We grab and eat what we see; it’s as simple as that. Many of us are overloading our schedule with work, family, self-care, drop-offs, and everything that we want to be doing and everything we have to do. Most of us don’t think about meals until our stomachs are growling and time is of the essence. Planning for these inevitable moments will save us in the future. Check out these easy go-to’s to make your life easier.
KEEP EASY PROTEINS ON HAND
Protein balances our blood sugar and keeps us fuller longer. When we eat protein, our hunger hormone ghrelin starts to decrease. This means we feel more satisfied and stay fuller longer when we eat protein at every meal and snack.
Make sure you have easy-to-go and grab proteins on hand. Think proteins that take 10 minutes or less to cook if needed. Why do I say 10 minutes or less? Let’s be honest with ourselves; most of us are pressed for time, and protein tends to take the longest to prep or cook. When we have easy proteins to grab, it sets us up for success with healthy choices and steers us away from less healthy options that tend to be quick and loaded with refined carbs and empty calories that lack nutrients.
Try these easy proteins.
Hard-Boiled Eggs
Eggs are a super easy protein. We can hard boil our farm fresh eggs ahead of time or buy them already boiled. These stay good in the refrigerator for seven days and are easy to grab and very portable.
Protein Powders
Protein powders are easy to mix in about anything when you are in a rush. Keep this on hand at home, in the office, or in the car for an easy way to add protein to whatever you want.
We at Designer Wellness have you covered when it comes to protein powders that fit your lifestyle, taste, and needs. We have everything from:
- Plant-based with Designer Plant. PRO TIP: Mix it in a smoothie for 22g of plant-powered protein.
- Choline dense Designer Egg. Choline is a vitamin needed to make neurotransmitters for memory, mood, muscle control, and the nervous system. PRO TIP: Simply mix the Dutch Chocolate Designer Egg with milk for tasty chocolate milk.
- Collagen building Designer Collagen. PRO TIP: Mix it in your coffee for a perfect start to the day.
- Calorie-saving Designer Lite.PRO TIP: Mix it in overnight oats or chia seed pudding for a meal that tastes like a dessert.
- Energy-boosting Designer Energy. PRO TIP: Mix it in protein energy balls for an easy energy-boosting bite on the go. Try the recipe HERE!
- Protein-packed Designer Whey and Designer Soy. PRO TIP: Mix it in 4 ingredient protein bars. Try the recipe HERE!
- Women formulated Aria. PRO TIP: Mix it in a latte.
Our protein powders are easy to add to anything and are made of a full spectrum of peptides and high-quality non-GMO ingredients.
Designer Wellness Protein Smoothie Packs
Designer Wellness is now taking simplifying healthy eating to a whole new level with our smoothie packs. Each smoothie pack contains 100% absorbable whey protein isolate protein, MCTs, and anti-inflammatory fruits like strawberries, pineapple, mango, and blueberries. MCT’s and proteins are perfectly balanced with carbs in each pack to help stabilize your blood sugar and keep you energized. Packs are easy to keep with you wherever the day may take you. Flavors come in Strawberry Banana, Tropical Fruit, and Mixed Berry.
Shrimp
Shrimp is one of the easiest animal proteins to cook from a raw state. Shrimp is a healthy lean protein that has no saturated fat and cooks in about 5 minutes. To boot, the pescatarian diet has been shown to have numerous health benefits, including heart health, cancer prevention, blood sugar balance, and anti-inflammatory.
When in the supermarket, try to look for shrimp that was sourced using sound environmental practices to benefit you and the environment. Look for shrimp certified by an independent agency such as Wild American Shrimp, Marine Stewardship Council, or Best Aquaculture. If you can’t find a label, try to pick shrimp sourced from North America. North American shrimp are more likely to be sustainably caught.
Dairy and Non-Dairy yogurts
Look for dairy yogurts with 15g of protein or more. For non-dairy foods like soy, coconut, pili nuts, cashew yogurts, choose yogurts with more than 15g of protein and healthy fat since these yogurts tend to have more healthy fats in them. Both healthy fat and protein will keep you full and satisfied. All yogurts should have 5g or less of sugar to prevent overindulging in refined carbs.
Cottage Cheese
Cottage cheese is as easy as it gets for protein. One cup has around 20g of easily absorbable protein and is a quick meal or snack. You can easily make it sweet or savory, depending on your mood.
Tofu
Tofu has about 20 g of protein in one cup. Tofu acts like a sponge and quickly absorbs whatever marinade you desire, so it’s easy for a quick meal. It can be baked, scrambled, sauteed, or fried to a crisp in less than 10 minutes. I love to cover my tofu in cornstarch, nutritional yeast, and garlic powder, then fry it in the air fryer for 8 minutes.
Batch Cooked Proteins
If you’re feeling like getting super organized, I recommend setting time aside to batch cook proteins and freeze them. Try meat-less or meat patties or balls, roasts, ground and marinated meat/tempeh/meatless meats, chili’s, soups, pre-marinated fish or shrimp, casseroles, or enchiladas. You can keep pre-cooked proteins in the freezer for up to 3 months.
VEGGIES AND FRUIT
Keep veggies and fruit easily accessible in the house. Think of keeping them on the counter and at eye level in the refrigerator and freezer. This will keep your eye on the veggies and fruits instead of more refined snacks.
Frozen Veggie and Fruit Bags
Frozen veggies and fruit are flash-frozen when they are picked; this locks in all of their unique nutrients and phytonutrients. Try to always keep bags of frozen fruit and veggies on hand. You can cook frozen veggies in less than 10 minutes and don’t have to worry about them going bad. Frozen fruit is an easy snack or addition to smoothies. Frozen fruit can also help with that nightly sweet tooth.
Smoothie Packs
HELLO, again, with our new smoothie packs!! We are so excited about these nutrient-dense packs providing you with protein, MCTs, and fruit on the go. Keep these at home or work for a no-brainer snack in zero time. These don’t need to be refrigerated until after they are opened, so you can rest assured they will be deliciously ready when you are.
BOTTOMLINE
Healthy eating doesn’t have to be complicated. Check out Designer Wellness for all of our new Smoothie pack flavors. It’s human nature to overthink, but with these three simple go to’s on hand, you can rest assured you will be set for success.
By Ginger Cochran, MS, RDN, CDCES, CEP-ACSM
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