Hi everyone! I’m Shannon, author of A Busy Girl’s Guide to Happy Eating and I KNOW it can be challenging to eat healthy when you’re short on time. And if you’re a busy person, you’re most likely short on time… all of the time.
It is easy to question the importance of meal planning when you’re only prepping for one. However, the answer is simple. You want healthy meals and snacks to grab when you’re busy. If delicious, homemade and healthy food is available for you, you’re going to eat it.
When I started working my first real job, it wasn’t uncommon for me to work 80 hours a week. I quickly became very stressed and unhappy. I learned the importance of prepping meals for myself and found lots of tips and tricks along the way. I used these tips and tricks in my new ebook, A Busy Girl’s Guide to Happy Eating. Today I’m sharing some of my secrets with you!
Below you’ll find 3 of my favorite tips for a single person. These will set you up for a successful week of eating clean foods. Yes, you’ll have to take a couple hours out of your weekend to go grocery shopping and prep. The more you do it, the faster and more efficient you will become. You’ll also find that you’ll be less stressed during the week and feel great because you’re fueling yourself with good food.
1. Prep Full Meals
Instead of prepping components like cooking plain chicken, cutting up vegetables and baking potatoes, make complete dishes. This takes out all the guesswork when you’re tired, hungry and feeling uninspired. You can roast the chicken, vegetables and potatoes together with rosemary and olive oil for an easy dish that can be eaten as is or thrown over a vegetable salad.
2. Stick To 2-3 Meals
If you’re someone who doesn’t need a ton of variety, perfect. Then there’s no need to eat something different every single day of the week. This will cut down on leftovers. If these 2-3 meals you choose make several portions than you can eat in a week just freeze what you can for another busy week. Doing this will help you get a head and give yourself a little break in an upcoming week.
3. Keep A List
Keep an on-going list of your favorite meals that worked well for busy work weeks. This way you won’t get caught in a rut of making the same things or have to put too much time into figuring out what you want to make. This will make your shopping and prepping time quicker too!
Being busy IS an excuse, but there’s no reason why it needs to keep you from eating healthy. Use these simple tips and you’ll have people wondering how you do it.
If all this still seems undoable for you, be sure to check out my ebook, A Busy Girl’s Guide to Happy Eating. It’s a step-by-step, 6-week guide filled with menus, shopping lists and prep instructions. And because there’s more to happy eating besides food, you’ll also get a daily self-care activity.
Happy food prep and meal planning!
