Tips and Tidbits to Break your Busy Day Bad Habits

Do you find yourself constantly snacking on foods like potato chips? Are you overloading on caffeine to have the energy needed to just make it through the day? Do you find yourself constantly in fast food restaurant drive-thrus? Do you live a busy lifestyle, constantly on the go? These are some bad habits busy people tend to form, but luckily there are some tips that can help to break these habits.

Tip No.1: Be sure to eat a well-balanced breakfast! Starting your day with a good breakfast will give you the energy needed to get through your busy day.  A balanced breakfast includes lean protein, a whole grain, and fresh or canned vegetables. An example of a good breakfast to kick start your day includes oatmeal cooked with low-fat milk, almonds, and blueberries. Yum!

Tip No.2: Cut back on the Caffeine! Trust me, I love my coffee and feel almost lost when I don’t get a fresh cup of Jo in the morning, but coffee can cause you to feel jittery, lose sleep, and even lose energy later in the day. In order to limit your caffeine intake try switching over to decaf, drinking tea, drinking water, and eating small, frequent meals throughout the day to keep consistent energy levels all day long. Also, try limiting yourself to three or less cups of coffee per day to decrease these unwanted side effects listed above.

Tip No.3: Meal Prep is key! A lot of people claim that their busy lifestyle constricts them for time, especially during meal time. This is concerning especially when discussing the preparation of well-balanced meals for the family.  Most families now a days tend to purchase fast foods when busy because they’re cheap and quick meals. Taking time on the weekend to prepare all or most of the meals for the week takes away this problem! Meal prep is a good solution for ensuring your family gets healthy meals when they’re on the go. It’s so easy to bake chicken or steam some vegetables on the weekend while you’re home and then to reheat them for whichever day you’d like during the hectic week.

Tip No.4: Eat at a variety of fruits and veggies for your snack instead of that bag of potato chips. Fruits and veggies add a variety of color and flavor to your diet, not to mention numerous vitamins, minerals and fibers.  They are a perfect snack for busy families, because they take practically no prep time! There are so many different and exotic fruits and veggies you can try to spice up your life, as well. Fresh versions of these food groups are ideal, but if they are not available to you frozen options are just as good.

Source:

http://www.eatright.org/resource/health/weight-loss/your-health-and-your-weight/out-with-the-old-in-with-the-new