You want to feel healthier, you might even know what it feels like.  

You have a clear vision for what your healthiest self looks like.

Every Sunday night you tell yourself, ‘this is the week I turn it around and commit to my goals’.  

So why can’t you achieve the plan that you’ve set out for yourself?

The most common obstacle I hear holding people back is time.

I get it! You’re b-u-s-y.  You’ve got a career to kick ass at.  Another person to give and show your love to. Clothes to clean.  Kids to chase and snuggle. The list could go on and on.

How the HECK are you supposed to find time for you?

Time is a funny thing.  We either have too much of it and feel bored, or there’s not enough and we’re running from thing to thing.  However, I think it’s the way we view time and how we schedule ourselves.  Here’s the thing, and don’t be too shocked, we get to choose how we spend our time.  Did you hear that? YOU have the power over your iCal, and if feeling great and being your healthiest self is important to you, you can choose the activities that help you achieve that feeling.  I know you have commitments to fulfill, but we can take action maximize our free time and channel it towards more effective things.

3 tips for getting healthy when you’re busy (AF) 

Plan Ahead  

One of the best ways to ensure maintenance of a healthy lifestyle when a busy week is impending is planning ahead. I know, I know ‘you’re not a planner’.  Give it a shot.

Get out a calendar, digital or old-fashioned pen and paper, and write down your commitments.  Fill in the rest of the time with how you would typically spend it – gym, TV time, Instagram, reading, cooking, eating.

Reflect and notice where you have a few hours that could be used more effectively and fill them in with new activities that will cater more towards your desired healthy lifestyle.

Perhaps it’s your lunch break when you eat at your desk scrolling mindlessly through articles or social media – try going for a walk instead!

Maybe it’s after dinner, you sit on the couch watching reality tv.  Try doing some crunches while you’re watching TV or make your healthy lunch for the following day.  My roommate and I do ‘sips and squats’ where we have our glass of vino and do a 45 minute workout – sips in between squats.

Meal Prep

Cooking ahead has changed my life.  I like to use the concept ‘cook once, eat (at least) twice.  This is hugely beneficial for a number of reasons.  

First of all, it eliminates decision making at the end of the day when your capacity to make a healthy decision is already depleted. It also provides consistency in your diet and gives you the ability to fill your fridge with healthy options to reach for when you’re in a pinch.  This will help you add in more good stuff that will eventually help you get rid of those unruly cravings. Finally, it will save you SO MUCH time and money when you can throw together a well-balanced meal and pack your lunch all at the same time.

I prefer items that I can throw in a bowl and mix together for a tasty meal.  Check out my weekly grocery shopping list at the bottom of this post for what I like to keep around and fill it in with some of your favorites.

Plan your meals out on paper, and pick one day a week to go to the grocery store to get everything you need. Set aside a few hours to prep a bunch of goodies. Don’t forget your list!  Some meals can be more complex and others can just be super simple.  It’s completely up to you and how much time you have.

Reprioritize & Shift your Mindset

Even though it may not feel like it, you have time.  I promise. Some weeks you might have more than others, but there is time to fit in at least a few healthy habits.  Keep in mind, it doesn’t have to be all or nothing.

You don’t need to have a smoothie for breakfast, a salad for lunch, and protein with steamed veggies for dinner to have a ‘healthy day’, and a 30 minute workout or even a walk is better than no movement, and getting in veggies.

Remember that whatever you do is enough for that day.

Let’s reframe how we perceive time with a little math equation: 

There are 7 days in a week x 24 hours a day = 168 hours every week that you get to delegate your actions to.

I hope that 6-8 X 7 of those hours are dedicated to sleep, so let’s call that 49 hours of sleep.

That leaves you with 119 sleep free hours of your own.

OK work, I know, you work.  Let’s call work 45 hours including a commute.

Even with work and sleep you still have 74 hours of time.  That’s a lot of time!

How will you choose to spend it?

My Grocery Shopping List 

These include items that I buy every week and things that I keep around all the time for easy, healthy meals.

• Coffee aka the holy grail
• Almond Milk
• Organic Eggs
• Sourdough Bread
• Oats
• Yogurt 
• Fruit (always bananas, sometimes berries or something that’s on sale)
• 2 Greens (kale, spinach, arugula, mesclun)
• Gluten free or chickpea pasta
• Avocados
• Hummus
• Roasting veggies (pick 2-3 sweet potatoes, cauliflower, brussels, broccoli)
• Frozen veggie burgers
• Veggies steam or eat raw (zucchini, peppers
• Smoothie ingredients 
• Nut butters (peanut & almond)
• Brown Rice
• Nuts & Seeds (almonds, cashews, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds – whatever’s on sale!)
• Organic chicken
• Wild caught salmon
• Black beans, chickpeas, white beans
• Olive Oil
• Coconut Oil
• Avocado Oil
• Apple cider vinegar
• German mustard
• Dark Chocolate
• Medjool dates

**Some of these items can be purchased in bulk, so you don’t have to get them every week.  But most things aside from meat and produce will stay good longer than you think and you can always freeze meat you don’t eat.

** This doesn’t include any special meals I make, like if I have friends over for dinner or make a curry or soup

My Favorite Anytime Bowl 

This meal is thrown together from all of the items that I meal prep.

Quinoa, arugula, kale, 1/4/-1/2 avocado, roasted veggies, protein (beans, eggs, meat or fish) topped with olive oil, hummus, lemon squeeze, german or Dijon mustard, a little apple cider vinegar

Put all ingredients in a bowl and mix together

Still confused? Questions? Want to work together to build a healthy pantry? Reach out to me anytime and we’ll figure it out together.

Let me know in the comments section below how you are going to take action this week!