Diet Tips for a Workaholic

I work with the state legislature, which means I am super busy for six months every two years. I'm talking 80 to 100+ hour work-weeks. So, when I started getting healthy it was during the break in between; where I had all the free time in the world to plan, shop for, and cook healthy meals. It was a major concern of mine with what I would do once I was going in to the office at 8 a.m. and not being able to leave til as late as 5 a.m. the next morning. Another concern was me being constantly surrounded by free unhealthy food: donuts, Starbucks, breakfast tacos, cookies, sodas, Red Bulls, etc. I think I have done pretty well at having self-control and avoiding eating crappy.

Here are some thoughts/tips:

Eliminate empty calories as much as possible:

This mainly means eliminating sodas, sweetened teas/coffee, and Red Bulls. Go with water and unsweetened tea or coffee. I think it's hard enough if your crazy work schedule forces you to have to eat something that is not entirely healthy and you double-up on calories and sugar cause you wanted a large soda too. So stick with water and unsweetened tea/coffee. It's weird how easy I find myself feeling dehydrated just from sitting behind a desk, but I do, so I am constantly drinking water.

You have to Snack... healthy:

I go to my grocery store at least once a week to pick up just snacks. I grab enough fruit to last me a few days. I try to stay away from bright fruits as much as possible but for the most part it's apples, blueberries, bananas, avocados, and sometimes oranges.

I buy the individual packs of Fage Greek yogurt to throw in a handful of blueberries or sliced bananas. I also sometime buy the ones with the honey included in case I want something sweet. 

My go-to protein snack is tuna, I especially like the Roasted Garlic Starkist Yellowfin tuna. It has more calories than other canned tuna, but it's packed in olive oil, which is a healthy fat. I'll usually add a half of avocado and eat with a a few multi-grain crackers.

The one thing I have that isn't that great is those cubed cheese they sell in the deli section of grocery stores. I do eat these in moderation though. I usually go with the aged white cheddar.

Don't eat because you're bored: 

This one is easy to understand... eat only if you're really hungry!

Sometimes you have to grab something quick and fast:

It's unavoidable sometimes, so at least try to make the smartest decision and get something that is at least mostly healthy. McDonald's is out of the question. If I'm trying to grab something quick, it's usually a turkey or chicken sandwich with spinach instead of lettuce and no mayo or special sauces and baked chips if I want some texture.

"... or perhaps whole meal of food, if that would be agreeable"

In Austin we have plenty of healthy pre-made meal companies such as: My Fit Foods, Mel's Meals, and Snap Kitchen, I prefer to My Fit Foods. All of these places are little pricey, but I figure I'm paying for the convenience of not having to shop, prep, cook, and package meals when I'm completely exhausted. I get about 75% of my main meals from places like this. I know it's not ideal budget-wise, but if I was working anything less than 60 hours a week, I would be preparing my own meals myself.