Busy executives and working professionals may feel that they have little time to devote to the essentiality of mindful eating.

With all-day meetings, stringent client commitments, unrealistic deadlines, long office hours, and on-boarding new hires, health and proper diet often takes a backseat.

A sedentary desk job isn’t easy on your mind nor on your body. If you are not particularly cautious about what you eat and when you eat, your body will soon transform into a vulnerable hotspot of life-threatening diseases like diabetes, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure.

The good news is, a little bit of “meal planning” can do wonders for your body – it can transform you into the busiest and healthiest version of yourself. Here are some tips to maintain a healthy weight and shape despite being one of the busiest executives in your office:

Don’t Skip Your Breakfast

Breakfast, which literally means “breaking the fast”, is the most important meal of the day. A recent study has shown that as much as 25% of  people end up skipping breakfast ^[1]. Eating breakfast regularly is a difficult habit to master, especially if you are always racing  with the clock. It’s easier to grab a chocolate muffin than to actually prepare yourself a healthy breakfast. Here are a few reasons why you should have breakfast every morning:

• Breakfast replenishes the glucose content and gives our body the energy it needs for the day ahead

• It helps us feel full, and prevents mindless snacking throughout the day. This aids in our constant struggle to lose weight

Breakfast helps in maintaining healthy blood pressure and prevents the risk of diabetes mellitus. A balanced breakfast diet should ideally be a combination of complex carbohydrates (e.g. cereal, fruits, and vegetables), fibrous foods (e.g. broccoli, black beans, and whole grain cereals), foods rich in protein (e.g. nuts, seeds, yogurt, and eggs), and foods containing healthy fats (e.g. avocados, flax, and coconut).

Rely On Smart Snacking

Snacks are vital components for maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Healthy snacks prevent you from overeating at lunch or dinner, thus maintaining a healthy body weight. A high-carb breakfast keeps the blood sugar level even and prevents insulin resistance; however, it is important that you choose nutritious and healthy snacks, and avoid packaged and processed foods. Processed foods are high in preservatives and artificial ingredients. They contain phosphates which are detrimental to your organs and bones. Aerated sodas are loaded with sugar which is simply not great for your health. It triggers weight gain and premature aging process. Sugar affects the brain in a unique way, which is a stepping stone for obesity. Sugar is converted to glucose in our body, which causes glycation. It makes our skin vulnerable to skin diseases, sagging, and damage.

Almonds, cashews, fruits like apples and banana, salads, and kale chips are ideal for snacks. These options are nutritious, tasty, and contain essential vitamins and minerals.

Stay Away From Packaged And Processed Foods

A burger or pizza seems to be a time-saving and tastier option than a fruit salad. In a world where we race against time, chopping all the fruits, mixing them, adding flavors and dry fruits certainly seems to be a tedious process. It’s more convenient to munch on a pack of potato chips while hitting the keys at the computer table. Packaged foods are loaded with excess sugar, sodium, colors, and preservatives ^[3]. These are extremely unhealthy for our bodies as they “clog” our system and add unwanted “empty” calories, and are designed to make you overeat. They are loaded with High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) or similar alternatives which simply add to weight increase if you are not moving to use this excess energy up! Excess sodium in these foods is harmful for your kidneys. It leads to high blood pressure and cardio diseases. Stay away from these!

Prepare Meals In Advance

Take time during the weekend to prepare your meals for the next week. It’s good for your health and equally good for your wallet. It is extremely helpful in losing weight as it helps in controlling excess calories; after all, you know exactly what is in your food. Prepare the proteins (fish, chicken) and the vegetables (broccoli, beans, peas, cauliflower), and put them in a plastic container that can be refrigerated. It saves you valuable time and money.

Stay Hydrated

It goes without saying that water is vital for your system. Carry a large bottle with you and ensure that you refill at least three to four times throughout the day.

• Water boosts energy levels and improves concentration.

• It keeps the tissues moist and lubricates the more sensitive parts of your body like the joints and the spinal cord.

• Water is essential for efficiently removing waste from your body in the form of urination and perspiration.

• It aids in digestion and is vital for dissolving soluble fibers.

Try to have family dinners three to four nights per week. It is important to maintain a healthy work life and family life balance, and it also helps to balance your physical health. Food prepared outside of home can be substantially higher in calories compared with homecooked food.

A full-time job when you have a young family is never easy, and on top of that, if you have toddlers at home there’s an even more difficult job waiting for you once you return. Family meal planning is essential, especially if you are busy and pressed for time. Some quick and healthy options for a tasty and nutritious family meal are pasta with broccoli, peas and cheese, pan-fried fish, vegetable or fruit salads, and vegetable fried rice.

“Too busy” is a myth. People can find time for what is important – and nothing is more important than your health and waistline.

If you’re a busy person and can’t find time to visit a nutritionist, then why not use our ExecFuel™ program? With 24/7 access at your own pace, and over 20 videos showing you step-by-step proven methods to get healthy and maintain it, it’s worth the investment in yourself! Visit www.execfuel.net for more details.