I Just Don't Have Time!

Lack of time is probably the most-used excuse for not eating healthy.  I know, I used it – A LOT.  But now I know that it really is no excuse.  You DO have time!  Everyone has time to be healthy.  If someone told you that living a healthy lifestyle would actually add hours to your day, would you try it then?  Because it WILL add hours to your day.  Spend a couple extra hours a week preparing clean, healthy meals; or spend days on end sick, not able to get out of bed, feeling run down, tired.  Which of these options sounds more appealing to you?  I don’t want to sound harsh, but it’s the truth – “I don’t have time” is simply not true.

Yesterday, I:

got out of bed (that was actually a pretty amazing feat after the tiny bit of sleep I’ve had the past few nights);

got myself and both kids ready for work / school - this included packing my daughter’s healthy, clean lunch;

took kids to school;

worked a half day at my paying job;

exercised at home and took the dog for a 2-ish mile walk (I usually have a one-hour personal training session on Wednesday mornings, but my trainer had other obligations);

published a new blog post and created a FB page;

made Teriyaki chicken, Asian quinoa, and roasted asparagus for dinner (everything from scratch, no pre-made sauces here);

picked my daughter up from school and took her with me to Target (to let her pick out Valentine’s shirts for her and her brother – NOT a quick trip) and the grocery;

picked my son up from daycare, brought kids home, and heated up and plated dinner;

ate with the kids;

sorted ALL of the laundry (my 16-month-old son helped, so it took about eight times longer than it should have);

got kids ready for and into bed (my husband did take care of my daughter’s bath while I was putting the boy to bed);

prepped everything for tomorrow night’s dinner;

loaded and ran dishwasher;

addressed birthday party invitations;

and did three loads of laundry.

And Wednesdays are my easy days!  I don’t go into the office for work on Wednesdays, so that is the day I usually set aside for a dinner that will take some time to prep.  So yesterday, I made marinade in the morning and added the chicken.  I cooked the chicken and quinoa during my work lunch break, chopping veggies, etc, for the quinoa while it was cooking.  Then I popped the asparagus into the oven as soon as I got home with the kids, while I was reheating and plating the other food.  And after the kids went to bed, I sliced the leftover chicken and chopped veggies for tonight’s dinner (Teriyaki chicken wraps).  (Thursdays are a little busier, as I go into the office for work and my daughter has karate after school, so Thursday night dinners need to be ready to simply toss in a pan and re-heat.)

Yes it would have been easier to pop some frozen preservative-laden pre-made dinner into the microwave, but then we all would have felt like poo afterward, the kids would have been grumpy and sluggish, and, well, so would I.  Instead, the kids ate well, went downstairs to play with Daddy while I packed away leftovers, then I was able to join them for a bit before bedtime routines started.  Would I have rather spent that time sitting on the couch watching tv?  A year ago, I would have said “yes.”  But now, my answer to that question is “absolutely not!” 

My point of all this is that, even with my busy schedule, I do have time to prepare healthy food for my family.  I make time.  It’s important enough to me.  I stay up a little later some nights than I may like, but I have so much more energy than I did when we frequented takeout places and frozen dinners.  So for me, now, there really are more hours in my day, as I am much more productive during my waking hours.  And you can be too…

Disclaimer: There are weeks that something unplanned happens – sick kids, fires to put out at work, etc.  I plan my weeks with no expectation of help from my husband.  Although he now, finally, supports my wanting to prep everything from scratch, he still likes his personal down time every day.  He is gone every Tuesday night and Sundays from lunch time until dinner time.  (That is his Winter cycling schedule; in the Fall, Spring, and Summer, he’s also gone on Thursday nights and half of Saturday.)  The nights he is home, he disappears to the play room to play video games alone.  So the nights he does help with baths or dishes, I use that time to have my own personal down time – catch up on tv shows, read, or just go to bed early.  But those weeks that are just too overwhelming and I really just have too many things going on, I add a night of takeout.  There are a few places I rely on for healthy takeout that is mostly clean.  I’m working with a couple of those places now to gather ingredient listings, etc, to share with you so that you, too, will know the most healthy pre-made options.