Health and The City: Eat like a nutritionist anytime anywhere.
Groceries. 5 must-have foods.
I’m very excited to start our Monday series Health and The City.
I’m a big-city animal. Most of you reading this post are too. City population continues to grow at a rapid pace!
New York — I love it! Every bit of it. Even the noisiest, busiest, smelliest parts — all of it. Life like nowhere else in the world.
City life is amazing. I love living in New York. But I can tell you, that maintaining a healthy lifestyle in the city, even as a nutritionist, as a health coach, as a personal trainer — can be challenging. I get it guys, the city takes all of you, all of your time, all of your energy. It seems like there is no time for anything and our to-do lists grow and grow without days getting any longer. To do the important, very often we start cutting down on our healthy habits — eating on the go, sleeping barely enough, moving our fingers across the keyboard more than our feet, barely having enough time to take a breath, leave alone prepare and sit down for a healthy meal.
Go Go Go…
Often our health, our body, our energy — it all catches up with us. We know we got to figure out how to take care of ourselves and at the same time get things done.
And that’s what Health and The City is all about. Living an awesome, adventurous, crushing-it, rise-and-grind, fulfilling, social, crazy, eventful city life, managing health, body and mind care at the same time.
In these blogs I’m going to pack all my years of knowledge and experience into bite-size healthy habits and routines for a city dweller, girl or guy, who doesn’t want to choose city life or health. BOTH!
As humans, no matter where we live and what we do, we got to eat. And we’d better eat something healthy, eat something that supports our body, our health, our brain and gut health, our energy levels, our DNA and hustling, our nutrition needs, our training, our mental work, our joy of living — if we want to live a fulfilling and successful life long-term, without burn-outs and “tires” around our yet-to-be-visible six packs.
And that, for a city animal, for a hustler, means eating the most efficiently, often on the go, often not at home, often faster than ideal.
But we can still manage to eat healthy guys.
Anywhere.
Anytime.
Here are 5 foods I always have at home, in my fridge, in my grocery basket, foods that support my health, my nutrition needs, my energy and well-being, my brain and gut health, my fitness, foods that are easy to pack and eat anywhere.
Breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack — I got you covered! No cooking needed. (Unless you consider mixing greens and a dressing cooking).
ONE.
Salad mixed greens.
Pre-washed, prepacked.
No chopping, no washing, just eating.
Tender. Full of nutrition. Fiber. Vitamins. Anti-oxidants and polyphenols.
Choose something with “power greens” — spinach, kale, Swiss chard, collard greens, arugula etc.
I consider lettuce a waste of chewing time — almost zero nutrition, just water and some fiber.
Pick up a few mixes next time you are at your closest Whole Foods or any other grocery story. These days you can find salad mixes almost anywhere in New York. Even my 24-hour corner shop in the West village has them.
TWO.
Dressing of course.
Primal Kitchen brand is my favorite.
I usually pick up a few of them to make my salad taste different each time. To make my salads fun and delicious! All of their dressings are low carb, sugar free, all natural and organic, avocado or olive oil based.
And so yummy!
THREE.
Pasture-Raised Eggs.
I always have a few of them boiled in my fridge (you can also pre-cook them as an omelet slices) ready to go and be eaten.
Great snack on the go or when you just need to eat something fast at home in-between conference or coaching calls, working on emails or your next presentation or speech — whenever you need a quick power snack/mini-meal.
Amazing source of healthy fats, vitamins, easy-digestible protein. One of the best nature’s food out there!
Make sure your eggs are PASTURE-RAISED — not just cage-free, organic.
Also give a try to quail eggs. They are my favorites, but not every store has them, and they require a bit more time for peeling.
FOUR.
Canned WILD fatty fish.
DHA, EPA, Omega-3s, great protein, great brain snack, anti-inflammatory, great source of minerals — I’m talking about sardines, herring, salmon.
Packed in cans, packed in water, no salt — that’s my choice. I add salt when needed as needed myself. But it’s totally fine to buy canned fish with salt. I wouldn’t recommend getting it in any kind of oil, because the quality of oil will most probably be below good and we most probably don’t need extra oil calories in our meals.
Crown Prince is my to-go brand. Their sardines are divine. I’m not even kidding. If I want a fancy snack/meal option — I get some nori sheets and wrap my sardines in them! So tasty! So good for you! And so easy to eat anywhere!
FIVE.
Everyone’s favorite.
Nuts. One of the most delicious, healthy, easy to eat (and over-eat so pre-pack or get smaller containers) snacks/foods to have with you. Always have some nuts with you — I often don’t know, when I eat next time. That’s just hustling city life for me these days. And even though I’m great at fasting, and not eating, sometimes in between trainings, coaching, networking, hustling — I just got to eat right now. Nuts in my bag always save me.
Best choice:
Walnuts — raw
Pistachios — unsalted, raw or roasted, you can get them without shells for convenience, one of the most nutrition and anti-oxidants full nut
Macadamia — raw or dry-roasted
Pecans — raw or dry-roasted
Almonds — raw or dry-roasted, even better sprouted (better for digestion)
Dried coconuts’ shavings — nothing added, I buy the ones that are bigger for convenient snacking
No peanuts. Try to stay away from cashews too.
*Make sure you have some forks/spoons with you. Try to get something Earth-friendly when available.
And don’t tell me now you have no time to eat or there is no good food available around, when you need it.
Yes, sometimes things happen and we are not prepared — New York City life is like that. It happens (although who said you can’t ALWAYS have a bag of walnuts or almonds even in the tiniest purse or pocket?)
It happens to the best of us. It happens to nutritionists. And personal trainers.
But it’s in your power and control to minimize those cases.
It’s in your power to create a healthy routine, that fits your busy schedule and hustling lifestyle.
It’s your responsibility.
And let’s be honest, the city these days has more than enough options to offer for a busy healthy eater.
You don’t get healthy and stay healthy.
HEALTH is a DAILY PRACTICE. One bite at a time.
Daily Bite of Health
Buy: greens, dressings, eggs, fatty fish and nuts.
