Eating Healthy On The Go – Derek

While going through food journals one of the comments I make most is “add a meal/snack here”. Many people are busy and find it hard to get a solid meal or snack in every 3-4 hours. Many more are used to the unhealthy but common American practice of eating one or two meals a day.

Eating at regular intervals is important for everyone’s fitness goals. It keeps your metabolism and energy high, prevents peaks and valleys in your energy, mood, etc during the day, and gives your body a steady stream of nutrients for optimum health and so you don’t wind up binge eating from being so hungry all day.

So one might ask me, “Derek, how can I maintain that kind of eating schedule when I’m busy managing a coffee shop (working) all day?” The answer is to plan ahead. Convenient healthy foods are not the oxymoron they seem to be. A bag of raw nuts is extremely filling and portable. The same goes for many varieties of fruit. At work the only snacks I bring are apples, oranges, grapefruits, or peaches. Some very portable vegetables are baby carrots, celery, sliced bell peppers, broccoli, or cauliflower. These all can be kept somewhere at room temperature and eaten quickly whenever there is a spare moment. To mix it up you can even bring a jar of peanut butter for dipping, just make sure it’s all natural.

A last resort for sticking to a regular eating schedule is packaged food, eek. I mentioned in several previous posts and I’ll say it again: processed foods are not healthy and should be avoided. That said, I do keep Clif Bars on hand at home for when we run out of the snacks I’ve listed above. They are processed, but they are also vegan and contain mostly organic ingredients, making them the best bar choice I’ve found.

While all of the above foods are great when you just can’t get to anything else, be sure not to replace your ‘real meals’ with them. That is, make sure you get plenty of beans and greens.