233: Eating Well as a Busy Pet Sitter
Summary
How do you plan your meals throughout the week? What makes a good snack for a busy dog walker and pet sitter? It’s not easy and is unique for everyone. We sent out a survey to other pet sitters to get a better idea of what others have experienced. Our businesses run on our bodies. So, we should seriously consider what we’re putting into it. For preparing the night before, to staying hydrated, there are simple things to get on a better track. We share some of the biggest struggles to planning meals, how to overcome them, and hacks to being more consistent. Then, Natasha shares her best piece of business advice.
Topics on this episode:
Snacks
When'/where to eat lunch?
Staying consistent
Why even do this?
Ask a Pet Biz Coach
Main takeaway: Food is medicine and we need a well fed body and mind to run our business. Planning a little helps be more consistent and to have healthier meal schedule.
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A VERY ROUGH TRANSCRIPT OF THE EPISODE
Provided by otter.ai
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
eat, meal, walks, food, busy, people, pet sitter, bodies, business, planning, week, meal planning, question, stay, dehydrated, day, drinks, running, snacks, consistent
SPEAKERS
Meghan, Collin
Meghan 00:17
Hi, I'm Meghan Collin and this is pet sitter confessional and open and honest discussion about life as a pet sitter. Hello, welcome to episode 233. Hello. We hope you are doing well. And getting ready for the holidays. They are coming this week is Thanksgiving here in the United States. And we are ramping up.
Collin 00:43
We sure are, we want to thank our Patreon members like Jennifer Teresa, and Alicia for making today's show possible. And for being monthly contributors. We have two different tiers, a $5 and a $15. Level, the $15 level gets you early access and some more behind the scenes things to the show. And you can go to pet search professionals comm forward slash support to learn more about that.
Meghan 01:07
Today we are talking about meals as a pet sitter. And this is a pretty important topic because everyone eats. As you know, pet sitters and dog walkers are constantly busy from sunup to sundown, and particularly during the noon hour and midday. So it is very important to eat right, eat healthy, and really plan out what you're going to do. Because otherwise you're just not going to eat very healthy food.
Collin 01:34
So we really want to thank you for answering the survey questions that we had posted over the weekend on social media. We're just two people and only have our experiences to work from for what's worked with us and what we've done in the past as far as planning around meals. There are so many food choices out there. And everyone has unique tastes and backgrounds and needs in their days. So we wanted to get a variety of answers to make this episode as diverse as it could be when it comes to working with food.
Meghan 02:04
And so we hope that this episode will help you think outside the box. We are so appreciative of those that took the time to answer the survey questions. And hopefully this will also help you make wise choices when it comes to meals on the go.
Collin 02:17
With that said, we are not doctors or nutritionists. So as we discuss what's worked for other people, or what has worked for us, remember to always consult with your doctor and most importantly, hear listen to your body when changing the food diet and the meals that you have throughout the week. So let's dive into the survey results. The very first question we asked was do you meal prep? And
Meghan 02:40
52% said no, which is pretty much half and half. So some people do. Some people don't?
Collin 02:47
Yeah, it's really not surprising, because I think that the term meal prep and the idea of meal prepping, can be off putting to people and they don't really know how to do it. And then there are those who have really found that it works well for them. So when it comes to struggles with meal planning and meal preparation, we have a lot of responses here around time. So there was time time to cook prep shop, no time to heat up food when they're on the go.
Meghan 03:11
Well, it makes sense. Because again, we are all busy, we don't really take a lot of time off. We work seven days a week, a lot of us sunup to sundown, and we just don't make time for it.
Collin 03:22
Well, yeah, meal planning takes time preparing your meals ahead, or at least thinking about them takes time, which is something that we don't have a lot of. And Wi Fi would find interesting about this is that we try and save time with meals during the week by planning the meals. But we don't have time for that either. So I think what's really important here is to start small, do something like plan out the drinks that you're going to have for the week, then start adding on the snacks once the drinks become second nature and build from there. And also when it comes to time, anytime that we are concerned with time constraints are when we're going to do things, it's all about being consistent. So set a time and day for you to prep and plan. And that planning can be as much or as little as you want it to be. For a lot of people, it's just going to be sitting down and thinking about what they want. For others, it's actually going to be putting those meals together and cooking and boxing and separating them. So Sunday night from three to four or whatever you need that's going to work with your schedule some time that you can be consistent with.
