We all know that cooking for yourself is essential to eating healthily. Unfortunately, many of us don’t have the time or energy to undertake the task, and understandably so! Committing ourselves to well-rounded eating habits is difficult, but it’s so worth it. It will not only make you feel better, but it will also end up a lot cheaper than ordering UberEats all the time.
We’re here to help you make healthy eating as easy as possible with these 10 useful tips!
Eat Single Ingredient Snacks
When it comes to snacks, healthy and easy can seem mutually exclusive. Why would you spend 30 minutes making date balls or homemade granola bars when you could just reach for some chips every time? Though there’s nothing wrong with some chips once in a while, it’s just as easy to snack on something nutrient rich like a fruit, nut or veggie. If you want to spice it up a little you could always add a dip, like apples with peanut butter or carrots/cucumber with hummus.
Buy Pre-Prepped Ingredients
Go to any grocery store and you’ll find plenty of pre-cut butternut, courgette noodles and microwaveable quinoa. These will cut down the time it takes for you to cook a wholesome meal and require far less effort to cook.
Use Meal Prep Services
Nowadays there are so many companies that deliver healthy ready made meals right to your door, taking away all of the heavy lifting on your part. All you have to do is pop the frozen meal in the oven or microwave, and voila! You’ve got yourself a delicious and wholesome lunch or dinner. They also offer a range of different packages such as vegan, vegetarian and low-carb. Try services like:
(can also be found at some Pick n Pay branches)
Grocery Shop Buffets
There are so many great healthy options at grocery store food bars that will be much more moderately priced than any takeout or restaurant outing. They offer full meals, but you also have the option to build your own salad with single ingredients or a plate of chicken and rice.
Smarter Takeout
As much as it’s not the best option, takeout is great sometimes! It just all depends on your choices. We’re all about moderation – go for that super indulgent meal if that’s what you’re craving! Just remember that it’s not a good idea to have it all the time. Try to go for veggie based dishes with high quality proteins and fewer condiments. Often less is more not only for your health but for your budget too.
Use Your Freezer
Frozen fruits and veggies can be absolute life savers. They’re faster to prepare and contrary to popular belief are just as nutrient rich as fresh ones. They’re also much cheaper!
Portion Control
It’s easy to settle down on the couch to watch some tv with a whole bag of some or other snack thinking that you’re just going to eat enough to satiate you. However, when we get distracted we tend to just keep on going! Portion absolutely everything, putting as much as you think you need onto a plate or in a bowl so that you don’t go overboard.
Cook With Friends
Healthy eating is way more fun when you make it social. Try to go through the whole process with a friend, from grocery shopping to cooking. This will also allow you to keep each other accountable and buy the right things and only as much as you need. Meal prepping is also a great thing to do with friends and it makes the process go quicker.
Be Realistic About Your Ingredients
You might see all sorts of YouTube videos and healthy eating blogs going on about the benefits of cooking your own beans and legumes from scratch or making your own fermented foods, but you need to think about the likelihood of you actually doing that. We’re going for minimal effort here so that eating healthy is more realistic for you. Also make sure to buy ingredients that you actually like! Sure brussel sprouts are healthy, but if you hate the taste you’re not going to be doing yourself any favours.
Carry Snack On-the-Go
When we allow ourselves to become ravenously hungry, our commitment to eating healthy can go out the window. Carry around a banana, some nuts or a protein bar for those times where you’re out and about and get snackish. If you don’t you’re way more likely to pick up a bag of NikNaks than a packet of dried mango!
Will you be giving any of these a try? Let us know in the comments below!
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I absolutely love these!!
Great tips. I still struggle with portion control though but will surely get there. Thanks, I needed this.
I love this❤️
This is really interesting. Bery helpful tips for winter.
Awesome Tips especially for winter
These are good tips. I changed to a pescatarian diet at the beginning of the pandemic and I have not looked back, I feel healthier and have so much more energy. I also find it is easier to eat better meals when you cook a larger amount once and have enough for a few meals, it makes cooking healthy meals more doable.
Love this and very needed right now 💖
Thank you for these tips
Thank you @Rubybox for this great article.
Thank you for the very insightful article
Pre-cut frozen veg is definitely a lifesaver 👌