It’s natural to make sacrifices as a mom and entrepreneur. A full-on life and a packed schedule mean you don’t get to experience as much leisure time as others do. Sometimes habits fall by the wayside, as you claim you’re “too busy.” While you may want to eat healthy, you may also feel that you don’t have time to cook regular meals from scratch.
That’s why it’s not uncommon for mompreneurs to neglect healthy eating habits. Unhealthy choices are everywhere and tend to be quicker and more convenient than healthy ones. It’s all too easy to explain away a poor diet as a necessity of your busy lifestyle.
This does not have to be the case, though. It’s possible to maintain a healthy diet without sacrificing productivity. Doing so will have hugely positive effects, giving you the energy and focus you need to get through those busy days.
Here’s how to eat healthy and stay on top of your nutrition on an entrepreneur’s schedule.
Eat a healthy breakfast
The first negative choice we make is to skip breakfast. An early start (whether you’re dashing off to work or running the kids to school) means you head out the door without eating anything, putting you on the back foot right from the start of your day.
A busy schedule requires a lot of energy, and you get that energy from food. When you start the day without eating, you start a chain reaction where you start off in a low energy state, and this state causes you to make poor dietary decisions for the rest of the day.
You don’t need to sit down for a full-cooked breakfast, but make a conscious effort to have something small, such as some fruit or a liquid breakfast.
Healthy protein shakes
Smoothies and shakes are one of the best ways to meet your nutritional needs on a tight schedule.
A healthy protein shake like Naked Shake gives you a way to catch up on some of the nutrients and macros you’re missing when you have little time for regular meals. Twenty grams of protein helps you meet your daily protein needs, and you don’t compromise on the quality of ingredients as you would from a juice bar.
Best of all, a protein shake takes just a couple of minutes to prepare, so you can easily fit it in on the go. It can be a great replacement for those who usually don’t have the time for a sit-down breakfast or lunch.
Plan your meals ahead of time
If you wait until you’re hungry to choose what to eat, more often than not you’ll succumb to convenience and cravings. To eat healthy, plan what you’re going to make for major meals as much as possible. This not only avoids indecision about what to eat at dinner time, it also saves you money on your grocery shopping and ensures you have the food you want to eat in the fridge or cupboard.
Planning meals every day, or even in advance for the week, drastically cuts down the time spent deciding what to eat, helping you fit meals in with your schedule. I like to sit down on Sunday or Monday and figure out my menu plan for the week, then place my online grocery order.
Better yet, prepare your meals ahead of time, so there’s no excuse for abandoning the plan to save time. You’ll always have your next meal right there, ready to go.
Stay hydrated
No matter how busy you are, you’re not so busy that you can’t drink water. And while we often don’t think of water as a vital part of a healthy diet, hydration is as important, if not more, to maintain day-to-day health.
Even if you have to skip some meals and sacrifice here or there, make sure you keep drinking water. Keep a water bottle with you throughout the day, or track your water intake goals, to ensure you stay hydrated and healthy.
Keep healthy snacks close by
Snacks are the go-to weapon for a busy entrepreneur, with no time for regular meal breaks.
If this is you, make sure you are snacking on something healthy. Use convenience to your advantage, by making a healthy snack the path of least resistance. Keep within arm’s reach a supply of healthy snacks like nuts, fresh fruit, greek yogurt, or healthy snack bars, and you’ll find you make fewer poor choices with your daily nutrition.
Invest in a slow cooker
With a packed schedule from dusk until dawn, the last thing you want to do is come home and wait hours for your dinner to be cooked.
For this reason, slow cookers and Instant Pots are gold for busy entrepreneurs. You can let a nutritious meal sit and cook for the whole day while you’re hard on the grind, and come home to eat straight away. If we have a busy afternoon planned, then I like to throw a meal into the slow cooker first thing in the morning.
A hot, healthy meal ready to eat as soon as you walk in the door will reduce most, if not all of your poor decisions made due to hunger and exhaustion.
Learn a few simple, healthy meals
You’ll find most of the time wasted surrounding meals is on preparation—and agonizing about preparation. This is easily solved by a few simple, healthy recipes you can go to when time is tight.
You don’t need to spend hours on prep to eat healthy. In fact, more often than not, a simple meal with just a few ingredients is more nutritious – particularly more so than eating out.
One-pot meals are great for this. Just add a source of protein, carbs, and vegetables in a pot or frying pan and let it cook. Even better, you can usually cook several servings’ worth at once, and have your meals sorted for a few days in advance.
For breakfast or lunch, stick with something simple and clean. Healthy sandwiches, fresh fruit, sugar-free yogurts, and oats are just a few meal choices that are nutritious and take very little time and energy to prepare.
Final thoughts to help you eat healthy
It’s far too common for busy people to sacrifice nutrition in the interest of productivity. In reality, this is counterproductive. A poor diet gives you less energy throughout the day, which you badly need to complete a hectic schedule.
The result is lower productivity, which creates the illusion of a busier schedule, which leads you to sacrifice healthy eating even more.
Stay on top of your nutrition and you’ll get more done, without fail. Healthy snacks, staying hydrated, natural protein shakes, and simple one-pot meals are just a few ways you can meet both your nutritional and productivity goals.
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