10 Simple Strategies for Busy Women Entrepreneurs to Eat Clean and Healthy (Even If You Hate to Cook)

How to eat clean and healthy is something many women entrepreneurs struggle with every day. How many times a day do you find yourself feeling tired or run down? Maybe wanting to run to Starbucks for a quick fix, only to feel even more exhausted after the caffeine and sugar high wears off? Giving in to sugar cravings at 3pm?

I cannot tell you how many entrepreneurs I talk to who complain about how stressful it is to think about how to eat clean and healthy when they have so many other more important things on their plate.

When your health is your business, and your business is your health, creating a simple life plan that supports you to Be Healthy is just as, if not, more important than everything else on your plate. This post is my gift to you.

Healthy Eating Challenges

For many women entrepreneurs, healthy eating challenges can be overwhelming and disempowering, especially for those struggling with weight loss and hormonal imbalance issues. Even the simplest healthy eating plan won’t work if we don’t make the time to prepare the meals.

It doesn’t matter if you know how to eat healthy or how to eat clean. Without the commitment to create the meals, healthy eating falls last on the ever-growing daily life list. If you’re a busy female entrepreneur who is struggling with balancing how to eat healthy and clean with time management issues, this post is for you.

What if you found a way to make it Easier for you to slip back into your favorite little black dress or get your energy back?

What if there is another way? A simple way to get your groove back, feel and look great naked, Be fabulous, ease into those skinny jeans and maybe even enjoy your next workout?

Here’s the deal. You’re not alone.

Many women entrepreneurs spend so much time trying to create ideal clients or figure out how to sell without feeling sleazy, that healthy meals are the last thing on their mind.

Me included. I wasn’t always so in tune with my body and my own needs. It took several years of dealing with multiple health issues and living through multiple surgeries for me to get out of the burnt-out routine and make my health a priority. I’ve spent years researching, training and finally sharing everything I’m learning on this beautiful journey.

But it wasn’t until my own body told me to “shape up or ship out,” that I saw that I needed a plan, and I came to realize that my clients wanted one, too.

Healthy Eating Habits

These strategies and tips are more than just fluff. You’ll learn how to be in tune with all your senses and feel refreshed every day by choosing nutritious foods that give your body energy. In this blog post, you’ll get your breakdown of 10 strategies for how to eat clean starting today, no matter how busy you are.

You’ll also get tips on how to eat clean and healthy even if hate cooking, and you’ll get some bonus tips on how to feed your soul. Creating a healthy life is more than just losing weight or balancing hormones. It’s nourishing your soul and filling up your cup so you can continue to be a blessing to others. This post of a series of posts curated for The Healthy Eating Guide for Busy Women Entrepreneurs.

Clean and Healthy Eating Plan

You may have heard the term “clean eating” and wondered what it means. Clean eating involves eating real foods in their most natural state. It is not a fad diet but a way of life. Simply put, clean eating is choosing real food over processed food whenever you can.

No complicated rules or gimmicks. Simplifying how to eat clean and healthy empowers you to nourish your strong, beautiful, and powerful body with whole, non-processed foods that give you back your energy and glow your skin from the inside out.

If you’ve been on the diet roller coaster for a while or you’re just looking to create and cultivate healthier habits for a naturally healthy weight and lifestyle, then figuring out how to eat clean for beginners is easy – Eat REAL food in its most natural state (as much as you can afford to).

Clean eating is about tuning in to both the foods you put into your mouth and the foods that feed your heart. When we are not eating foods that make us feel good, we tend to feel bloated, irritated, and tired. When we feel like crap, we make crappy decisions in both life and business.

The question I get the most is what exactly does “real food” mean? Real food is food that is not processed and doesn’t contain chemicals. When you choose to eat clean, you’re focusing on eating REAL nutrient dense whole foods or minimally processed foods that are made from REAL ingredients. This means that you’re eating foods closer to their original source, with little to no manipulation between the source of the food and your plate.

Think Raspberry fruit and Oats over a Raspberry muffin or eating an apple instead of drinking apple juice. You get the Real picture. Nutrient dense foods have a ton of nutrients, taste delicious and are relatively low in calories compared to lower nutrient options like fast food. They include eggs, broccoli, wild-caught salmon, avocado, and sweet potatoes.

If you want to learn more about clean eating and how to make this a lifestyle you can use to maintain a naturally healthy weight, leaner body and enjoy happy hormones, then check out this related post – 7 Clean Eating Tips to Lose Weight, Feel Great and Reset Hormones.

