The majority of
the time I am what you would call your classic girl on the go. I work full time
3 towns over so during the day I’m either on the road or in the office and in
the evenings/weekends I have a house to keep in order, a gym that feeds my
addiction and a scatty puppy distracting me at her every chance. My standard Monday
to Friday runs from 5am to 10pm I pretty much don’t stop.
The only problem
with living life this way is that sometimes I struggle finding the time to eat.
When I forget to eat I lose my energy, drop under my target maintain weight, my
skin goes dull and my body crashes meaning I become vulnerable to every sick
bug going.
Lately I have been
working really hard to ensure that I am taking the time to refuel my body with
at least 3 stable meals a day and healthy snacks in between.
This means being
organised and ahead of the game. It takes more dedication than going to the gym
for me. I make my lunches in batches of 2/3 days, ensure my drawers are full of
snacks such as nuts, fruit, bags of oats and quick save lunches in case I
forget mine, a tin of mackerel, some brown rice, a tin of soup. Anything is
better than skipping the meal entirely. I now also set alarms on my iphone to remind me to eat at lunch time and an hour before I leave work if I am planning
on heading straight to the gym from work. More often than not the reason I
forget to eat lunch is because I am either totally zoned out into a project at
work or I’m running errands that I don’t have time to do in the evenings or at
the weekend.
Here are my top 5
go to lunch meals during the week:
- Baked sweet potatoes: wrap 3 sweet potatoes in foil, bang them in the oven at 180c for 1 hour and that’s it, done. (This does 3 lunches) I then heat them up at work for 3 minutes in the microwave and have them with either leftover chilli from the night before or tuna, beans, prawns, pretty much anything you would have with a normal jacket really. Sweet potatoes are packed with mood lifting vitamins, iron and magnesium.
- Wholegrain wraps with homemade hummus and sliced vegetables: for the hummus blend together 1 x 400g can of chickpeas, 2 tsps. on tahini, 1 clove of crushed garlic (or a tbsp. of puree) 1 tsp crushed sea salt, 3 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil, 2 tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice and I like to add a little Paprika in there too. This makes me around 3 small snack pots that will last 3 days in the fridge providing I’m not greedy… spread generously on your wholegrain wrap, add in sliced carrot, peppers and cucumber, wrap and demolish. The chickpea’s in this are full of protein but you could get an even bigger boost by adding some sliced chicken or turkey breast to your wrap.
- Chilli and Lime Prawns with Avocado: in a large mixing bowl whisk together 2 tbsp. of clear honey, 3 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil & 2 tbsp. of freshly squeezed lime juice – I sometimes grate in some rind here too. Add 1 red chilli seeded and finely chopped & a finely diced spring onion. Stir in 350g of fresh cold prawns and stir well before serving with a sliced avocado and baby spinach salad. This meal is great for incorporating your daily essential fats.
- 3 bean & mustard salad: in a large mixing bowl whisk together 2 tbsp. wholegrain mustard, 1 tbsp. clear honey, 4 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil, juice and zest of 1 x lemon. Then add in 90g of steamed green beans, 1 x red onion finely diced, 1 x red pepper cut into slices, 10 x cherry tomatoes halved, 1 x 200g of sweetcorn, 1 x 400g can of cannellini beans rinsed and drained & 1 x 400g can of Borlotti beans rinsed and drained. Give it all a good stir, season with salt, pepper and some chilli flakes and that’s it. This is one of my favourite superfood recipes, you’ve got the good fats in your olive oil, vegetables, protein and fibre from the beans and a ton of flavour.
- Goats cheese & Beetroot salad: on a dinner plate layer 2 large handfuls of baby spinach or rocket, or both.. thin slices of 2 x raw beetroots, 1 carrot grated, 50g x goats cheese crumbled and a generous handful of pistachio nuts. This actually goes really nice with the honey mustard dressing in recipe 4, or some low fat vinaigrette. Beetroots also known for their cancer fighting superpowers are ridiculously high in potassium which helps your body build muscle and proteins.
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