Busy Schedule, Healthy Life

Living a healthy lifestyle and becoming more fit are two goals that seem to always be put on the back burner. I get it- you have a busy schedule. I mean it’s 2015, who isn’t busy? Your mind is racing every minute of every day and it’s overwhelming. Life can be so stressful that some days you feel like you could simply break at the drop of a hat. So how do you stay fit (and sane) on top of school, work, home life, social lives, kids, errands, etc.?

Let me show you how I do it.

Right now, I am a full time student, part time employee (sometimes full time), on the side nanny, girlfriend, and Dog Mommy. I still make the time to workout 5 days a week and live a healthy life style. It seems crazy some days, but I know that the healthier I am the more likely I am to succeed in this crazy non-stop life of mine. So, what are you? Are you a mom, dad, student, employee, friend, or sibling? If so, people in your life need you to be the best version of you! So let’s take 5 minutes out of our day and figure out how we can live a healthy lifestyle on top of all this madness that we love to call our lives.

What are your goals?

This question seems so generic- trust me I tried to re-word it a million different ways. But honestly, what do you want out of life? Maybe it’s to run a 5k in a few months, fit into your skinny jeans for the holidays, or maybe your goal is to simply have the energy to play with your kids. Now, write down this goal of yours.

When you make a goal, be sure to have a reasonable time period to achieve it by. For example, my goal is to start seeing more definition in my stomach (ahem... ABS!) by the time I go to Florida in early January. Do I want a 6-pack? Not really. But I would love to see some flattening out of the stomach and a little bit of definition. So with that I have my goal, and my time frame.

How can you reach this goal?

What are you doing right now that is either helping or hindering your success toward this goal? Here is my example again.

Goal: Get more definition in the stomach area by January

How can I reach this? I already go to the gym 5x week and I eat pretty healthy yet my stomach is my main issue.

1-    Stop snacking on bad foods. Yes I know, I have a health and fitness blog therefore I must be so healthy. However, Halloween just passed and the kids I nanny for have SO much candy. It can be hard to turn down sometimes.

2-    Target abs more during my workouts. I hit arms, legs, and cardio perfectly. However, I always seem to skip out on core work. Which is not the greatest idea because working your core can improve your overall performance and form in the gym!

There are my two steps for reaching my goal.

Hold Yourself Accountable.

Get some friends to join this healthy lifestyle with you, or schedule it into your daily calendar in order to make sure you have the time to workout! For example, every Monday and Tuesday I workout at 6:00 am, Thursdays I workout at 3pm, my rest days are Sunday and Wednesday. Make a schedule. Hold yourself accountable! Find some great group classes that you can partake in to really get yourself motivated!

Prep Your Food For The Week!

Take one day, like a Sunday, and bake (or grill out) some chicken, veggies, and prep all of your foods in advanced! For example, on Sundays I like to cook up 3 or 4 chicken breast, wash all my fruits and veggies and put them into easy access containers, cut up all my Hearts of Romaine and wash it and store it in a container, wash off all my caned corn and black beans (I love making a chipotle bowl for lunch!) and then I like to pre package all my snacks into baggies to make packing lunch a lot easier. The more prep work you do, the more likely you are to succeed!

Tip: Keep healthy snacks at your works desk or just on hand. Kind bars, almonds, healthy trail mix, apples, etc. A great tip I found online: “Instead of hitting up the vending machine or office candy bowl for an afternoon snack, I bought five pieces of fresh fruit each week and displayed them on my desk on Monday morning. Whenever I wanted a snack, it was the first thing I saw, so I was able to keep my munchies light and nutritious. I also hated to see fresh food go to waste, so I never let a day go by without eating a piece, which helped keep my hunger steady so I didn't overeat later in the day”.

Lastly, Make it fun.

You’re supposed to drink half your body weight in ounces of water per day. Each time you hit this goal, put a dollar in a jar. Once you hit a certain amount, buy yourself a pair of new pants! You can also food prep or workout with friends as well. Make this whole process fun. Living a healthy lifestyle shouldn’t be a chore, make it something you truly love and it’ll become part of your life!