Q&A: I Don’t Have Time for Paleo

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This post was written by Neely Quinn.

confused1-300x197.jpgWith both parents working crazy work schedules, kids to drive around, and long commutes, it’s really easy to say you just don’t have time for Paleo. Here’s one busy parent’s plight and my suggestions for him.


Hello Neely,

My wife and I are (still) trying to get the paleo thing going in our family, but with both of us working full-time plus, and with church obligations, and with a seventeen year-old and a three-year-old, we’re having a dickens of a time getting it going. Is the paleo cleanse ebook designed for extremely busy, extremely budget bound people like us? We’re both typically away from the house 10 hours a day or more, and it’s been entirely too easy to pick up something at Wendy’s on the way home or pop a frozen pizza into the oven, as opposed to actually cooking and the associated cleanup.

We’re both needing and wanting to get this paleo thing going, both for our health and for the kids, but it’s been a real bear to get started and to STAY with it. Do you have any advice or recommendations for us?

Thanks for your time,
Dow ∴


Hi Dow,

Honestly, no, the 21-Day Paleo Cleanse ebook is not meant for you. It’s meant for people who have severe symptoms and the Paleo diet has not been able to resolve those symptoms. Our Quickstart Guide ebook may not even be meant for you because in both cases there’s at least some cooking involved every day.

Of course you can try the Quickstart Guide out, rearrange your schedule a  little and see if you can make it work. But I think you’re going to need to cook in bulk instead.

Cooking in Bulk
You’ll need to spend a couple nights or days a week making large batches of things you can have in the fridge for the week and then freeze some for later dates. Things like chilis, stews, crockpots, or whatever strikes your fancy – foods you’ll eat for lunches and dinners. Invest in glass tupperwares of all sizes so you can easily and safely store these things for long periods of time. They’ll also allow you to store serving-size bowls that are ready for you to grab and go to work with. You may even want to invest in another refrigerator so you have room for all these big tupperwares. Seriously.

Breakfast
You can even do this for breakfast – make a very large batch of egg muffins (ours or there are plenty of recipes online) or even a sweet variety of Paleo muffins (like our Pumpkin Muffins), then make a large batch of bacon to pinch pieces from through the week. That way you can grab your breakfast in the morning and go.

Or do a whole bunch of hard boiled eggs at one time (almost no effort necessary) and have them on hand for breakfasts and snacks. Have LOTS of fruit on hand, lots of nuts and seed mixes made up, even the kind with chocolate in them just to keep you away from other no-nos.

Snacks
Roast chicken or burgers or pork chops or whatever in bulk in the oven (takes no more than 13 minutes for several pounds of chicken breast cutlets) and stick them in a glass container in the fridge. Then you can have that on hand to make salads or for snacks with a piece of fruit or whatever. Keep lots of avocados and raw veggies that you’ll eat on hand. Honestly, a whole avocado sprinkled with salt is one of my most favorite quick snacks. And carrots and celery are always good for munching on.

Personal Chef… Really.
It may even be worth your money to invest in a personal chef to help you. I know that sounds expensive, but it’s not always. You could hire a personal chef to do your shopping for you, come to your house and cook all your stuff and put it in your fridge and freezer for the entire week (or two weeks) and it might cost you $25-$75 an hour for their time. That’s not as bad as having a mansion full of servants, which is what we imagine when we think “personal chef”. And it’s definitely not so bad when you think about the illnesses/medications/health insurance costs you’ll incur by being unhealthy and continually gaining weight through the years (if that’s a problem of yours). Don’t know where to find a personal chef? I just googled “personal chef” and came up with 57,600,000 results. I’m hopeful there’s one in your area.

So those are my suggestions for now. Good luck to you!

Anyone else have any suggestions?