Do you ever think ‘I want to eat healthier, but I just don’t have time’? If only you had more hours in the day, right?

Do you relate to these common obstacles?

  • It’s a rush in the morning, so I skip breakfast or just have a coffee.
  • I’m so busy in the week that come weekend, I don’t have any energy to plan meals or shop.
  • I finish work late, so the last thing I want to do is battle with a new recipe with 20 different ingredients.
  • It’s all too hard to eat healthy – frozen pizza it is.

Sound familiar? Well you are not alone. We are all living in a time poor society where deadlines were due yesterday and finding spare time can be difficult.

How to solve all these common obstacles? 

The truth is, you’re not going to achieve your health goals overnight. I understand the frustration of wanting to be healthy right now. But the simple matter is, you will become healthy overtime – just start with baby steps. Don’t add extra pressure on yourself by wanting to change everything all at once, just to then get frustrated if you cannot maintain ALL the changes.

My advice: try starting off with one goal (yep, just one) – for example, eating breakfast everyday. Try this for a couple of weeks and when you have mastered this goal, move onto the next. By starting off with one small goal at a time, you are setting yourself up for success! Small goals are more manageable than multiple goals, especially if you are ‘time poor’.

Handy tips and tricks to overcoming your obstacles:

Common Obstacle 1:  I’m always rushing in the morning, so I skip breakfast.

Or just drink coffee and go. You’re rushing in the morning to get the kids up, fed and to school by 8:00am and then off to work by 8:30am. Or you slept through your alarm and you have to race out the door to make the 9:00am lecture and more importantly get a car park! Sound familiar? The morning rush is such a common obstacle for many people!

There is no surprise to hear breakfast is ‘the most important meal of the day’. Research has shown benefits of regular breakfasts to include: improved energy levels, improved metabolism, boosts fibre and calcium intake, stabilises blood sugar levels, improved memory and concentration.

Solutions to this obstacle:

Don’t feel that you need to have a different breakfast everyday (but if you like to, then that is completely okay). Find a breakfast that you enjoy and stick with it – that way, you don’t have to think about ‘what to have for breakfast’. Some 2 minute breakfast ideas include:

  1. Peanut Butter and Banana Wholegrain Toast. Spread, chop and toast – simple as that!
  2. Banana and Berry Smoothie. Throw into the blender and done! If you’re feeling extra prepared, add a banana and a handful of berries in snap lock bags and place in the freezer ready to go for your next few mornings.
  3. Oats, Berries and Chia Seeds. Microwave the oats with some milk and throw berries and chia seeds on top.
  4. Toasted Basil Breakfast Sandwich – Roughly slice ingredients and sandwich press until cheese melted. If you’re feeling extra prepared, pre-make 2-3 sandwiches and freeze.

Common Obstacle 2: I’m so busy in the week that come weekend, I don’t have any energy to plan meals or shop.

Everyone can relate to this at some point. You had a busy working week and all you can think about is sleeping all weekend and never getting out of bed. The thought of meal planning or shopping, well lets face it, keeps getting put back to the end of the list of things to do.

Solutions to this obstacle:

There is a misconception that meal planning takes hours and hours. Well yes it can – but it doesn’t need to! My advice is to find a strategy that works for you. One that makes meal planning not only efficient but also effective.

This may include:

  1. Take advantage of online grocery shopping. In your lunch break or even as you are watching T.V at home, quickly jump onto the website and do your shop. Not only can you get it delivered to your door step, it might even prevent you from buying those pesky chocolates that always seem to be on sale at the checkout. Utilise these services to help you to shop in a more efficient way.
  2. Quickly jot down the recipes and allocate days on a piece of paper and store in your cupboard. This will help you to start to collect a couple of weeks worth of meal planning!
  3. Start the meal planning process by allocating your families favourite recipes to a day.

For the remaining days, here are some quick and easy recipes:

Common Obstacle 3: I finish work late, so the last thing I want to do is battle with a new recipe with 20 ingredients.

Accompanying a new recipe that you have never tried before on a busy night can be hard. New recipes can definitely be a challenge. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try something new! Some of the best discoveries in food science arose from dozens of failed taste-test experiments. Really, what is the worst that is going to happen? You burn the risotto and end up having scrambled eggs on toast? So what.  You had a go, unfortunately this time it didn’t turn out the way you planned, but at least you had a quick protein-filled meal.

Solutions to this obstacle:

Keep it simple. Don’t let the amazing (time-consuming and complicated) recipes from this week’s Masterchef question your kitchen skills. Start learning how to cook new recipes by keeping it simple.

Here are some simple and quick meal ideas:

Common Obstacle 4: It’s all too hard to eat healthy – frozen pizza it is.

At some point in time, we have all felt that frustration of being time poor, and in order to save time and effort we have been through Macca’s drive-thru on the way home. The reality being – eating healthy and making time to plan to eat healthy, isn’t of high enough priority. But when you think about it, it really does need to be up there in the priority list. We need food to survive. We need food as fuel. Food can also influence how we are feeling – happy, frustrated or ‘blah’. Bluntly speaking, food is important!

Solutions to this obstacle:

  1. Share the load. Ask for help from your partner, husband or roommate. Share the responsibility of cooking, shopping and meal planning – make it a team effort!
  2. Take advantage of what is available: buy lettuce that is pre-washed, or vegetables that are pre-cut. If that helps you to eat more healthy than do it!
  3. Set yourself some goals for the week – allocate yourself some healthy eating goals and prioritise them!

If you’d like further help with your nutrition please click below:

ONGOING NUTRITION SUPPORT