How To Eat Healthy On The Run.

college athletes sport games

Eating on the run. Some healthy tips.

Improve your diet and reduce stress

Getting stuck in the fast lane seems to be a way of life for many of us these days. Too much to do in not enough time means little time for preparing and cleaning up after meals, with meal time often leaving us feeling rushed and hassled. Here are a few tips to reduce stress and improve your diet when eating on the run.

Make good nutrition a priority.

Just as you make time for exercise, you can make time for improving your diet. Good nutrition and exercise go hand-in-hand when it comes to preventing and treating chronic disease and improving the way you look and feel. For some people, a few small changes will dramatically improve their diets. Others may need to learn more about nutrition. If you don't know the difference between ice cream and sherbet (the latter is lower in fat), you need to master a few nutrition basics. Talk to a nutrition counselor or ask your instructor for some good reading for beginners.

Eat balanced meals.

Use the food pyramid. Each meal, not just dinner, should contain produce (fruits and/or vegetables), a protein choice (from the dairy, meat or meat-substitute groups) and a grain or grain product. Half of your "plate" for each meal should contain produce, one-fourth protein and one-fourth grain. Make low-fat food choices within these categories as much as possible. Read labels and learn which foods tend to be lower in fat.

Enjoy delicious food.

Eating should be a pleasure! Delicious food helps us feel satisfied so we don't leave the meal craving more food. Healthful need not mean boring. The most important part of a dish, the flavoring, can be added in many quick and easy ways. Experiment with the hundreds of spices and sauces you can find in your supermarket. Look for barbeque, teriyaki, peanut, ginger and other ready-made sauces. Use these with meats, pasta, rice and steamed vegetables. Try hot sauces, ginger and garlic, all of which are good for your health. Cultivate a repertoire of quick and easy dishes you enjoy.

Home.
About Us.
FAQ's.
Timeline.
Tools.

$250 Essay
Competition.

Articles.
Clearinghouse.
College
Recruiting.
NCAA
Recruiting.
NCAA Sports
History.
Resources.
Sports History.

What do I send
to the coach.

How do I
contact the
coach.

Make healthful eating convenient.

At home, eating convenience means a well-stocked kitchen, so that the ingredients you need are always on hand. At work this may mean bringing leftovers from last night's dinner to microwave for lunch. People who live alone should keep it simple. If you buy meat, freeze it in single portions. If fresh vegetables end up rotting in your refrigerator, buy in small quantities and keep extra portions frozen. Cooking for a family? One meal should be adaptable to all food preferences with minor manipulations. Growing teens can eat larger portions, vegetarians can microwave a meat substitute that is always on hand. Make two or three times as much as you'll need, and use leftovers for meals later in the week.

Use the force of habit to reduce stress.

Develop healthful lunch alternatives and make them a habit, whether you take your own food to work or eat out. Ditto for breakfast. For dinner, try a weekly meal plan, such as Sunday, casserole; Monday, pasta; Tuesday, leftover casserole; Wednesday, takeout chicken; Thursday, take-out Chinese; Friday, broiled fish; and so forth, substituting whatever foods you love. The stress of eating often comes from having to decide each day what to eat and having to shop on the way home from work for the ingredients, all the while resenting this "wasted time."

Make your shopping trips as efficient as possible.

Keep a list that corresponds to the layout of your supermarket. Buy key ingredients you always need to have on hand. Purchase ingredients for the meals on your upcoming weekly meal plan. Plan ahead for special events to avoid extra shopping trips at the last minute when you are most likely to feel hassled and rushed.

Make good choices when eating out.

In fast-food establishments, look for grilled chicken (hold the mayo and use honey-mustard sauce or ketchup), subs with no mayo or cheese, baked potatoes and stuffed pitas. In restaurants with more choices, order salads and steamed vegetables, and low-fat entrees. Avoid gravies and high-fat cream sauces, cream-based soups and fatty cuts of meat.

Barbara A. Brehm, Ed.D., is professor of exercise and sport studies at Smith College, Northampton, Mass.

Baseball I Basketball I Bowling I Football I Golf I Ice Hockey I Lacrosse I Track & Field I Soccer I Swimming & Diving I Softball Tennis I Volleyball I Wrestling

If people eat protein more protein than they need then the extra protein will be converted to and stored as fat.