This tip from best-selling author Michael Pollan captures it all. In his #1 best-seller, In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto, Pollan recommends not eating anything your grandmother would not recognize as food. Real food either doesn’t have a label (like produce) or, if it does have a label, you can pronounce the ingredients.

Generally, if you can pronounce the ingredients, then your body can properly digest them, too. It’s time for my top 10 strategies to make eating clean and healthier way very EASY for you.

How to Eat Clean and Healthy Even If You’re Busy, Tired and Stressed

Head to your local farmers’ market and learn to love shopping for foods that are fresh, beautiful and contain the colors of the rainbow. Imagine this – You plate is a picture and you’re the beautiful artist.

Pile as many fresh fruits, veggies, and dark leafy greens into your shopping bag. Aim for at least 5 servings every day with your clean eating lifestyle. Incorporating this into your clean eating meal plans will support you to be healthier.

According to the CDC, “[d]epending on their age and sex[,] federal guidelines recommend that adults eat at least 1½ to 2 cups per day of fruit and 2 to 3 cups per day of vegetables as part of a healthy eating pattern.”

Not only will you increase your chances for maintaining a naturally healthy weight, but adding more fruits, vegetables and leafy greens also lowers the risk for chronic diseases like diabetes and heart disease.

Start your day right with a healthy breakfast. Before you dive into the daily grind of building your business empire, take a break to eat breakfast. It’s a great way to clear your mind and build some much-needed energy for all the client generation activities on your priority list.

Make breakfast a non-negotiable routine with baby steps. If you really want to lose weight and maintain a natural healthy weight, try adding one or more of these to your daily breakfast options.

• Smoothies

• Eggs

• Avocado and tomato on toast

• Quinoa with hemp seeds and cinnamon or oatmeal

• God’s sugar aka Fruit

• Green Juice with chia seeds

Make a big salad for lunch. Here’s a quick recipe that goes the distance. Prepare two cups of mixed greens with chopped vegetables of your choice. Add in a clean protein source, such as chicken, fish, eggs, beans, tempeh or nutritional yeast. Add 2 tablespoons of a healthy fat, such as sunflower seeds and your favorite healthy salad dressing.

Always have healthy snacks on hand. Prepare a variety of healthy snacks that can help curb your sugar cravings or beat that 3pm fatigue slump.

Here are a few options to get your started today.

• Hummus with celery sticks

• An apple with almond butter

• Almonds, walnuts, or pumpkin seeds in a small bag – easy to bring to work or stash in your purse or car

• 1⁄4 cup raw seeds or nuts

• 1-2 Tablespoons sunflower seed butter, almond butter, hemp seed butter, or pumpkin seed butter on celery sticks

• 1 sliced cucumber with sea salt + a dash of cayenne

• Fresh figs + ½ cup dairy or non-dairy yogurt

• 1 apple, 1⁄2 banana, 1⁄2 cup grapes, grapefruit, kiwi, orange, pear, persimmons, or tangerine

• 1⁄2 avocado with sea salt + watercress + dandelion leaves

Keep pre-cooked proteins in your refrigerator.

Make a bigger batch of a meal (e.g. soup, lentil burgers, or gluten-free meatballs), and put the extra portions in the freezer.

Buy canned fish (in BPA-free containers), and make salmon burgers, or use canned chicken to make a chicken salad with avocado, celery, lemon, sea salt, and a dash of cumin or cayenne for a kick.

Make a large serving of brown rice or quinoa with vegetables to keep in the refrigerator. When you get home, all you have to do is reheat and add your favorite sauce, such as wheat-free tamari, hot sauce, or curry. Feel free to add your favorite protein.

Enjoy breakfast for dinner. Make an omelet or frittata with a huge fresh green salad.

For a sweet treat, have plain yogurt or coconut yogurt with berries, flax seeds, and a cup of tea.

Bonus – Always keep a bottle of water handy and stay hydrated.

How to Eat Healthy Without Cooking

If spending time in the kitchen is not your cup of tea or you’re really tied up with life and business and have no time to cook, then no worries. I’ve got you covered with how to eat clean and healthy on the run. If you’re constantly on the road and wondering how to eat healthy while traveling, these tips below double as healthy eating tips during travel.

While travel can be stressful enough without thinking about what to eat, we don’t want travel to be another crappy story standing in the way of maintaining a natural healthy weight and balanced hormones or losing weight and looking younger.

Take any of the suggested strategies above, and apply the same philosophy to eating out or ordering in.

