One morning this past week, I got back from the gym just in time to realize I was already late for my first meeting. Frantic and flustered, I went running out of the apartment, hair soaking from the shower. I'm sure I looked a hot mess, and my mood was made no better by the fact that I had just endured an exhilarating hour of cardio and hadn't made time for breakfast before or after.
An hour or so later, as I was leaving the first meeting on my way to the next, I still hadn't been able to find time to grab anything to eat. I could practically feel my blood sugar dropping by the minute. Dizzy and tired, I of course reached for the only stimulant on hand, coffee. Of this we can be sure: Even the most barren offices in America — though there might be no chance of finding them home to a banana — will be able to produce a solid cup of coffee. So down I gulped that black fluid, that reviver of so many lost mornings, and on my merry (well, decently perky) way I went.
Noon rolled around, and then, of course, a surprise meeting was called, and once again my opportunity to refuel was delayed. Now my body really had started to sink into a depression of having exhausted all its ready sugar supplies during my workout and over the course of the first few hours of the day. Like a loan shark seeking retribution, the angry rumblings of my stomach could not go unnoticed by me or anyone in the near vicinity.
Finally, at about 2 p.m., our team broke for lunch, and everyone departed to the nearest restaurant. And here is the crux of the issue: By this point, I was positively ravenous, my body crying out for absolutely any kind of fuel, my willpower at an all-time low, and of course, the only options on the menu would — for a few measly dollars — completely undo all the hard work I'd put in at the gym just a few hours earlier.
Unfortunately, this is an all-too-common scenario for those who try to lead a healthy lifestyle but who also must contend with the realities of daily life.
Without being hyper-organized and preplanning every meal, is it possible to feel good about our daily food choices, even if they're not always the healthiest?
Ideally, a healthy meal is going to give you lots of nutrients, including fiber (leafy greens, other vegetables, hearty grains), good, lean protein (legumes, beans, organic lean meats — don't forget to steer clear of the genetically modified and growth hormone-treated varieties whenever possible) and a small amount of healthy fat (wild-caught fish, nuts, olive oil). But sometimes you make do with a meal that meets two or maybe only one of these qualifiers, and that's OK. Sometimes you go ahead and enjoy a meal that's so bad for you it's amazing, and that's OK, too, as long as enjoying it fuels your resolve to eat well the rest of the time.
What it comes down to is that when healthy living is a priority and not an obsession, choosing what to eat is often a matter of selecting the lesser of two evils. In order to strike the balance between wanting to lead a healthy lifestyle and still being able to enjoy our lives and our food, we have to do our best to be prepared with good snacks in our bags and go-to menu items, but we also have to be flexible enough to accommodate those scenarios in which there really are limited choices.
In the end, the (delicious) vegetarian burrito I ordered wasn't the healthiest or the unhealthiest meal, but it was the best choice I could make under the circumstances. The good news is that I've gotten pretty good about putting a cup of yogurt and a small baggy of low-sugar granola in the fridge the night before for breakfast on the run. The better news is there's room to improvise if I forget.
To find out more about Daphne Oz and read features by other Creators Syndicate columnists and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.
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