In the hustle and bustle of life, it is hard to find the time to cook something healthy.  If you have to leave early in the morning and you are coming back late, you won’t be quite motivated to begin whipping up some healthy stuff the moment you enter the house, right? But eating right and eating at the right times are extremely important things which can help you feel great and be energetic. The gut has another ‘brain’ of its own! The amount of neurons and receptors is high enough to give it a ‘feeling’ of its own. This feeling can be made nice and happy by putting healthy foods in your stomach.

Time is short and there isn’t much scope for cooking and other kitchen work so let us help you start small with a few inspirations:

 

Quick-fix meals via microwave:

The microwave presents ore opportunities to cook healthy meals quickly rather than just being a tool to heat up frozen meals. Be it a quick quiche, a mug cake or cinnamon breakfast quinoa – the microwave can be your go-to for any proper yet healthy meal. Eat the right food while spending lesser time cooking it.

 

3 ingredient meals:

It may sound a little strange but 3 ingredient meals can be high on nutrition as well as great for your tight schedule which allows little time to prep extensive meals. Ample ideas are available on the internet for your quick and easy meals.

 

Iron fuel-up:

We seldom pay any attention to the importance of minerals but the lack of them can produce severe symptoms of deficiency. One such mineral is iron which when deficient causes depressive symptoms and also fatigue. Iron also improves muscular strength and can improve the quality of your day. munch on oatmeal, lentils, spinach and lean meats.

 

Soups and stews to the rescue

Soups can be great comfort foods and also can be dense in nutrients without loading you up on excess carbs or fats. Make a batch for the week and store in freezer and you can thaw as required. The healthy soups can be made in variety and stored for emergency food situations! Microwave comes to the rescue here as well!

 

Smoothie shortcut

Dump all the dry, non-liquid ingredients in a Ziploc bag and stash in the fridge. When you want a smoothie you can simply unzip and pour milk or water and blend in the blender for instant, no-think smoothie which is great for health and tastes great too. Instead of sugar use dates or banana and make it even more healthy! Don’t forget to put spinach in, for the extra iron boost.

 

Caffeine dose for the day

People might look down upon when you are at the 5th cup of coffee for the day, and it is even not advisable to go for so much coffee for its high caffeine content but a little coffee revs up the metabolism and helps you feel more energetic and alert. Keep ground coffee or a portable manual grinder and enjoy your cup anytime of the day right at your work desk.

 

Don’t do everything yourself

You don’t have to go at it alone. If family doesn’t or can’t help, or you live alone, why not take assistance from apps and home delivery services that can provide your groceries at your doorstep? Maybe you can hire some help when you prep weekly meals? A slight investment now can help you get started on a healthier lifestyle.

 

Prep weekday meals on weekends

Make and store as much food you can when you get your weekly off so that there is less chaos on a weekday when you are trying to get everything on time. Chop veggies, prep them, make smoothie bags, precook your quinoa and meat and rice and just keep the assembly pending for the particular weekday. Store in separate labeled containers and if school going kids are there in your household, have weekday wise, kid wise boxes ready and stored in the fridge to make things easier later.

 

Less snacking, more meal

Snacking can easily lead to overeating, gaining weight and feeling lethargic. Too much snacking can even be bad for your sugar and electrolyte levels. There is lower satiety despite a lot of food. Instead, limit the snack time to 2 or 3 times a day and have 3 square meals at any rate, a cup or two of tea or coffee thrown into the mix for a fulfilling, nutritionally sensible meal plan for the day.

 

Mindful eating

Eating with your focus elsewhere confuses the brain as it is engaged in two activities and hence digestion becomes improper and hormone levels also fluctuate. You eat well but you don’t get the benefit of you don’t eat with your mind focused on the food. For those 5 minutes, turn off the computer and understand what you are eating. Pay the food respect and it will respect your body.

 

Use a slow cooker

Just dump the ingredients into the pot, set timer and leave! A healthy dinner will be ready when you reach back home and it will even stay warm, thanks to this wonderful invention called the slow cooker which takes the number of hours you would want it to take to cook anything. Some can even be controlled via smartphone-based controls – so that there is more involvement with the cooking process even when you are not near it.