Meghan 04:21
I think the key here is also to make it a priority. If this is something that is very important to you or you really want to start doing this and make it a habit, then make time for it. So a couple years ago, this has nothing to do with food or meal prep but a couple years ago we had signed up for a three month gym membership and we went a lot we went every morning he would go at six I would go at 5am It was a lot but we made it work we made time for it and then after that three month membership we really didn't go anymore. We should have renewed but anyway the point
Collin 04:57
of this wow I feel called out
Meghan 05:00
But the point of this is, we no longer made time for it, we had those three months that we set aside, and we purposefully got up every morning and went to the gym. And when we no longer did that it wasn't a priority. So if meal planning and eating the right foods, and making sure that you don't go through the drive thru every day is important to you, then make it a habit, make time for it and make it a priority. It's that
Collin 05:25
big word intentionality. being intentional with your actions, which actually gets to two of the other struggles that came up a lot was inspiration, keeping things interesting, and then forgetting it in the fridge the day of so inspiration, keeping it interesting, when we are intentional about this means we're actively searching for things or we're actually asking for ideas and help and then integrating that into our process. And then for getting it in the fridge, the day of this is totally something that I do and have done and will probably continue to do for the rest of my life. So major tip here, if you can put it in a cooler the night before and set it by the back door or set it by the door on your way out so that you know you have to walk past it, put it by your shoes, put it by your toothbrush, put it by your bag, put it by something else that you know, you have to grab something we've talked about before. It's called habit stacking. I always put on my shoes. So if I'm adding a new habit here of taking my food with me, it's got to go by my shoes, so I don't forget it.
Meghan 06:21
Well, if it's in a cooler, why don't you just put it in the car anyway,
Collin 06:24
depends on if you're if you're busy. Or maybe you want to add something to it, or however you have it structured your day. But you totally could take this all the way to its ultimate conclusion is make the food and then walk out to your car and immediately put it in the car in a cooler if you have that availability.
Meghan 06:39
The third question that we asked was, What are some of your favorite meal hacks when dog walking, and I loved so many of these. So one of the people that responded said that they eat right before they leave for the day and they eat right when they get back. So they don't really snack throughout the day necessarily. They don't really eat while they're gone. They just make sure that they have a really hearty breakfast and a really hearty dinner.
Collin 07:03
Well. And that would be my fear for this kind of thing is it's going to work for some people I know it probably wouldn't work for me because I tend to misjudge how much food I'm going to need over a period of time. And food really is a science. When people talk about running a marathon. There's the physical aspect, there's the mental aspect. And then there's the diet aspect. The diet plays a huge role in your body's ability to function and keep pushing through and for you to function and run your business. So I would just be concerned about this of betting all of my chips on that one meal right before I get out the door and hoping it's going to last me through everything that's in sustain me through everything that's going to happen, and then gorged myself when I come back so again, this is one of the things of you know yourself, you know, your body and your schedule, and that's what's really most important about this entire discussion.
Meghan 07:51
Somebody else said protein shakes and protein bars. Somebody else loves snap peas or a carrot mix nuts, dried Sesame Tofu strips, overnight oats. Somebody said an Egg McMuffin.
Collin 08:04
The overnight oats is something I've always wanted to try. And we've just again, never have been intentional about it. But I think that would be really delicious.
Meghan 08:11
Somebody said soup in a cup on a cold day, a healthy lunch wrap protein again, protein shakes. Another hack here is keep condiments that don't need refrigeration in your car. So little ketchup packets or mustard. And then if you don't have time to bring a lunch, you can stop at a shop for some bread rolls and ham and make a little sandwich on the go. Single Serve guacamole with veggies or crackers. I SEOs at the store sometimes I think they also have hummus options as well. Those are that's a great tip,
Collin 08:41
you're noticing that a lot of these are almost zero prep at all, or they require nothing done to them. So there's no heat meal. So something you don't have to heat up, prepare, mix together, it's all ready to go really simple that you can grab and you're not having to worry about how am I going to actually consume this.
