I Don’t Have Time To Cook While Losing Weight

Preparing and cooking quick, healthy meals should be easy. While it might feel good to put a delicious dinner on the table night after night, it can also be a time-consuming process.

When life gets busy and you don't have time to cook, there are some great tricks up your sleeve to increase your chances of eating a healthy meal - after all, being busy and stressed is bad enough without feeling sick from too much takeaway.

Switching to fast food or frozen meals on days when you feel you have no energy left may feel like an easy solution, but you deserve better! We don't think you have to sacrifice your diet to save time and effort. Instead, here are eight practical cooking tips that will help you prepare healthy meals in no time!

The 'No Time To Cook' Dilemma

In the constant tug-of-war between our intentions and our reality, our desire to eat healthily often loses out to our busy schedules.

We may start the day with plans to cook a nutritious meal at home, but by dinnertime, we're too exhausted to follow through. When life gets busy and you feel you have no energy left, the temptation to opt for fast food or frozen meals can be hard to resist.

However, you don't have to sacrifice your diet to save time and effort. The solution isn't about finding more hours in the day or mastering complex culinary skills. It's about changing your approach and adopting a few practical strategies that fit with your busy life.

#1. Make A Shopping List

The first operational pillar is proactive planning, which involves dedicating a small amount of time at the beginning to making decisions and preparing components, thereby minimising daily effort and cognitive load.

Systematising the initial stages of meal creation creates an environment where healthy choices become the default, even on the busiest days. Take some time one day every week to sit down and make a shopping list. Then visit the grocery store and purchase all of the ingredients for those recipes in advance.

Keeping a shopping list and sticking to it saves time and money, and stops you from buying unhealthy food. Another helpful tip is to never go to the supermarket when you're hungry!

#2. Shop Pre-Chopped Veggies

I used to look at those bags of pre-chopped stir-fry vegetables and wonder who was buying this stuff. Busy people, that's who! Having the prep done for you makes it so much easier to throw something together on the fly.

You can even get pre-cooked zucchini (courgette) pasta these days, which is a total game changer - pair it with frozen meatballs and a jar of sauce for an easy meal.

Grab a couple of bags of your favourite stir-fry mix or pre-washed salad greens, and you're basically halfway to dinner. Just add some protein, some crusty bread or pre-cooked rice on the side, and you're ready to go.

#3. Choose Frozen Veggies And/Or Fish

Time and time again, people choose frozen fruit and vegetables over fresh produce. The nutritional content is pretty much the same — studies show that frozen produce often retains vitamins due to being flash frozen at peak ripeness, making it nutritionally equivalent to, or sometimes superior to, fresh produce bought from a store. 

They also come already chopped, diced and ready to eat. Frozen fruit, vegetables and fish have almost the same nutritional value as fresh produce. They are pre-chopped and have a much longer shelf life, making them ideal for those days when you can't make it to the supermarket.

#4. Make Food Ahead

Try preparing food ahead of time. Overnight oats are all the rage these days because they're healthy, delicious and easy to grab in the morning. A great idea is to batch cook brown rice, quinoa, farro and other healthy grains to keep in the fridge for when the week gets busy. Use this chart for a quick guide to cooking grains.

We also recommend freezing our fruit and veg smoothie ingredients so they're ready to pop in the blender when you roll out of bed in the morning. Try hard-boiling eggs ahead of time for a great source of grab-and-go protein!

#5. Cook In The Microwave

You invented the microwave for the fast-paced world we live in today. But that doesn't mean grabbing a ready meal and sticking it in the microwave is the best option.

You can still maintain the nutritional value of home cooking while using this appliance to speed up your meal preparation. We recommend steaming your vegetables in the microwave to save time.

Also consider microwaving individual portions. We also love making crisps in the microwave because it cuts down on the fat! You can also microwave your poultry to speed up the cooking time. The possibilities are endless...

#6. Double The Portions

The easiest way to eat at home when you're pressed for time is to double what you're making and freeze half of it. A stash of frozen meals means you can still serve a great meal on nights when you don't have time to defrost meat, babysit the stove or just don't feel like cooking.

It's the best way to cook in the freezer without spending a whole day in the kitchen. Double meals include casseroles, pizza dough, soups and baked goods.

And because it's just the two of us, we can usually make a full recipe and just freeze the half we don't eat. It's usually much easier to eat food that's been frozen at the peak of its freshness than to open a suspicious-looking container that's been sitting in the fridge for too long.

#7. Canned Foods

Carefully selected canned and jarred foods such as vegetable or chicken bouillon, sardines, wild Alaskan salmon, artichokes, roasted red peppers and others make it easy to throw together last-minute meals.

Always go for lower-sodium versions and read labels carefully to be sure that gluten, dairy, sugars, and other unwanted ingredients aren't inadvertently sneaking into your diet. If choosing canned food, opt for PBA free cans whenever possible.

#8. Get A Crockpot

We urge you to cook more slow cooker meals. They tend to make a lot of food, make a minimal mess and tend to keep and freeze really well. Most crockpot recipes require only a few ingredients that simmer all day and provide a scrumptious meal just in time for dinner.

But you can speed up the morning prep-work by gathering all the ingredients together the night before. Assemble in a bag and dump into your slow-cooker the next morning. Easy as walking in the park!

It's About Preparation, Not Perfection

Succeeding with healthy eating on a busy schedule ultimately comes down to shifting from reactive eating to proactive meal planning. By implementing these simple strategies, you can transform your kitchen into an asset that supports your health goals without taking up more of your time.

The impact of these small changes is significant. Techniques such as batch cooking, using frozen ingredients and making the most of your appliances can reduce active cooking time by up to 70%, while maintaining nutritional quality. The key is to build sustainable habits that work for you, one small step at a time.