"busy" news and stories

When we're busy, it can be hard to pull ourselves away from work. Some days it seems to just pile up much faster than we can possibly deal with it. Eating at your desk or in the car can seem like a good way to save a few minutes, but new studies show that working long hours has a negative impact on women's health - especially when it comes to food. And while overworking has an impact on men, it is a greater one on women. Women who work extremely long hours are likely to overeat, craving fatty, sugary, unhealthy snacks more often than any other group, and even stressful events (giving presentations, etc.) can trigger a craving.

But there is an easy solution for anyone, male or female, to controlling emotional eating: think about it. Don't mindlessly reach for another candy bar, but instead take a few minutes to de-stress and evaluate whether you really should eat it.

A survival strategy? Keep a piece (or two or three) of fresh fruit on your desk at all times. That way, even if you give in to the cravings for noshing at your desk, you can polish of a handful or two of grapes before even thinking about heading for the vending machine.

While overeating is something that we can work on, being busy is sometimes a fact of life. Check out our best foods for busy women for a few ideas on how to get through a jam-packed day.

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Just about every new cookbook recommends cooking extra food over the weekend to have on hand for weekday lunches and weeknight meals. There are entire cookbooks dedicated to the idea of a slow Sunday brunch. The theory behind this cook-on-weekends advice is that people have more free time on the weekends. And that they want to spend it cooking.

In theory, it's a great idea to use the obligation-free weekends to cook. On Sunday, you probably have a more leisurely morning than on the average Monday, and if you cook ahead, you don't have to worry about food during the generally busy work/school week. The problem is that weekends are not obligation-free and can be just as busy as the week, with errands, events and, if you have kids, everything from music lessons to soccer games. When you're running around from one place to another for 10 hours straight, there isn't much time or energy left to cook for one night, let alone 6 others.

Now, I do cook on the weekends, and I love the idea of a long Sunday brunch, but I do not wait until the weekends to cook. Instead, I try to cook most days, not "saving" the work until it needs to take up one massive chunk of time to get it done. But is it actually easier to do it this way? Cooking as much as you can at one time? I can't say. But if you are someone who is able to plan out a whole week at once like this, I would love to hear about how you manage it in the comments section below!

Health magazine put together their list of what they considered to be the "best foods for busy women." What they clearly meant to say was the "best pre-packaged meals/snacks for busy women". There isn't anything necessarily wrong with this sort of meal, but I would hardly go so far as to say it is the "best," since my definition of "best" does not generally include a lot of shelf-stable pre-packaged meals. Nevertheless, here are their picks:

Breakfast
South Beach Diet Denver-Style Breakfast Wrap
Post Raisin Bran Cereal Bars

Lunch
Starkist Albacore Lemon & Cracked Pepper Tuna Fillet
Thai Kitchen Thai Peanut Noodle Car

Dinner
Lean Cuisine Dinnertime Selections Chicken Portobello
Uncle Ben's Ready Rice Whole Grain Brown

Snack
Kettle Brand Bakes Hickory Honey BBQ

Dessert
Edy's/Dreyer's Slow Churned Light Ice Cream French Silk
100 Percent Whole Grain Chips Ahoy! Cookies

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With very few exceptions, I have never had a problem getting a reservation at a restaurant that I wanted to eat at. Holidays like Valentine's Day can pose their own problems, of course, but I am speaking of an ordinary night out. If I have not been able to get a reservation, I go somewhere else. If the restaurant is closing when I walk in, I go somewhere else. Some people don't want to go somewhere else, though, and either bribe the hostess or outright lie to get in. They have fake reservations. A fake reservation is what some diners use to get into restaurants that are full or closing, knowing that most restaurants will not question their claim. But here's something they may not know: they're not fooling anyone. The restaurant knows that you're faking.

No matter how much you want to eat at a restaurant, it's not going to be as satisfying if you're faking. Service will be slower because the staff is slammed. The staff will be annoyed that they have to hang around for hours after closing. You'll get annoyed because your waiter is brusque, or not all the specials are available. Try using OpenTable.com to make your reservation based on existing availability. This way you won't have to fake it.

With drive-thru service now accounting for up to 70% of fast food sales, the mind boggles to hear that companies are trying to speed up their drive thru service. One method of speeding up service is to route calls to call centers - instead of simply receiving them inside the restaurant over a speaker or radio - to increase accuracy. Companies have found this to be relatively effective, particularly in areas where their employees have limited English skills. The call centers enter the menu items onto a central computer, which transmits the order directly into the restaurant's computers. Another strategy is to replace the traditional written menu board with a photo illustrated or digital one, hoping that tempting food imagery will help customers choose their food faster. There are even computer programs that average how much food needs to be cooking at any given moment.

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