Nicky Dear Health Coach

One of the challenges of eating healthily and losing weight, especially during menopause, is managing meals whilst on the go.

I remember when I was traveling every week for work, trying to find healthy options in motorway services or at Airports was not easy. This has improved greatly, with M&S and Waitrose providing some lovely fresh salads, snack pots etc. But there is still huge temptation to choose less-than healthy meals or snacks.

My first piece of advice is to plan ahead whenever possible. If you know you are going to be traveling in the week ahead make sure you spend some time at the weekend prepping food to take with you but also for the evening when you get home, not only will this help you avoid temptation, but will also be a lot cheaper.

If you buy a sandwich and a snack every day it soon adds up and you are unlikely to find anything as healthy as the food you can make yourself.

Make your life as easy as possible by choosing simple meals and snacks rather than trying to bake complicated dishes. Nature provides some great snacking options e.g. Bananas – the ultimate handy snack with their own biodegradable packaging! Nuts are not going to make you hands sticky and provide you with protein, healthy fats and fibre all packed into little bite-sized pieces .

Prep some overnight porridge for your breakfast if you have early starts (you can even take this with you if you don’t have time to eat before you leave home).

For snacks: Weigh out enough portions of 30g of mixed nuts (I like Hazelnuts, Brazil nuts, Walnuts and Almonds) to last the week (1 per day) and place them in some foil, a small zip lock bag or a small container you can pop in you bag to take with you. To make some days different add some salted nuts to the mix and a few Dates chopped up. These plus an Apple or a Banana are all you need for a day of travelling if you also take a healthy lunch.

For lunches: Soups are such a great way to keep you full (and warm in this weather) and get all the nutrients you need! You can use any leftovers you have in soups and I have some great recipes on my website if you need inspiration.

This may not work if you are flying, so you could buy some wholemeal pitta breads (less messy than sandwiches) and prep some fillings you can use throughout the week, over the weekend. Fillings like Tuna with Hummus and salad. Smoked Salmon with a Yoghurt and mint dressing and some cucumber and little gem lettuce. Cooked turkey or chicken mixed with some coronation yoghurt (plain natural yoghurt mixed with some curry powder or paste with a teaspoon of mango chutney for sweetness) and some salad. Or you can simply chop some delicious crunchy veg & fruit to munch on, carrots, cucumber, celery, peppers, grapes, olives, add some beans or chickpeas or some chopped turkey for protein to keep you fuller for longer and take some Hummus or natural yoghurt to eat with it or use as a dip.

Most importantly don’t forget to take your water with you to sip throughout the day. Not drinking enough is something that will make you think you are hungry when actually your body is telling you need to hydrate!

For your evening meals back at home make it simple. Make a tray bake where you just put everything on a baking tray with oil and some seasoning (you can even prep some veg for roasting the evening before or at the weekend to make it even easier)

-Try chopping some red onions, garlic, peppers, sweet potato and or normal potatoes (skin on), mushrooms onto a tray with some olive oil.

-Add a tin of chick peas and a tin of chopped tomatoes, some dried herbs, cumin, coriander, salt and black pepper.

-Place in the oven preheated to 180 degrees for 30 mins.

-You could place some salmon steaks on top for another 15 mins or cook the whole thing with some skin on chicken thighs but cook for an extra 20 mins.

Slow cooker meals are also a great way to have a meal ready when you get home if you have time to prep in the morning and leave it simmering away whilst you are out. Nothing better than coming home to the smell of a lovely casserole!

Make sure you have some ingredients in the cupboard or freezer for ‘fall back meals’ to have on the days when things don’t quite go to plan. This will avoid the temptation to “just get a takeaway”. Batch-cooking meals for the freezer is a great way to do this and many of the recipes on my website lend themselves for this and there is plenty inspiration on line for ideas.

But another good idea is to have some ‘store cupboard’ ingredients such as: chickpeas, beaked beans (to have with a jacket potato and some salad), grain packs which can be microwaved in 2 mins and added to a tin of Tuna or Mackerel in spicy tomato sauce and maybe a pouch of lentils, some peas or sweetcorn. Ready-to-cook noodles which can be used in stir-fries with some frozen stir-fry vegetables are all great things to have at your fingertips (but don’t be tempted to use jarred sauces, they are often full of sugar, just some soy sauce, garlic, ginger, and some spices will be just as nice.)

You will feel so proud of yourself when you don’t resort to ordering a takeaway and instead make yourself a healthy, tasty meal in a few minutes.

I’d love to hear your ideas for healthy eating on the go! send me your favourites in the comments.

Get in touch :

Email	Phone	Find out more about me
Nicky@nickydearhealthcoach.com	07407281148	nickydearhealthcoach.com