Meghan 08:58
Another hack that somebody said is batch cooking. So you cook once and you eat two or three times off of that one meal that you've cooked. So an instapot is great for this. They also utilize their freezer and cooking lots during slower weeks to freeze meals for later. So if you are not as busy two weeks ago, but you are slammed this week, you could have frozen a lot of meals a couple weeks ago for in preparation for this coming. Busy Thanksgiving week.
Collin 09:23
Well and that really works for people who enjoy leftovers or not, or are okay eating the same meals for a couple days in a row. That's a struggle for more people. So it's a way of preparing three four different varieties and alternating them throughout the week. Again, that does take time, but we are using that time when we are less busy with our business where we have more time investing. So that takes planning looking ahead and knowing what your schedule actually is. When it comes to what kind of snacks people are actually taking in out there in the field. These really aren't surprising there's a lot of fruit trail mix. raw veggies granola bars.
Meghan 10:00
Somebody mentioned buying a dehydrator so you can dehydrate your food and dry them out. So they're not quite as messy.
Collin 10:05
It's something I've literally always wanted to do do. My parents grew up when I grew up, my parents dehydrated, all sorts of fruits and things that we would take on hikes. And it was a really great way to just have easy access to these fruits and vegetables whenever you needed them. A lot
Meghan 10:20
of people also said granola bars, peanut butter on rice cakes, or celery and peanut butter. You know, getting in that protein. Any way you can roll meat. Somebody said cheese sticks, yogurt, somebody eats the salad right out of the bag,
Collin 10:36
that's a pretty big vault life hack with you right there have the dressing and then no worries about a bowl, just open the bag, throw the dressing in, shake it up and eat it. I do really like that.
Meghan 10:48
We also love our x bars, and then or gain drinks and bars as well. We're getting has a vegan option for their smoothies. And we are I think our kids are
Collin 10:58
there 95% or gain vegan smoothies at this point? I'm pretty sure yeah,
Meghan 11:03
they're wonderful. The next question was, when do you find time to eat lunch on a busy day? So some people do comment, you know, fast food, if I have tons of walks booked from 10 to two or nine three, and I just can't get it in a fast food is an option. It's not necessarily the best option, but it is an option. Yep. And then
Collin 11:23
of course you're eating in the car between visits, which was I think, the most common answer when people answered, when do I have time to do this? It's in
Meghan 11:31
the car. Yeah. And again, not the safest option. But it's, you know, if you're a busy pet sitter and dog walker, that's kind of what you got to deal with, is eating in the car on the go. And people said also, every day is different. And that makes sense. If you don't have a predictable schedule, if you don't have consistent Monday through Friday walks, and you're just doing vacation drop ins, or a walk here and there, it does look different every day,
Collin 11:55
which is something again, when it comes to planning, because each meal is different each day is different. And we had several responses that were also more along the lines of being a grazer or eating much smaller meals throughout the day. And I think this is a really good way to go. Because when it comes to eating a lot or eating a big meal that takes time, we don't have a lot of time. So if we spread that out over a longer period of time, we can eat shorter meals. But if you're trying to regulate blood sugars, or if you don't like grazing, that is going to have to maybe adjust your walk schedule or your drophead schedule so that you can have a short block of time so that you can get the meal that you need.
Meghan 12:34
Yeah, somebody did mention I make sure I block out my own lunch hour away in advance, right. So if your business allows it and you want an hour lunch break, do it. It's that's an easy way to make sure that you yourself aren't taken care of and can devote yourself to the walks and the drop ins the rest of the day.
