Too Stressed and Too Busy to Eat Healthily – Make Time

People tell me all the time,

I am stressed.

I have a lot going on.

I am so busy.

They have meetings with me every other week and every appointment, but they have yet to move forward on their nutrition goals because they are stressed, have a lot going on, and are so busy.

At each meeting – something is happening that has interfered with their nutrition goals – whatever those are. It is sometimes a weight goal – not always, mainly when I help people get to the underlying issue of finding balance and making healthier food choices while integrating their favorite foods into the mix.

I ultimately believe them when they tell me they are stressed, have a lot going on, and are so busy.

Because who isn’t? Who doesn’t have a lot going on? Who isn’t busy?

I know I have a full calendar – and that is my choice. However, if I try to list everything I do in a given week, I cannot even provide a complete list.

Now, given that when a client tells me they are stressed, have a lot going on, and are busy and have not gotten the chance to address those goals we set at the last meeting, I will eventually ask, “When will you NOT be stressed? When will you NOT have a lot going on? When will you NOT be busy?”

Most often, after consideration, they admit that this is their life.

It isn’t a temporary situation.

When my son got married in late 2021, that added to the things on the calendar. And, in late 2021 meant LATE – during the holiday season. So, I adjusted my calendar to fit those extras leading up to the wedding, hosting family from out of town during the holidays the month prior and again for the wedding, planning the rehearsal dinner, and the wedding day.

Even when busy, we make room in the calendar for important things.

Don’t you?

The calendar cleared in minutes when I was admitted to the hospital a week before Thanksgiving a few years ago. It had to.

We make room on the calendar when our life depends on it.

Now, consider this. People will back burner exercise, and people will back burner their nutrition and ignore making healthier food choices. It happens all the time.

I always encourage more fruits and vegetables. More fruits and vegetables is a recommendation for 99% of the people I have ever worked with, of course, with some adjustments based on their specific health and wellness concerns.

Someone told me that eating fruits and vegetables is so inconvenient. I was so startled by this that my reaction was, how hard is it to wash and eat an apple? How hard is it to peel a banana?

Fruit is the original fast food!

And, sure, some vegetables will take some preparation. However, one can buy many ready-to-eat vegetables, such as baby carrots and grape tomatoes. (Wash and eat.)

Are people so busy and stressed that they could not eat a piece of fruit or vegetable? I cannot believe this is true. It isn’t true.

Sure, take-out or restaurant food may seem (or be convenient), and I know that only some are up to speed on meal planning, grocery shopping, and food preparation.

However, when people tell me the latest show they have binge-watched, I wonder how busy they are. Downtime is essential. Binge-watching isn’t a judgment. It is a question of how busy someone is that they cannot do things prioritizing their health.

Even then, if you are not one who binge-watch or doesn’t watch much television or screen time, are you so busy, have so much going on that you really, really cannot eat one meal each week or each day that is a healthier food option?

People have often told me they don’t have time to eat (or eat properly) for their workouts, but they can always find the time for exercise.

If this is your life – you are too busy to address your health, nutrition, and physical fitness – when will you have the time?

It would be best if you made the time. And it doesn’t have to be a lot of time.

You could purchase seven pieces of fruit – it doesn’t matter what they are. They can be seven apples or seven bananas. Or it can be two apples, two oranges, two bananas, and a bag of grapes.

And, if you don’t have time to buy them? Many grocery stores still do have the curbside pick-up. I’ve been doing curbside pick-up continuously since 2018.

And, then, eat them! It will take how long? Maybe you need to peel the orange – or you can cut it up. How long will it take?

How long will it take to eat a banana?

How long will it take to wash some grapes?

(And if you are saying, but the fruit has a lot of sugar, okay then. So one: get over it, and two: eat vegetables instead. But the sugar in fruit is not the “problem” – lacking these foods negatively affects our overall health today. Not the sugar in the ones people are choosing.

Consider these three things: