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As busy mums, we all have plenty on our ‘To Do’ lists. Wanting and maintaining a healthy lifestyle full of healthy homemade meals, time for exercise plus some time to do something for yourself can seem like an impossible task. How can you fit it all in with your busy schedule? Our guide will provide you with loads of tips and ideas to show you how easy and quick it can be to have a healthy lifestyle.

Being organised with a diary or calendar will make things much faster in the long run as you’re not wasting time working out where everyone needs to be and you can make the most out of your days.

2 SCHEDULE IN PLANNING TIME

To save time, you need to spend some time planning.

It’s not fun having no idea what you’re going to have for dinner, then deciding at the last minute when everyone is hungry and finding out you don’t have half the ingredients and the shops are closed.

Not planning your daily meals is often the fastest way to falling off the healthy

bandwagon. It seems too easy to just dial for takeaway when you have nothing organised and easily available in the fridge and this is a bad habit to get into.

Having a general idea about what you have available to eat and what you need to prepare each week clears the mind and gives you the confidence to make healthy choices.

OUR SPEEDY GUIDE TO WEIGHT LOSS FOR BUSY MUMSTHE FAST FIVE

OUR FAVOURITE TIME SAVING TIPSWhether you’ve just started with your healthy lifestyle goals or you’ve been changing your unhealthy ways for a while now, these tips to saving time will ensure you stay on track and get the most out of life:

1CALENDAR PLANNING

If you don’t already have one, get yourself a calendar, a diary, a big piece of paper, your mobile phone, whatever you think will work for you and keep it updated.Add in all the activities you need to do each week, e.g.l When are the kids at kindy or school? l Are you working? l Is your partner working late this week? l Do you have appointments to go to?l Do the kids have activities or classes

you need to take them to?l Social events?

You get the idea. If you can place this calendar or diary in an easy to see/access place like on the fridge then you can easily see what your upcoming week looks like and get an idea for how busy you are going to be.Once you’ve added in all the general responsibilities and activities you can also add in time for exercising, time to plan your healthy meals, and most importantly, time for yourself.

Each week (or each day if you don’t like to plan too far in advance) set aside 15 minutes to work out your meals and ingredient requirements.

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Sort out your kitchen: You can’t possibly expect to prepare a quick meal if you need to spend 15 minutes looking for a saucepan. Sort out the cupboards and draw-ers well in advance so that you know where all your utensils and equipment are – and be sure to put them back in the same place too. When about to pre-pare a meal get out all the equipment and utensils you’ll need before you start to make meal prep quick and easy.

3 CHECK THE CUPBOARDS

Knowing what you have in the fridge, freezer and pantry will save you time when it comes to shopping for food and make food preparation much faster.

Each time you are planning your meals ensure you know what you already have available in the cupboards. Do you have any meals frozen that you can just defrost and reheat? Do you already have most of the ingredients for certain recipes so you don’t need to re-purchase them? Do you have lots of leftover fruit or vegetables or other ingredients from the previous week that you could use as swaps in recipes to save time and money?

Having a pantry that is organised so you can easily see what’s available and a fridge or freezer where food is labelled clearly will save you loads of time.

4 PRE-PREPARE WHERE POSSIBLE

If you have a really busy week ahead make things easy for yourself by choosing quick meals to make like salads with some cooked meats or pasta with a simple vegetable sauce.

But to save even more time when things are extra frantic have a supply of pre-prepared meals that you can defrost and reheat. When cooking a recipe think about whether it would make sense to make a larger batch of it and save portions to freeze. Recipes that are great for freezing include soups, pasta sauces and bakes, stews, curries, burger patties, rice dishes, healthy sweet snacks like bliss balls and slices etc.

Pre-preparing components of recipes will also save you time at meal times. Once you’ve planned your weekly meals you can do the following:l Chop veggies for stir-fries, salads or for

snacks with healthy dips.l Trim meats and marinate in freezer

bags to freeze and defrost already flavoured.

l Cook brown rice or quinoa and freeze in individual serve sizes to defrost and reheat as required.

Read through the recipes you’re planning for the next few days and see which components you can get started on when you aren’t so busy, to make meal preparation really fast.

5 DELEGATE & GET EVERYONE INVOLVED

If you can get your family involved with food preparation then it will save you loads of time and also make them more interested in the food you are eating.

Depending on their ages, kids can do a lot of things in the kitchen to help out. If they are involved in your meal planning and preparation sessions each week then they can help with chopping fruits and veggies,

TOP SPEED TIP:

stirring pots, measuring and adding ingredients etc.

Getting your partner involved too will ensure they are excited and interested in the healthy meals you’ve all planned for the week ahead.

Many hands make light work, so the more help you can get with everyone doing a few tasks each will save you heaps of time in the kitchen.

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TIME SAVING COOKING HACKS

KEEPING YOUR COOL

When it comes to preparing quick healthy meals, there are a few sneaky cook-ing hacks that can be used to save you loads of time:

l Keeping cooked chicken on hand can be a huge time saver and used in a wide variety of healthy recipes. Be sure to completely cook the chicken (bake or poach it), let it cool and store in airtight containers in the fridge or freezer. If using cold in a recipe, use straight from the fridge or if using hot, be sure to reheat to steaming.

l Finely dice cooked, cooled chicken in a food processor and keep it on hand in the fridge for quick sandwich fillings, tacos, frittata, to stir through pasta or add to pizza.

l Overnight oats and puddings are not only delicious and nutritious, they are a total time saver. They are quick to throw together the night before, pop into a spill-proof container and have as a breakfast (or morning tea) on the go the next day.

Healthy cakes, muffins, slices and bliss balls are great to have on hand in the fridge or freezer. Ideal when you need a quick, healthy snack or something to share with the family for dessert in a hurry.l Learning to love lentils, chickpeas and beans will not only give your nutrition a boost

but save you time (and money) as well. Keeping canned (no added salt) varieties of lentils, chickpeas and beans in the pantry can save a huge amount of time when preparing a healthy meal. There is no need to worry about getting things out ahead of time to defrost, no need for soaking or even cooking, just rinse, drain and enjoy in a salad, thrown through some pasta or whip up a quick nachos.

l Chickpeas also make a great base for a variety of dips which can be made days ahead of time and stored in airtight containers in the fridge or frozen for several weeks. Just remember to defrost in the fridge.

Many meals and ingredients can be frozen so you have meals on the table in no time but what do you need to know about freezing times and defrost tips:

IN GENERALFreeze foods as soon as possible when you buy them – pack them well and then freeze as soon as you can. Home cooked meals should be allowed to cool slightly then cover and put in the fridge to cool completely before storing in the freezer. Not allowing time for hot foods to cool down before freezing them increases the temperature in the freezer-cavity which slows down the freezing process and can cause other foods to thaw slightly.

LABELLINGPrevent wasting frozen food by label-ling it. Be sure to include what it is and

the date it was prepared. You can find a number of products these days that allow you to write on containers before they go into the freezer or use a simple piece of paper and stick to the outside of the container.

PACKAGINGWhen freezing food be sure to use containers that are specially made for the freezer. Freezer-ready containers, freezer bags, plastic wrap and heavy duty aluminium foil will all help keep moisture and resulting ice crystals at bay.

THAWINGOut of the three options for thawing your frozen meals (refrigerator, using cold water or in the microwave), using the fridge is the safest in terms of preventing the accumulation of bacteria but it could take a day or two to fully defrost your meal. Plan which meals

you’d like to defrost for the week and take them out early.

REHEATINGWhen reheating it’s best to keep the food covered so it doesn’t dry out. When using your oven, stovetop or microwave to reheat meat and vegetable dishes, make sure the food is steaming and hot in the centre before serving.

TIMINGFoods high in moisture like rice, quinoa, meats etc can be cooked and cooled then stored in the fridge for about 3 days and the freezer for several months, but remember food safety is particularly im-portant with high moisture foods so only ever reheat them once and be sure they are heated to steaming. Low moisture foods like cakes, bliss balls and slices can be kept for up to a week in the fridge or several months in the freezer.

ONLY10 MINPREP TIME

THE SPEEDCHALLENGE

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Keeping the fridge, freezer and pantry stocked with all the basics you need makes it so much easier to prepare quick, healthy meals that suit the tastes of the whole family, no matter how short on time you are.

The 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge recipes include staple ingredients that you should always have on hand to help you keep on top of your meal planning and reduce meal preparation time while still being versatile enough for you to make a variety of healthy, delicious recipes.

Musts haves in the fridge, freezer and pantry for healthy eating meal plans are:

WHOLEGRAINS including rolled oats, quinoa, couscous, brown rice, wholemeal pasta

SNACK ITEMS such as popping corn, nuts, seeds, dried fruit, wholegrain rice crackers

DAIRY ITEMS e.g. natural yoghurt, milk of choice, reduced fat tasty cheese, ricotta, parmesan

TINNED LEGUMES such as chickpeas, lentils, kidney beans

STOCK UP WITH THE BASICSCHILLED FOODS such as eggs, chicken breast fillets, lean lamb, lean beef, lean mince

DRIED HERBS & SPICES e.g. salt, pepper, cumin, cinnamon, oregano, basil, rosemary, paprika, chilli flakes

TINNED GOODS including tomatoes, corn, coconut milk, tuna, salmon

FROZEN berries & vegetables

PANTRY ESSENTIALS like wholemeal flour, olive oil, vinegar, soy sauce

These ingredients are hugely versatile and can be used to make a range of quick healthy meals and snacks, like sweet or savoury pancakes, lentil bolognese, mini muffins with berries, Mexican beans and rice, creamy tuna pasta, berry breakfast bowls and parfaits.

Delicious, healthy food doesn’t need to be fancy or take hours to prepare.

SPEEDY SHOPPING TIPS:

If going to the supermarket is one of your worst nightmares then use these tips to make the experience as quick and pain free as possible:

Take a list – save time by knowing exactly what you need and just go to the aisles that contain those items.

Don’t go down every aisle if you don’t need to, this will save you time and money as you won’t have impulse buys.

One stop shop – try to shop at a supermarket or shopping centre that has everything you need close by; the butcher, the fruit and veg shop, the groceries etc

Try online – if you haven’t ordered from an online supermarket yet, then give it a go. If you’ve done your meal planning and worked out exactly which ingredients you need each week or fortnight, online shopping can save you loads of time. Most online supermarkets allow you to save your list so each week you can just go in and remove what you don’t need and add in new items. Then just sit back, relax and wait for the order to arrive.

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SAVE MINUTES MEAL BY MEALFollow these tips to save time and make meal prep really fast whether you’re preparing breakfast, lunch, dinner or snacks:

BREAKFASTl Soak oats or chia seeds overnight in milk, fresh juice and/or grated fruits to create

Bircher style muesli or puddings that you can just take out of the fridge, top with some fresh fruit and yoghurt and eat on the go.

l Scrambled eggs take no time to cook at all. Use a non-stick fry pan and scramble in about 2 minutes. Add to a wholegrain wrap with some baby spinach, avocado, salt and pepper and wrap up for a savoury breaky burrito.

l Make your own muesli by combining oats, chopped nuts, dried fruits and seeds and store in an airtight container in the pantry. Serve with milk, yoghurt and sliced fresh fruit and you have a healthy version of packaged cereal.

LUNCHl Making lunch the night before will save you loads of time in the morning if you

have to go to work or in the middle of the day when you’re busy.l Use a lunchbox with different compartments that you can add a variety of

healthy foods to e.g. veggie sticks, fruit, wholegrain crackers, cheese slices, cooked chicken, salad etc.

l Make salads the night before and enjoy for lunch with some pre-cooked chicken or tinned tuna or salmon. Make a dressing of lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper and place in a little container so you can just pour over when ready to eat.

l Sandwiches and wraps can often go soggy if made too far ahead of time so place all the components in your lunchbox the night before and store in the fridge so you can just quickly assemble when ready to serve.

