7 Easy Ways to Eat Better During a Busy Week

1. Decide once, not seven times

Choosing what to eat is a small decision that you make dozens of times a week, usually when you are tired and hungry. Pick four or five dinners on the weekend and repeat them. You will shop faster, waste less and think about it far less.

2. Keep a shortlist of ten-minute meals

• Eggs with wholegrain toast and tomatoes.
• Tinned beans or lentils with rice and a spoon of yoghurt.
• Wholemeal pasta with tuna, olive oil, lemon and rocket.
• Omelette with whatever vegetables are in the fridge.
• Wrap with hummus, salad, and leftover roast chicken.

3. Cook once, eat twice

When you cook rice, grains or a sauce, make double. The second portion becomes a lunch or a fast dinner later in the week with almost no extra effort or washing up.

4. Build a reliable store cupboard

A decent meal is much easier when the basics are already in the house. Tinned tomatoes and pulses, frozen vegetables, eggs, rice, pasta, olive oil, garlic, herbs and spices will cover most weeknights.

Frozen vegetables are picked and frozen quickly and are a genuinely convenient way to add more plants to a meal.

5. Add rather than remove

Strict rules tend to collapse on the days you need them most. Instead of cutting things out, add something: a handful of salad on the side, beans into a bolognese, fruit with breakfast. The meal gets better without becoming a project.

6. Plan the hard day, not the easy one

Look at your week and find the evening you are most likely to be late, tired or out. Plan something for that day specifically — a batch-cooked portion in the freezer or a five-minute option — and the rest usually takes care of itself.

7. Keep lunch boring on purpose

A repeatable lunch you genuinely like is a small superpower. It removes a daily decision, costs less than buying food out and tends to be better balanced than whatever is nearest at 1pm.