How to eat healthy when you’re always pressed for time

Good health is the foundation for a great life, and one of the first steps to achieving good health is learning how to eat healthy.

As silly as it sounds, eating healthy is somewhat of a controversial topic these days because “eating healthy” is a common subject for debate.

It’s my theory that most people want to eat healthy, but they have several misconceptions about which foods truly are healthy and which aren’t because of the misinformation out there.

The other issue is that we live in a fast-paced society that emphasizes the hustle (I’m guilty of it too) and that leads people to turn to fast food.

However, at the core, these are just excuses.

There are plenty of ways to eat healthy while on the go or when you’re short on time. It’s simply a matter of figuring out a system that works for you.

What Does it Mean to Eat Healthy?

“Eating healthy” is subjective to each person and what they’re looking to get out of their diet.

Maybe you don’t need to do much to eat healthy.

If you just want to ensure proper health, then eating healthy is simply eating in a way that doesn’t cause any health problems. That can be accomplished by balancing your “bad” foods with healthy options and just using some common sense.

However, if you are trying to lose body fat, gain muscle, optimize energy, or achieve something else specific with your diet — you’ll need to put a little more thought into what you eat.

Here’s what “eating healthy” means to me:

Eating healthy = a diet that’s rich in micronutrients and keeps me healthy, gives me consistent energy, and doesn’t lead to excess fat gain.

If I want to gain muscle I simply up the calories, but I don’t need to make any significant adjustments to what I eat.

The same goes for losing fat — I simply drop the calories a bit.

However, I have experimented with low carb and keto diets for rapid fat loss. They work exceptionally well in the short-term when combined with BCAAs and intermittent fasting. I don’t recommend this for long-term fat loss, though.

To sum it up, eating healthy to me is eating in a way that:

1. Maintains optimal health
2. Gives me high energy levels throughout the day
3. Allows me to eat foods I enjoy, including eating out, without getting fat

What’s your definition?

If you don’t know what you want to get out of your diet, how will you be able to create a system of eating healthy that works best for you?

Know Your Go-To Foods in Every Situation

Eating healthy is a skill that you will develop with time.

After a while, you figure out what foods or meals you can eat in any given situation that will be enjoyable, as well as helping you progress towards your fitness goals.

Remember health and fitness are supposed to enhance our lives, not make things worse. You don’t want to be turning down social or networking opportunities because they interfere with your diet.

Imagine your boss asks you if you want to go to lunch. What are you going to say, no?

Don’t be silly.

My suggestion is to make a conscious effort to find healthy options everywhere you go, even if you aren’t going to be eating healthy.

For example, on a Friday night, I might be out with my girlfriend, and I’m going to eat whatever the hell I want. However, I always browse the menu for healthier options so I can make a mental note about what I would get if I were being more strict.

For one, you can almost always find a salad.

However, even if you don’t want a salad, there are still options.

For example, at a Mexican restaurant, you can go with the fajitas and skip the tortillas if you’re keeping your carbs low. That’s essentially grilled chicken and veggies.

Now let’s say you’re on the road, and the only options are fast food.

These days, I typically skip the fast food and eat out of gas stations exclusively when I’m on the road.

Sounds bad, right?

Well, I’ve found that gas stations almost always have Clif bars, bananas, and muscle milk protein drinks.

Sure, those foods are kind of boring, but I actually like them better than fast food because they don’t make me feel like shit afterward, and they’re easy to mix and match into a well-balanced meal.

Find Quick Meals You Like

Since we’re pressed for time, convenience is likely going to be the biggest deciding factor in what we eat.

So the ideal situation is to have meals that are quick and healthy on-hand.

The easiest meal you can make is a protein shake or smoothie.

Blend up some protein powder with some frozen berries for flavor, some spinach for micro nutrients, and some bananas for added carbs and fiber.

For smoothies, I use this protein powder because I can get a 6 lb bag for a great deal at Costco and it’s high-quality.

For plain protein shakes, I use this protein powder because it’s the best tasting on the market, although the quality is the same.

One of my favorite quick meals for lunch is simple: rice and beans. Sometimes with meat, sometimes without, and usually with peas.

This brown rice from Costco is pre-cooked, making it super easy to heat up and eat. Canned beans are also quick.

I could go on and on with examples, but you really need to figure out quick meals that you enjoy.

Prepare in Advance

The other option that a lot of people avoid is preparing meals in advance. The reason people avoid it is that they haven’t tried preparing meals the easy way.

However, meal prepping makes life so much easier throughout the week because you have healthy food on hand that you can just throw in the microwave for a quick meal.

Make Eating Healthy a Habit

Above all, the easiest way to eat healthy is to make eating healthy a habit.

Once something becomes a habit, you simply do it on autopilot without thinking about it.

Hence, why I say this is the easiest way to eat healthy.

The main reason I rarely eat out during the week these days is that I’ve made a habit of eating healthy meals at home. (I work from home.)

The challenging part is creating the healthy eating habits in the first place.

Actually, that’s not true. The most challenging part is making the commitment to changing your habits.

Doing so is simple when you follow a proven system for habit change.

The problem is most people don’t actually want to change.

They want to feel like they’re going to change, but they don’t want to actually do it.

Once you make the commitment, and you’re willing to put in the work, the rest is just minor details.

Remember, habits can make our lives easier or more difficult.

We have the ability to choose our habits, and you can simply make the choice to create useful habits.

Or you can choose the eating habits you’ve always chosen and keep getting the same results.

I’m ready to make eating healthy a habit are you ready to start eating healthy?