BREAKFAST
At Home
- If you eat bacon or sausage, try balancing it with
yogurt, cottage cheese, skim milk, or a smoothie.
- Have your breakfast foods arranged in the refrigerator
or freezer in one place to save time in the morning.
*Make a list of favorite breakfasts and keep the ingredients,
e.g. fruit for smoothies, permanently on your grocery
list.
On the Go
- It's better to eat fast food than to fast in the morning.
- Airlines are cutting back on serving meals. If you
have an early morning flight, pack a bunch of bananas,
bottles of water (sugary juice drinks dehydrate you
in flight), no-sugar organic juice, and breakfast pastries.
- Keep breakfast bars and fresh fruit in a plastic bag
in your briefcase or kids' diaper bags.
- If your children can't eat breakfast at home, send
fruit and breakfast bars with them for the bus ride.
Have dehydrated fruit ready if you can't buy fresh.
LUNCH
On the Go
- Again, it's better to eat fast food than to fast,
but don't overdo.
- Eating a large lunch tends to make you drowsy. If
possible, eat several small meals during the day: fruit
cups, sandwiches, salads, carrot and celery sticks,
dehydrated/dried foods, and nuts.
- Pack your favorite salad or sandwich for the plane
in case your airline has cut back.
- Pre-pack school lunches for your kids, and consider
brown bagging it yourself. That way, you'll save time
in the morning and at lunch. *Check out the cafeteria
menus at your kids' schools, and talk about the food.
Strategize ways that the kids can eat foods that will
make them concentrate better in class.
At Home
- If you have small children or if the kids come home
at lunch time, have lunches planned one or two days
ahead. If you work at home, take a break from the computer
and phone to bond with your kids. If the weather is
sunny, you might even make a picnic out of it.
- Don't skip lunch because of housecleaning or home
office work, or, since this is the season, taxes. The
1099s, mops and computers will still be there a half-hour
from now.
DINNER
At Home
- Try for a regular dinnertime. Try to schedule it in
the middle of your kids' homework so that they have
more fuel for their brains.
- If you can't have a regular dinner time, but are home
for dinner, try the several small meals throughout the
day strategy. You're better off that way than eating
half a pizza at 8 p.m.
- Keep a list of your (and your family's) favorite meals.
Get involved in cooking if you're not a cook by nature,
especially if you're single or widowed. (It's easy to
neglect yourself when you're alone.) Make a list of
five easy meals you love. Ask your kids and spouse to
chop vegetables, etc.
- Arrange to share dinner, a potluck or barbecue, with
friends and family, or a neighbor who is alone.
On The Go
- The advice about meals in the air for breakfast and
lunch applies.
- Try not to drink too much alcohol, since you can become
dehydrated more easily and crave a second or third glass
of wine.
- When eating at work functions or social events, you're
generally restricted as to what you can eat. If there
is a buffet, opt for greens, vegetables, and plenty
of protein. Remember, your boss or client are not grading
you on how much you eat-unless, of course, you're a
food critic or in the food service industry.
- If you must eat late, limit the alcohol and try to
do some moderate exercise before bed. Consider taking
a short walk. You'll sleep better and be more fit.
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