Make Eating Healthy Easy for a Busy Family

Hi! We are Duke & Jen – parents of 3 young kids and founders of Propello Life. Just like you, we live crazy busy lives that sort of feels like we are sprinting a marathon every day. #ifweweren’tlaughingwewouldbecrying

Through all this craziness we have founds ways to live active, healthy lives.  It didn’t happen overnight and it wasn’t easy, but looking back now we see how far we have come.  Check out our blog below to learn what we have found to work for us!

Finding time to be healthy with a busy schedule

Everyone knows that working out is essential to being healthy.  But did you know that eating a healthy diet is just as important, and in some cases more important? Also, sleep and stress levels play an import role, but that is a whole other blog topic…

Eating healthy can seem daunting; like a huge, unobtainable task.  But if you break it down, it’s really not that hard.  Plus, once you make a plan and make it a routine, you take the guess work out of what you are eating, usually resulting in healthier choices (and easier grocery store trips).

People ask us all the time what we eat, so we thought we would share our typical day with you, a few tips to eating healthier now, and a few simple rules we try to follow.

First of all, remember that everyone’s caloric and macro nutrient needs are different, so please work with someone who can help you figure out what your body needs.  If you need some suggestions, we know some great nutritionists – just ask!

Also, keep in mind that we have been tweaking the way we eat for years, and this is what we have settled on right now, and what works for us today.  I am sure we will continue to experiment and try new things to see how our bodies respond.

If you are just beginning your journey towards a healthier diet, please be patient.  Take one step at a time to improve how you are eating. Work on making that change into a habit and then lifestyle, and then move on to changing something else.  If you change too many things too quickly, you will likely burnout and revert to your original ways. 

Here are some simple ways to improve your diet

• Eating most of your meals from a restaurant? Start by cooking one meal at home a day. 

• Drink a lot of soda? Replace one drink a day with water or our Rejuvenating Aminos.

• Skipping lunch because you’re too busy to eat at work? Make it a priority to pack your lunch.

• Craving something sweet? First see if a little fruit will do the trick.

• Have to have that juicy, buttery bun on your burger? Take off the top and just eat the bottom.

• Make your changes a little bit at a time – they will last longer in the end!

Here are a few rules we try to follow

• Keep it simple

• Meal plan; don’t meal prep

• Eat super clean/healthy when you are alone – save the indulgences for special occasions

• Eat a salad at least once a day

• Replace processed carbs with complex carbs

• Don’t drink your calories

• Don’t freak out if you indulge – it happens to us all

• Enjoy special occasions guilt free

• Make sleep a priority – no one can eat healthy when they are tired!

We are not nutritionists, but we are two crazy busy parents with 3 young kids and do the best we can! We run around every night to multiple soccer practices, juggling life just like all of you. 

We modify our meals for the kids (for example, they won’t eat anything mixed together!  If we have turkey taco salad, they won’t eat tacos.  But they will eat the turkey taco meat separated from the veggies!) and usually add a fruit and sometimes some more fat for them.  We figure they will eat what we put in front of them, so why not make it something nutritious?

As parents, we know that they are watching us… so we do our best to be good examples for them.  We are definitely not perfect, and yes we do eat pizza every now and again, but this is what we have found to work the best for us most of the time:

Here are a few Meal Options 

• Meatball Monday: Gluten Free Spaghetti & Meatballs

• Taco Tuesday: Healthy Taco Tuesday Salad

• Whatever You Want Wednesday: Wild Caught Salmon + Caribbean Rice

• Thai Thursday: Healthy Pad Thai

• Pizza Friday: Make Your Own Pizza

Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have!