Collin 12:52
If you don't have that full hour, you might do what someone else suggested was they take 10 minutes between their walks to sit in the van, check messages, eat, etc. So not doing one big chunk, but spacing out that that schedule. So it's they're not quite as tight together, giving you a little bit of breathing room to do Yes, eat and do all this stuff. But also relax and recollect yourself before you go back on thrush
Meghan 13:13
day. Another answer was that somebody ate while they did a play yard visit. So not only should walk but if you have just a drop in visit where you're just letting the dog outside in the backyard. That is a good time to eat a meal.
Collin 13:26
Yeah. Well, and that gets to the next question was, do you ever use a client's house to heat up or make food? So a lot of the answers that we just had were about eating in the car or eating in between visits? But what about eating in the client's house or even using their house to make your food? And 42% said no.
Meghan 13:45
Yeah, they said I don't have time to sit and eat. So I'm just on the go all the time. Lots of dog walks, and I don't have time to heat up food of my clients house.
Collin 13:53
Or they could just be uncomfortable doing so or don't think it's appropriate to be using your clients, microwave or utensils to make your lunch?
Meghan 14:02
Yeah, so the other 58% obviously are okay with it. Or at least have asked ahead of time. Can I use your microwave? Can I use your oven,
Collin 14:12
which I think is something is totally acceptable that you should ask before you do it, especially if you're using their things I mean, you know which clients that would work best with and not just with those that would be more amenable to it but also those with pets that may be okay with it. You're not busy for that full entire visit. Or more likely instead of eating in your car in between visits you if you get there 10 minutes, 15 minutes early, going into the house, eating preparing your meal and then starting your visit at the appropriate time.
Meghan 14:42
One of the biggest problems that we mentioned with meal planning is consistency. So the question is how do you stay consistent with your meals? A huge answer was I
Collin 14:51
don't not surprising there.
Meghan 14:55
So it's every day looks different. Every meal is gonna look different and what you Are you able to prepare or what you just grabbed out of the pantry is going to look different. So plan ahead. That's kind of the whole impetus for this episode is planning your meals, making sure that you are taking care of your body is healthy, you are able to deliver the dog walks and the dropins. And the care for the pets the best to your ability, you know, our bodies are a temple. And so we nourish them, we give them good things. And then in return, we are able to provide the dog walks and the drop in
Collin 15:29
again, that meal planning that planning ahead is all in what you make it it can be something like making easy meals, like sandwiches, or maybe it's just you're consistent with one meal or two meals a day where you always get what you need there. As we've mentioned, a lot of times consistency, maybe eating small meals frequently and drinking lots of water. Or I really liked this idea. This is the idea behind breakfast oats is making breakfast or lunch the night before. So before you go to bed, because a lot of us start the day really early. And we don't want to have to wake up any earlier. And in those early morning hours, it's easy to forget things leave the lunch in the refrigerator. So making breakfast and lunch the night before. So it's ready for you when you get up. meal planning is also about not just putting the ingredients together, but having a shopping list. And thinking through that process of what you need. So when you do go to the grocery store, actually have that list on hand that's detailed out for you, that covers the basics and buy those things every single week. So you know, I always buy one gallon of almond milk, I always buy my tofu over here, I always buy these vegetables that's consistent, that's the same so that you don't have to think about it. meal planning, meal preparation is all about getting you to stop thinking about your food and focusing on other things. So being consistent being the same is a great way to get on the right foot for that.
Meghan 16:50
But again, that takes time. So if this is something that you're going to make a priority, be intentional with it and make time for it. A popular trend right now is intermittent fasting. And so if you are on board with that, or you want to try it, that just means that you go large blocks of time without eating. So it could be you know, 1012 up to 14 hours without eating. And then you spend the rest of the day eating what you want. But it's supposed to allow your body time to rest and recover from your food and adjust your metabolism throughout the day. So is that it's all about planning. But what are some actual recipes that you can have there were several people that actually answered bake chicken with veggies and rice. So I think that's a pretty popular dish well and delicious
Collin 17:37
and very simple to put together. And you don't have to be a three star Michelin to do that.
Meghan 17:43
Yeah, somebody said an easy ham sandwich. Somebody said the drive thru, which can get expensive, but it is an option. There's
Collin 17:49
my personal favorite peanut butter and jelly. It's a go to classic. I could probably eat about seven of those a day. Well don't do right. Save some for the kids. Yeah.
