If you’re worried about staying healthy and fit, you’re likely to read articles regularly that encourage you to exercise six days a week, eat more homemade meals, and meditate daily. However, if you have got a 9-5 job at a far distance, children, and a home to look after, you might be asking yourself, “When will I sleep?”
You definitely know that you have to do that! In addition to all your responsibilities, all these things you have to do to stay healthy can get you feeling stressed. You might feel a tad guilty that you aren’t able to do them all.
Can a busy person with little time also be healthy? Yes! With some foresight and planning. Here some suggestions you can use to integrate healthy routines into your life. Pick 1/2 at a time to find out which ones are right for you without feeling overwhelmed.
Time Management
Set small, achievable goals and pen them down. Then plan the steps by step guide you’ll use to achieve them in your planning aid. Make sure you put everything, as well as exercise and relaxation in a timetable. If you feel there isn’t enough time to take care of yourself, keep a record of all you do for some days; you’ll probably find at least some time that has passed unnoticed.
Consider reducing your TV watching time, but that doesn’t mean you should stop watching altogether. To paraphrase the author of Take Time for Your Life, Cheryl Richardson, you should spend every little time you have during the day doing activities that push you towards your set goals.
Put your time to good use, for instance, you’re going to see a doctor, the time you spend waiting, read a book, or answer your emails before you’re called in.
Workout
Fit time for a short exercise into your schedule. A lot of experts believe you can keep your physical fitness by doing 20-minute workouts three times a week. You can surf online for any quick workout routine that has both aerobics and weight exercise. Although to get effective results, you have to be serious with it by doing them intensively for those few minutes.
If 60mins (1hr) is too much for you, try what you can. Sometimes we’re so tied up, and you’ll be like, “I have only10 minutes; there’s no need to bother myself.” However, what you don’t know is that, that 10 minute is valuable during which you can: put on your workout shoes and go out for a short walk; put on the radio and play some songs and dance all over the house; stretch, or pick up a hand weight or two bottled water and do some squats, triceps kickbacks, and bicep curls.
Preparation of Meals
Use a list when shopping for groceries. As a matter of fact, if you always shop for the same amount of household or food items, take some time to draft a regular shopping list you can print out and tick off as the day goes by. Making use of lists will help you get everything you need without having to go back to the store for something you forgot.
Prepare simple meals. Often, these can be the healthiest. If you love cooking more elaborate meals, devote one or two nights per week to that, and cook a simpler meal the remaining days. Whenever you’re thinking of trying new recipes, make your own guidelines for choosing them. For example, you can decide not to select a recipe having over eight ingredients, or any recipe that requires a trip to a special store. Clean off the slow cooker and make use of it. You can find many healthy recipes online that involve a slow cooker.
Design a 21-day meal plan and interchange those same recipes. You’ll have an array of options, you won’t need to spend time thinking of what to cook every day.
“Cook once and eat twice”—always make extra for leftovers that can be taken the next day as lunch or for dinner the next evening. Dedicate an evening/Sunday afternoon to preparing food for the week. Split the meals into servings and chill or freeze them. Chop vegetables in advance that you’ll use for recipes that do not freeze well, such as stir fry.
Whole grains can be used to make all-round side dishes or main courses. Cook a large batch of quinoa, brown rice, or buckwheat. Cooked whole grains can last up to five days in the refrigerator. Take whatever you need to make a meal from the fridge and add ingredients that make it fitting for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
Form a cooking friendly society. Find people, friends, or neighbors who’d love cooking a meal for some families. One day a week, one person has the responsibility of preparing and delivering a meal to every family in the society. Even if you only find three willing participants, you don’t have to cook three nights a week!
Managing Stress
You probably know the importance of dealing with stress, but creating time to quietly sit and clear your head does not seem to be an option for you. Integrate small periods of relaxation techniques into your program: Doing a deep breathing exercise while sitting at a traffic light, or practicing a moving meditation as you walk, or a mindfulness meditation while washing your dishes.
Consider your healthy choices. For example, you can try to avoid using the microwave to heat meals. But if you come home late one night from work and you’re by the stove stressed-out as the food warms up, consider how exhausted and hungry you are, how late you’re going to eat and how it will affect your weight, how you’ll have another pot to wash, etc., then stop and think about the damage that this stress might cause you compared to the damage your food might cause after a minute in the microwave.
The expectation or even the attempt to achieve flawlessness in any area in your life is a hefty burden to bear. When your week is a difficult one, relax your norms; you can continue when things slow down. Yes, shopping at the farmers’ market is a good idea for several reasons. But if you’re busy and just can’t manage to get there in addition to going to a grocery store, then let it go.
It doesn’t matter how busy you are; with some planning and preparation, you can still accomplish wellness. When you try to find a balance, consider how valuable your time is, and what’s really important to you. You’ll only cause more stress if you’re being hard on yourself. Keep this in mind: Every little step you take brings you one step closer to your health goals.
With Gratitude and Love
Dewvy 
