How to Find Balance With a Busy Lifestyle

Incredible smells, from the Plumeria in Lakes Park, Fort Myers, Florida, on May 1, 2023. Photo Courtesy of Charly Caldwell II.

For those of us with busy and active lifestyles, it can be a real challenge to keep the body sufficiently fueled day after day.

Between work, working out and the rest of life, we can end up eating on the run more than we would like to.

Cue food preparation.

You’ve probably heard or read that you increase your chances of eating poorly if you are caught out without food and that advance meal prepping is absolutely the answer.

But not everyone wants to spend their Sunday afternoons chopping onions, weighing out chicken and adding just enough cheese to keep the food calculator happy.

For many, especially those who have only recently embarked on a training program, food prepping can be a source of stress.

Even the most hardcore food preppers would be pushed to admit they could do it forever.

Life eventually gets in the way.

Finding balance in our choices is key to good physical, social and mental health.

Food is fuel, but it is also so much more, and having a contingency plan that allows flexibility and choices is the place of balance.

The balance might be that you do an element of planning for your week, while also allowing some room for spontaneity.

Life, as John Lennon sang, is what happens when your busy making other plans.

A childcare crisis, traffic holdups, a last-minute dinner invite, unexpected working deadlines – life throws us any number of curveballs. The ability to deal with them and navigate situations as they arise is the key to good health.

Eating on the run happens. Finding balance when eating on the run keeps you healthy and on target for whatever goals you might have.

Understand that you will get hungry and don’t allow yourself to skip meals. Skipping might work for an hour or two, but eventually you’ll need to find some food somewhere.

Have a few go-to places, grocery stores or takeaway spots that are close to places you might get caught out, such as your gym or work site. Know what you can buy from them and stick to your plan when you need to.

When you do cook, make enough for a couple of nights, or one dinner and two lunches. Use them for home and/or for work.

Don’t leave the house without a bottle of water and at least a couple of snacks.

Fruit, yogurt, veggies, and nuts are all easy grab and go items that require no preparation. Keep them in the car or at your desk if that is easy for you. Buy them in bulk so you always have some available.

Life is busy — stay balanced, embrace flexibility and learn to eat well, whenever and wherever.

Angie Ferguson is an exercise physiologist and Tony Robbins Results Coach from Fort Myers. She also is a Corrective Biomechanics Specialist, USA Triathlon Advanced Level 2 coach, USA Cycling coach, has a Specialty in Sports Nutrition certification, and a PhD in results!

Contact her, or find out more about her monthly online program, at: www.GearedUP.biz!