wholegrain toast with various toppings or high fibre cereal with milk. Some mornings they make themselves a fruit smoothie or if we have a bit more time we have eggs on toast.
7.00am – I head to my home office to start work, kids are making their own lunches (they are in highschool)
My kid’s lunch boxes always have the following things:
- Wholegrain sandwich: chicken, cheese & lettuce or tuna, carrot and mayo, etc
- Yoghurt pouch
- Vegetable: green beans, carrot sticks, snow peas, baby cucumbers, etc
- Fruit: banana, apple, orange, kiwi fruit, berries, watermelon
- Snack: popcorn, pretzels or a homemade snack like carrot muffins or oaty biscuits, packet of chips
They are mostly self-sufficient, as we’ve (hubby and I) taught them how to do their own lunches, washing, etc and they are responsible for these things. I am working while they’re doing this, but not on things that require deep concentration, so I am available to help them if they need. I take an iron supplement with a freshly squeezed orange.
8.00am – The kids head to the bus stop and I go for 60min walk.
This is a vital part of my day to think, plan and breath. It’s been a lifesaver addition to my hectic routine and I’m grateful to have the flexibility to fit it in. I would encourage you to find some ‘white space’ in your day, even just 15-20 minutes, where you have some time just for you.
9.00am – I have breakfast. A smoothie, eggs on toast, avocado on toast. Hummus and tomato on toast…
Breakfast isn’t actually easy for me, I’m not hungry when I first wake up. However, a hour or so later, after a walk, my appetite is raring to go! Find a breakfast routine that works for you and your family and you’ll be set! There are no rules around this. The end goal should be something that involves both listening to your body and fitting in with your daily commitments.
After that I get ready for the day.
10am – Start work. At work I have lunch and a snack.
I try to plan my lunches and snacks each week as much as possible. I keep my pantry stocked with easy meal components. I utilise dinner leftovers. When I get time over the weekend I cook in bulk.
4.00pm – The kids catch the school bus home.
Afternoon tea is all sorts of things:
- Banana with peanut butter
- Apple and cheese
- Carrots and hummus
- Wholegrain crackers with spread
- Strawberries, oats and honey layered with yoghurt
On days when we are out and about we like:
- Fruit salad pots
- Yoghurt pouches
- Popcorn
- Muesli bars
- Pre-cut vegetable sticks
- Roasted chickpeas – Fava beans
6.30pm – Dinner time.
Dinner is a sacred time for me. The family LOVES this time. We have always prioritised eating together as a family at the end of the day and it’s always very grounding for us. It doesn’t happen every night. My teenage kids have casual jobs, do afterschool sport and I frequently have speaking gigs in the evening. So we just do it whenever we can.
I do a quick tasty recipes from the Ayla’s Collection or a healthy convenient meal. I am for vegetables at this meal whenever I can, using delicious whole food ingredients where possible but also make sure if I feel like something in particular then that is ok as well. On super busy nights, I rely on healthy convenient meals.
“What is a healthy convenient meal?” I hear you say. It’s a meal that is healthy, quick and easy and I can pick up the 4 or so ingredients from my local supermarket on the way home. Try this resource below to help you:
Focus on small habits that feel easy so they become part of your life.
Overall, I’ve found that even though I’m busy, making small healthier choices is a normal part of my day. It’s become normal by practicing these mini habits and finding what works for me and my family. These mini habits all add up and the end result is long term good health, without the stress of trying to achieve a ‘perfect diet’.
If you’re keen to start building a life full of small achievable habits, then check out our mobile app.
