dinner hacks for people too tired to cook (for goop)

Over the years, I’ve noticed that while many of my clients more or less know what to do in terms of nutrition, and have every intention of incorporating healthier routines into their daily lives, they’re just not doing it. This means that the bulk of our work together plays out like a food therapy session—getting to the bottom of why they aren’t eating better. It always boils down to one simple reason: life gets in the way. We have so many responsibilities and obligations—work, school, raising young humans, the list goes on and on, that what ends up happening is that the day gets away from us and we wind up over-eating or making poor choices because of exhaustion, stress, or simply because we go into meals starving.

To combat this, it’s important to take a proactive, realistic approach. It’s also important to have some self-compassion. This means planning ahead and being honest with yourself about what’s reasonable and what’s not, and most importantly, not feeling guilty about the choices you end up making. The latter is arguably the most challenging. Leaving guilt at the door is what helps the process work—and for the record, I’ve seen even the highest-achieving type A’ers get there.

As much my clients wish they could make Pinterest-worthy dinners on the regular, that’s not always in the cards. It’s heartbreaking to hear how beat-down and guilty they feel about not being better mothers, partners, friends and caregivers, when of course that’s not the case. So I’ve adopted a self-compassionate, somewhat scrappy approach to dinner that involves minimal effort when time is ultra-scarce. Don’t get me wrong, I’m on a first name basis with several Postmates, so you know I’m all for ordering in. But disposable silverware doesn’t always cut it. Head to GOOP for four of my “recipes” that are all about doctoring-up grocery store items (mostly pre-prepared), making them feel special and at least a little fussed-over.

xx Shira