At most supermarkets, you can find pre-cooked proteins, like chicken, salmon, shrimp cocktail, or vegetarian choices to add to a simple salad.

Buy a soup from a market or health food store for an easy meal. Feel free to add extra protein, or simply have a vegetarian night.

Go to your favorite (non-MSG) Chinese restaurant, and order spring beans and chicken or tofu sautéed in garlic, ginger and oil.

Go to your favorite Italian restaurant, and get mussels in red sauce without the cheese.

Go to your favorite Mediterranean restaurant, and have a salad with falafel and hummus.

Go to your favorite Mexican restaurant, and have a fish taco, (you can ask them to hold the cheese and the taco shell). You can also enjoy a vegetarian meal by asking for a veggie bowl loaded with tomatoes, lettuce, beans, avocado, and salsa.

Go to your favorite deli and order a big salad and/or a soup like split pea or chicken (you can ask them to hold the rice or the noodles).

No matter where you are, whether it’s traveling, eating on the go, or cooking in your own kitchen, simple, clean and green is a great start!

As a busy woman entrepreneur, myself, I know that eating clean and healthy most of the time is not the magic pill to maintaining a natural healthy weight, being healthy and staying joyful.

I’ve found that for female entrepreneurs who enjoy burning the candle at both ends, feeling burnt-out has become just another way of life – even with all the clean eating and healthier habits.

And while being busy is seen as some form of badge of honor in our society, it doesn’t have to be the way of life. So if you find yourself eating clean and doing ALL OF THINGS, but still feel exhausted, then it’s time to amp up on soul food.

Soul Food for Busy Women Entrepreneurs

I invite you to Let it Be Easy. Creating a profitable business is more than just working in the business. It takes leveraging your personal time too.

Laugh. Daily. Sometimes we need to laugh out loud at life and not take ourselves so seriously.

Let go of things outside your control.

Unwind and take time to enjoy each meal. Try eating lunch away from your desk. Before investing time in my wellbeing, I spent many hours chomping down on my meals in front of my computer or standing over the kitchen skin, not thinking about what I was putting in my body or even noticing that I needed to just breathe.

Leverage your personal time. Take (mini)breaks throughout your day. Make time to stretch (every 90 minutes), listen to your favorite music, take a walk outside (for your daily dose of Vitamin D), or just stand and look outside the window for a few minutes.

If you’re like most women who look up and it’s already 5pm, then set the alarm on your phone periodically as a reminder to stop and take a few deep breaths to reset your nervous system.

Commit to at least one affirmation a day. As woo woo as it sounds, it is a great mindset shift. You can choose to say it at any time during the day. An example of a positive daily affirmation is: “I am complete with every breath I take.” Nourish your relationships.

Take time today to call a friend or a family member and tell them you love them. So often we communicate with people through email, Twitter, and Facebook rather than picking up the phone. Take time today to talk to your loved ones and nurture the relationships that will feed your soul today and forever.

Choosing to eat clean and healthy is not a diet. It’s a lifestyle that helps you be healthier, look and feel great naked, enjoy more energy, clarity and focus, and younger, youthful glowing, radiant skin, hair and nails.

If weight loss is a goal, it’s a great option for losing weight safely and sustainably.

Small hinges swing big doors. Start with one clean eating strategy or tip at a time, and enjoy more nourishing, nutritious, and delicious meals again.

Please SHARE what resonated with you most from this post and Download my gift to you – A FREE 4-Day Weight Loss, Metabolism Boost and Hormone Reset Guide exclusively for Women Entrepreneurs.

Here’s what you get:

Clean Eating Recipe Guide

A Suggested Recipe Guide with simple, delicious and easy to follow recipes even your family will love. You can adjust all the recipes to fit your lifestyle and palette. No woman should ever have to give up mouthwatering food just because she’s trying to lose weight.

Plus, I know you need your energy and glow back, so these recipes will help boost your energy, curb cravings and leave you more delighted and satisfied than you’ve been in years.

Clean Eating Meal Plan

A Suggested Meal Plan so you don’t have to worry about what to Eat to kickstart losing weight, boosting your metabolism and creating happy hormones.

Clean Eating Food List and Food Diary

A Shopping List so you have MORE time to enjoy your meals; and

A Simple Food Journal to keep track of how you are feeling physically, mentally, and emotionally as you kickstart your weight loss and hormone balancing journey.

Simply Click HERE to Download your FREE 4-Day Weight Loss and Hormone Reset Lifestyle.