Healthy Meals For Tradies – Great Tips For An Energetic You
A Healthy Tradie Diet Is Key For Optimum Performance On The Job. Healthy Meals For Tradies – Learn The Tips & Tricks To Keep You Energised All Day.
Iced Coffees, meat pies and potato cakes OUT – Whole grains, lean meats and unsalted nuts IN
While Tradies have made dramatic improvements in packing nutritious lunches, they still have quite a way to go.
Go to any job site and it won’t be uncommon to find quinoa and lean chicken breast salads, Acai bowls and also 1.5 million cans of tuna bought in bulk from the local supermarket – Tuna seems to be the healthy lunchbox option for the majority of Tradies.
Still many Tradies fall into the trap of a quick fix run to the local bakery at lunchtime.
Given the demand and physical nature of the work in which Tradies do, it would be remiss of anyone to overlook the importance of a healthy lunch.
What Tradies Are Doing Wrong
- Coming up with excuses like not having enough time or lack of resources
- Not placing enough importance on healthy eating
- Settling for a meat pie and can of coke as nutritious or energy boosting
A lot of the time you can put unhealthy eating habits down to a lack of education on the matter. Young Tradies may never have learned cooking skills, particularly if living away from home. Settling for a cheaper option like meat pie over a quinoa salad may also appeal to Tradies.
“You wouldn’t put unleaded petrol in a diesel operated car”
What Tradies Must Start Doing
- Prepare food the night before
- Learn the art of overcooking
- Purchase a suitable and spacious lunchbox or esky
- Educate yourself on healthy food choices and what nutritional benefit you are in fact getting out of certain foods
- Dedicate a couple of hours on Saturday or Sunday to prepare food
- Buy in bulk, aim to shop 1-2 times per week (wherever possible)
Swap This for That
- Swap from whole milk to rice or almond milk (having a combination of normal dairy milk and rice or almond is fine)
- Swap traditional breakfast cereals like Nutrigrain, Cornflakes or Fruitloops for porridge, bircher muesli’s or acai bowls
- Swap normal high sugar yoghurt for Greek-style yoghurt or natural low-fat yoghurt (add some honey, make it tasty!)
- Swap white breads, bagels and muffins for wholegrain varieties
- Swap processed flavouring sauces, sautés and dressings for homemade dressings from natural products (there are so many possibilities – Think vinegar, soy sauce, red wine, orange zest)
- Swap processed meats like bacon, salami and bacon for lean chicken breast or lean pork
- Swap your usual coffee made with whole milk to a ‘skinny’ coffee made with skim milk
- Swap your cordial or soft drink for coconut water (you will be surprised how nice coconut water tastes!)
- Swap energy drinks for fruit juices without any added sugar
- Swap potato chips for unsalted savour y nuts or sweet trail mixes
- Swap vegetable oil for coconut oil
- Sprinkle Cinnamon instead of sugar
- Swap tasty cheese for Feta cheese
- Swap baby spinach for Iceberg Lettuce
- Swap brown rice for white rice
- Swap normal pasta for wholemeal pasta
- Swap salted savoury biscuits for hard boiled eggs
Swapping this for that doesn’t have to mean sacrificing taste, quality or food satisfaction. Think outside the square, be creative and most importantly think what will best fuel your body. Craving something sweet? Add Honey, craving something cheesy? Use Feta. Subtle changes go a long way to improving your energy on the job site – Greater efficiency, greater productivity and a better quality of life, it’s a no brainer!
Fuelling your body is about ensuring you never run out of gas. Our bodies are finely tuned vehicles, if we provide them with good fuel they will take us to good places.
For more information on how Muscle Joint Bone can help you, or to book an appointment contact Muscle Joint Bone Doreen on 9715 0582 or Muscle Joint Bone Epping on 9088 8228.