How to Be Lazy and Stay Thin

I hate to admit this, but I can be very lazy when it comes to some things. In most areas of my life, I am super motivated. I’ll stay up until 1 am writing a blog post or surfing the web to find the perfect matching furniture for my office (I am slightly obsessed with matching  – see pics). But when it comes to food shopping or cooking –  I am LAZY!  It may sound strange to hear this from a nutritionist, but it’s true! I think it’s because I am so tired at the end of the day, the last thing I want to do is wash/slice/dice/cook or wait in long supermarket lines. I know that many of you are the same way.  But it doesn’t have to be a bad thing. You just need to find a way to make it work for you like I did. Being the “realistic” nutritionist that I am, I am here to problem solve how to stay lean if you too tired to cook/lazy to cook. 

We all know what it’s like to get home from a long day at work and have no interest in cooking. We either skip eating a real dinner and graze all night (which probably has more calories than eating a real dinner) OR we dial for dinner … and probably not the healthiest choices. Too many take out dinners can pack on the pounds. But you can change this!

Identify your problem areas
First, figure out what your specific problems are with regards to eating healthy with a busy schedule. These are mine:

– Do not want to clean/slice/dice at night   (well maybe I could wash something, but no major prep work. I almost had a nervous breakdown when I ordered Blue Apron. More on that at another post)

– Don’t want to wait more than 5 -7 minutes for something to cook because it’s usually very late and I’m hungry

 – When it comes to buying food, I don’t want to walk more than 3 blocks out of my way after getting out of work at night. Yup – I’ve been known to shop at Duane Reade

– Do not want to bring lunch to work. Too much work

– Will probably forget to bring healthy snacks to work

– I sit for extended periods at work (this has nothing to do with cooking, but it still affects your weight/health

– May order out not-so-healthy take out at night if there is no food in my apartment

Come up with some solutions
Once you’ve created your list of specific problem areas, come up with some solutions.

Here are mine:

#1. I investigated my food options on my direct route home from work. For me, this was key as I didn’t to go out of my way to shop at night. A priority for me is to eat more vegetables at night as they are healthy and low in calories – so I can eat huge portions! I checked out several places and here is what I found:

– Grace’s Market recently moved 1 block away from my apartment and it’s on my way home from work. I found these Zucchini Spirals that I love. They already cleaned and spiraled!  All I have to do is sauté them in a little olive oil, add some grated cheese and I have a huge plate of food that is filling and healthy. Total time to prepare/cook: 4 minutes  Note: I have a vegetable spiralizer that I rarely use because it is too much effort. I store it in my dishwasher. See pic
  – I checked out Gourmet Garage. It’s on my way home from the gym so I don’t have to go out of the way. I found a few good products. I am obsessed with Brussels sprouts but they take too long to roast at night. Gourmet Garage has shaved Brussel Sprouts.  When they are shaved, I don’t have to slice/dice. Again, add a little olive oil and lemon and they cook up nice and brown like roasted Brussels. Cooking time: 4 minutes.  Gourmet Garage also has premade meals that have either grilled chicken or salmon, a vegetable and a small portion of starch like quinoa. Heats up 5 minutes or less in the microwave (see pic above). The grilled salmon, kale and wheatberries is my favorite. 

#2. Pick up healthy snacks on my way into the office. On my way to work, I pass a produce vendor (well, maybe not in snowstorms) and newspaper stand.  I grab an apple and mini pack of almonds. Zero effort and I don’t have to walk out of the way.

#3. I wear an activity tracker to motivate/humiliate myself to walk more.  I continue to use my fitbit Charge daily.  I end up walking 10,000 steps most days of the week, mainly because of the fitbit.

 #4. Find healthy take out options in your neighborhood so you won’t dial for Chinese or pizza.
My new favorite take out is Turkish (without the bread). Stay tuned for a blog post on healthy take out.

#5. Find healthy lunch options near your office that will deliver to you. There are several places near my office that are my “go to” options. Small soup and ½ sandwich or big salad. My favorite place is Gotham Café.  (pic credit Alice) Knowing that I can get a healthy tasty lunch delivered to my office within 15 minutes helps me resist when my co-workers orders out pizza or Chinese food. Stay tuned for my updated Lunch on the Run Survival guide for over 100 healthy lunch choices.  

Bottom line, I have found a way to make my lazy food habits work for me – and you can too.  The trick is to be really aware of what your specific problem areas are and to research your neighborhood. Convenience and planning  are key. Find a way to fit these healthy food choices into your routine so it will become a habit. This will discourage you from turning to not so healthy snacks and take out foods. For me, it’s all about CONVENIENCE! Stay thin without spending hours in the kitchen.