When days are packed with client meetings and home showings, it can be hard for Realtors to remember to eat at all, much less eat well.
Still, staying energized is a key part of balancing the busy and often unpredictable work schedule that comes with being a real estate professional — so we asked a few Realtors and agents to weigh in on how they plan their meals and snacks on busy days.
Nuts and raisins are among the most popular healthy on-the-go snacks. Agents devour them to stay full when they don’t have time to eat anything else.
“Peanut butter on raisin bread,” Nickie Jordan, a Realtor at eXp Realty, wrote on the Inman Coast to Coast Facebook page.
While one broker said he lives on a steady diet of Red Bull energy drinks and Payday candy bars, thinking ahead of time is often key to making healthy choices. Nicole Caballero, a real estate adviser at Intero Real Estate in California, told Inman that on Sundays she prepares four small daily meals for everyone in her family to have for the week ahead.
“Perhaps I’m a freak of nature but I food prep every Sunday,” Caballero wrote on Inman’s Facebook page. “It helps keep healthy things at our fingertips.”
Courtesy of Nicole Caballero
For those who do not have time to prepare meals so far in advance, fresh fruit, granola bars, pre-cut vegetables and low-fat cheese are all popular options that are also easy to pack. Hydration is often as important as the meals themselves — water, and lots of it, has been named as a lifesaver by many a Realtor.
“I drink lots of water and I keep a cooler bag with some nuts, cheese and low sugar beef jerky to snack on when I get hungry as it keeps you from eating fast food when on the run,” Scott McAllister, a Florida Keller Williams Realtor, told Inman. “Staying away from sugary foods and sticking to fats and protein keeps my energy level steady.”
Same goes for the protein — dried meat and nuts offer an easily transportable source.
“Water, protein shakes and dried fruit/nut combos,” said Aimee Ankeney, a Keller Williams Realtor in Colorado.
But on days when home showings pile up and nothing else will work, coffee can always be counted on to fuel the day.
“COFFEE,” said Greg Fox, a broker at Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Alliance in Kansas. “Lots of coffee.”