Meghan 17:58
Here's also a pasta salad. Somebody answered yogurt and granola, canned tuna salad, a low carb, French garlic, chicken. That sounds really good. And then fried rice so you can cook the rice ahead of time. Use the frozen veggies and whatever protein you have on hand. This person loves scrambled eggs.
Collin 18:16
We've talked through some of the struggles. We've talked through some of people's favorite hacks about that. But what about other advice that we could share about meals snacks? For the busy dog walker or pet sitter?
Meghan 18:27
One of the answers was it's important to eat as clean as possible when you're walking as much as we do. Cut out all the sodas and candies and crap, drink lots of water and eat your greens.
Collin 18:39
And that gets to the point again about our bodies. We are what we eat. And when we are eating clean when we're eating healthy, that helps our body not just our bodies be healthier. It also helps our minds be more clear, be more consistent. And when we're treating food, like it's medicine, we are doing some preventative care in our bodies so that we can be in this business for as long as they want to be.
Meghan 19:00
Another answer was meal prep smoothies for mornings to grab and go. I do know that if you mix in chia seeds, it gets a little gloopy. So I wouldn't recommend that doing that the night before. But otherwise your flaxseed and your protein powder and all that should be good
Collin 19:13
to go. Yeah, and love those big green smoothies that we really need to get back into making more consistently.
Meghan 19:19
We had a lot of great advice and responses to this question like give yourself at least a 10 to 15 minute break to eat or take a pause in your day even if it's in your car. Another one was flasks with hot soup, tea or chili is a must have in winter and keep cereal bars in the glove box for emergency snacking.
Collin 19:39
And I really liked that this was pointed out because seasonally you're going to want to have different food with you when you're on the go and having the idea of having hot soup. What does that mean? Oh, I want hot soup in the middle of the day. I have to have a really good thermos. So you have to have that thermos and then you have to have that thermos filled with soup so you have to make the soup and at each stage we're taking one onset backing on what do I need to do that? What do I need to accomplish that what tools must I have in my toolbox to get to the point where I'm eating hot soup in the middle of the car in the middle of the winter in my car, it can take some thinking through. But that's what we're trying to get to is saying the if I want this meal, what are the steps that takes me to get to that point, and a thermos and hot soup? That's great.
Meghan 20:24
Several people said, keeping it simple during your busy day and plan for a good dinner in the evening, prepping that breakfast and lunch the night before, is a game changer. Several people said they randomly pack food first thing in the morning. And that's not really advisable. Because a lot of times you're just throwing in stuff and not really thinking about exactly what's going to fill you up a lot of the protein, and you're just thrown in some random bars
Collin 20:51
or something. Well, that gets back to the importance of shopping well and shopping consistently. So that what the things that you have on hand in your house are predictable and are good for you that you know, okay, if you get to that point where you're just randomly shoving things in a bag really early in the morning, what you're grabbing off of your shelves and out of your pantry and cabinets, is actually good for you. And again, you're not having to think about it too much. It's already there. But you want to avoid that last minute scramble because again, you're throwing in a bunch of probably snacks, really light meals that might not fill you up throughout the entirety of the day. So having that plan before is is really what we're getting at here. And what a lot of this vice really circled around was at least one night before, maybe two days having that planned and prepared ready for you.
Meghan 21:37
A great tip someone had was always keep hand sanitizer, napkins, wet wipes and plastic utensils in your car. Yes, amen. Keep food that needs to be refrigerated in the backseat or trunk during the cold months if you forget a cooler, and then stay hydrated. That is obviously crucial when you're out as busy as we are.
Collin 21:56
And that's something we haven't really talked about throughout this episode is the importance of staying hydrated and drinking constantly. While you're out and about, you really get dehydrated very quickly, especially in the summer months. But even in the winter months with as busy as we are going on the walks going in and out. Being outside where the humidity is super low, you dry out very quickly. So it's one of those things where you're drinking constantly at each break in between visits while you're on the walk. And that goes a long way to helping satiate a lot of the hunger to when you're so busy.