DINNERl We’ve already listed loads of ways you can get prepared for dinner but the main

tip that we can’t emphasise enough is PREPARE, PREPARE, PREPARE.l If you know what you are going to eat, have the ingredients ready to go and have

possibly even started part of the preparation process by pre-cooking some ingredients, then your time in the kitchen at dinner will be minimal.

SNACKSl Have loads of healthy snack options available in the pantry and fridge.l Make larger batches of healthy dips, bliss balls, slices and muffins so you can

freeze or refrigerate to cover you for a whole week of snacks.l Freeze fruits like bananas, mango and berries and blitz together in the blender

for a delicious and quick, healthy soft serve style “ice-cream”. Great for a sweet treat after dinner.

SPEEDY SMOOTHIES:

The Healthy Mummy Smoothies are perfect when you need a quick breakfast or lunch. Be super organised and combine your favourite flavour

combinations in a jar (if they’re dry) to store in the pantry or add fruits, veggies, grains, spices etc to small freezer bags and freeze in individual portions. Then you can just grab a pack to add to your blender with the Smoothie powder and some milk, whizz and you’re done!

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MINDFUL MINUTES

The exercise plans throughout the 28 Day Weight Loss Challenges are perfect for busy mums and are all about efficiency – getting the most out of a workout in a short amount of time. If fitting exercise into your day seems too difficult, follow these tips for some fast fitness:

SCHEDULE IN EXERCISE EACH DAY- write it into your diary or calendar like you would an appoint-ment and stick to this time.

GET UP 30 MINUTES EARLIER IF POSSIBLE – getting your exercise done first thing in the morning is great for your metabolism and will put you in a great mood for the rest of the day. Leaving exercise until the end of the day (although still very beneficial) can often result in you making up excuses like feeling too tired and therefore not doing anything.

KEEP IT SHORT AND SIMPLE – when you really can’t be bothered doing any exercise just say you’ll go for a 20 minute walk around the neighbourhood. No equipment needed, you don’t need to drive anywhere and find a park, you can just put on your sneakers and go. Once you get started you may find you want to keep going but just doing something is so worthwhile.

Being too busy all the time and not having time to take a few moments for yourself isn’t ideal for your health. Feeling stressed all the time can lead to poor sleep, bad nutrition and in some cases weight gain.

So with all the tips and tricks you’ve learnt in this guide about ways to make meal prep and fitness faster to save time, use these spare minutes to stop, take a few deep breaths and relax. Ensure you have a few times each day where you can have a cup of herbal tea, put your feet up and read a magazine or a chapter of a book.

Try some meditation to focus your mind and stop it from buzzing from one thought to the next. Or when you next go for a walk be really mindful and take in everything around you, the scenery, the weather, how you feel; rather than thinking about every-thing you need to do when you get home.

Caring for your mental health is just as important as healthy eating and physical exercise when it comes to a healthy lifestyle.

HIGH INTENSITY INTERVAL TRAINING is perfect for busy mums as you can do short bursts of really beneficial, calorie burning exercises when you have time.

You might start the day with 10 minutes of the 28 Day Challenge routines and then do another couple of rounds throughout the day. Before you know it, you’ve done 30 minutes or more of fantastic exercise. Even if you only manage 10 minutes that is perfect.

REMEMBER - EXERCISE IS EVERYWHERE – when you’re really pushed for time and can’t fit in a planned exercise routine, try and do some extra incidental exercise throughout the day. Whether it’s a few squats while waiting for the kettle to boil or some jumping jacks after hanging out a load of washing, you’ll be surprised at how much you can do even if it’s not in a set routine. Walking rather than driving or taking the stairs instead of the lift all add up to reaching your fitness goals.

FAST FITNESS