How to Live a Healthy Lifestyle when you're Time Poor
The most common challenges that I hear people having when it comes to living and maintaining a healthy lifestyle is lack of time! We live in a fast paced society where our to-do lists are a mile long and we feel like our energy is being pulled in all different directions. It's not surprising that people feel like they don't have time to cook healthy nutritious meals every night and exercise everyday.
BUT what if living a healthy lifestyle was actually pretty simple? What if even the time poor could make healthy eating and living possible?
Here are some tips to making healthy living simple and achievable for the busiest of people:
Make your health and wellbeing your biggest priority - this means that you MAKE time to eat well and move your body.
Honour your YES and NO - meaning, notice where you are overcommitting yourself and start saying no to the things that are not in alignment with how you want to feel.
Schedule a weekly POWER HOUR - use this power hour to plan and prep your meals. Every week allocate just 1 hour in your calendar to planning out your meals and doing some basic meal prep (this will save you time when you do it).
Cook once and eat twice - this is such an effective way to utilise your time. Make extra so that you have leftovers for lunch the next day or that you can freeze for another night.
Prepare smoothie packs - this is a simple solution to ensuring you have breakfast ready to go for those busy mornings, just put your favourite combination of fruits, berries, spinach leaves/kale, zucchini, chia seeds etc into freezer bags so that in the morning you can literally grab a pack, pop in your blender, add some nut milk / coconut water and head out the door.
Stock your pantry with all the essential staples - dried herbs/spices, nuts, seeds, oats, quinoa, brown rice, canned tuna, canned tomatoes, chickpeas, legumes, coconut milk etc so that you always have healthy ingredients available.
Use a meal planner - write your meals in a planner and stick it on the fridge so you know exactly what you're having each day - bonus time saver tip: keep them so you can re-use them for another week!
Keep your meals simple - a healthy balanced meal doesn't have to take an hour to cook. An easy 5 minute nourish bowl or some salmon fillets with a leafy green salad are wonderful quick and easy options.
Recipe books - have 1 or 2 recipe books that you love as a go to for meal ideas and inspiration.
Whip up a batch of healthy snacks while your making dinner - bliss balls are a quick, easy and delicious snack to have on hand for a sweet treat and take less than 10 minutes to make.
Consider trialling healthy meal delivery options - for Geelong people 'She'll be Apples' looks like a great one to try. Other programs like Hello Fresh or Farmers Direct could be worth looking into.
Online Orders - order your whole foods / groceries online so they are delivered straight to your door.
Make movement a non-negotiable - exercise doesn't have to be an hour session at the gym it can simply be taking the stairs instead of the lift, walking at lunch time, doing some yoga moves, cleaning the house, dancing in the lounge room with the music turned up, playing with the kids. Make it fun and enjoyable.
The most important thing you can do though in order to live a healthy lifestyle is to shift your mindset. Instead of telling yourself you don't have time to be healthy, tell yourself your health is worth making a priority.
I hope you have found these tips helpful and if you would like further support, guidance and accountability around creating a healthy lifestyle please contact me below for a free healthy lifestyle discovery session.
With love and health
Tenille x