Meghan 22:28
And the last piece of advice someone has is once you get in the habit, it will come easier knowing what you're going to eat all week is one less thing to stress out about. So give yourself a night off cooking for a takeout meal or a meal out too.
Collin 22:42
But why meal prep why go through all of this hassle also already said this helps you stay healthy. Food is medicine. It's a preventative way to take care of your body there is so much that the right food, vitamins and minerals can help with and help stave off
Meghan 22:58
on especially as dog walkers and pet sitters. We are sometimes walking miles and miles, I came up hills if you're doing adventure walks and really exerting our bodies. So we need to make sure that we're putting good things into our bodies so that we're able to give the best care possible to the animals.
Collin 23:13
Yeah, our businesses run on our bodies, if our bodies are not functioning, our businesses are not running and same to if you have staff members out there doing this. So it's something to encourage them with as well is that the business the service relies on us physically being able to do this. And when we are eating right when we're off balance when we don't have the sugars that we need when we're dehydrated. That impacts our bodies that impacts our mental ability, our mental acuity to solve problems, react to situation understand what's going on, run our business efficiently and avoid mistakes. All of that is tied up together. So by meal planning here, what it's doing is it's helping ensuring that we have yes the fuel but also the high quality food that we need to kick but
Meghan 24:00
we are so appreciative of all of the responses that we got for the survey, but we probably missed something if there is a question that you have or a recipe you would like to share with other pet sitters. Let us know we are on Facebook or Instagram at Pet Sitter confessional and if you would like to share it with a ton of other pet sitters you can do so on our Facebook group at sitter confessionals This
Collin 24:18
week on Ask a pet biz coach Natasha answer the question What would you say is your best piece of business advice for them
24:26
to if you're if you're just starting my advice would be to follow other industries I think that was one of the secret sauce that I had is that I wasn't running my business based off of the pet industry. I was running my business based off of my avatar and what they enjoy and and where they shot where they bought. So I would say from the beginning stay fresh stay original, because you want to be a trailblazer on your own. Try not to follow the trends of what you see everybody else doing. You know stay unique to yourself, but also take tips from other industries that really help you Stay inventive.
Collin 25:01
Do you have particular industries you sit and you mentioned your avatar, I guess maybe explain what an avatar is and why it's so important to have that as a business. Yeah, so
25:11
your avatar is your client, you know, their age, their gender background, what their hobbies are, where they tend to shot what they like, it's basically if you're creating a person, like I'm literally on my computer, creating this exact ideal person, you know, what would they think what, what's their emotions? How do they, how do they? What's their lifestyle for their dog? So I know my exact reason it looks a little bit like myself, but industries that I follow heavily are always hospitality, right. So we're all in the customer service field. Hospitality I follow the Ritz Carlton way is one of my favorite ways. It's a it's a sales psychology method and customer service that I've studied for years in my previous jobs. I also really like cruise ships. So I find just any hotel hospitality and then cruise ships running, wanting to like roll out the WoW factors. Those are the ones I tend to take tips from.
Meghan 26:12
As 2022 is coming down the pipe, if you are looking at your business and want a revamp or just want a coach to come in and kind of help you through some issues that you're having, Natasha opionion is an excellent guide and coach for you. If you would like to work with her one on one you can do so at start scale sale, calm and use the code P SC 20, or 15% off. Thank you for listening to this episode, we hope that it was helpful to you. And we hope that it gave you some ideas and ways to start implementing good food, good nutrition into your daily life.
Collin 26:45
No, especially as you mentioned at the very beginning as we start getting into the very busy season of the holidays, where time is gold to us. And we really need to be taking advantage of the moments that we have in order to be making ourselves healthier and running the businesses that we want to be running. So meal prepping, planning a little bit of forethought and and thinking about what we want really goes a long way, especially during the busy times.
Meghan 27:09
We also want to thank our wonderful Patreon members who support us every month with the price of a cup of coffee. Thank you so much. Thank you, and thank you also for listening. Have a great week. Bye
