Wondering how to live a healthier lifestyle when you don’t have time for it? Me too, girl. Unless you’re a fitness trainer or obsessive gym-goer, it’s not realistic to dedicate hours of your life a day, to your health.
You have jobs, friends, family, hobbies, commitments, shows to binge, articles to read, errands to run, spaces to organize, surfaces to clean, places to be, etc. We only have so many hours a day and when you have so many other commitment in your life, oftentimes your health can suffer from getting enough attention.
This doesn’t mean that you should feel bad whatsoever, because the average person does not have that much time to focus on personal health. This also doesn’t mean you can’t be healthy. In order to be healthy, you have to understand what it really means to be healthy and plan according to your schedule.
Here’s how to live a healthier lifestyle when you don’t have time for it:
Understand that Health Goes Way Beyond Body Image
Being physically healthy means that you’re doing what’s right for your body by exercising, stretching, eating nutritious foods and making sure to keep your mental health in check as well. Instead of obsessing over a body image you wish you had, learn to love yours. If you love your body as is, it’s less stressful when making changes.
Obsessing and wanting something that is out of touch with who you are will cause anxiety, doubt, and oftentimes failure if you’re not being real with yourself. A healthy lifestyle goes beyond body image and what you look like on the outside, but has everything to do with how you look and feel on the inside.
Moreover, understanding the consequences of an unhealthy lifestyle can help motivate you to prioritize your health. For instance, heart failure can cause swelling in the ankles caused by fluid accumulation that further reduces the ability of the heart to supply blood. Simple changes in your lifestyle, such as regular exercise and a balanced diet, can significantly reduce your risk for health complications.
Define Your Health Goals and Be Realistic
Make a list of all your goals and what you’d like to achieve when it comes to your health. Don’t set unrealistic expectations for yourself, like “workout 7 days a week.” Take a look at your weekly schedule and consider what days you are most likely going to have time to dedicate to a workout.
When you’re crafting a balanced lifestyle that works with your schedule, consider incorporating ways to exercise without added financial stress. Utilizing alternatives such as allocating HSA funds for gym equipment can offer both affordability and convenience, ensuring you’re equipped to maintain fitness goals even with a busy routine.
You don’t have to be exercising every single day to be healthy. How many days a week are realistic for you? 5? 3? Great.
The length of your workout should not cause any stress either. Whether you have as long as an hour or as short as 20 minutes, you can absolutely get in an effective workout within all time frames.
Whatever your health goals are, tailor it to your schedule and make sure it fits in a way so they can always be achieved.
Order Groceries Online
If you aren’t on the grocery delivery train, you’re missing out! Ordering groceries is an amazing way to be intentional and selective when ordering food for the week.
Plus, it saves SO much time in the long-run. You won’t need to waste time browsing grocery aisles nor will you have that urge to grab a box of those chips or cookies.
The more you can control what you’re buying, the better off you’ll be. Besides, if you only order healthy food, then you won’t have any choice but to eat healthy.
Eat Healthy at Home, Indulge When You Go Out
Since we eat most of our meals at home, it makes sense to make a rule that only allows you to indulge when eating out. Having a bad meal is not bad for you. As long as you are choosing healthier options over the bad ones most of the time, then you’re set. Moreover, for those with swallowing difficulties, common questions about thickening food include inquiries about safe agents, consistency adjustment techniques, and considerations for food avoidance due to swallowing issues.
Becoming obsessed with eating healthy at home is one of my best pieces of advice. Chicken, salmon, yogurt, nuts, fruit, whole pastas & breads, veggies, etc. Become excited about these kinds of foods by getting creative with meals and seasoning them to make them taste delicious.
Even if you’re too busy to cook, there are so many options for quick recipes and meals that you can eat on the go. Moreover, if you find prepping meals time-consuming, services like Factor could be a great help. They offer a variety of prepared low-carb meals, which makes maintaining a healthy diet at home simple and stress-free.
If you aren’t naturally attracted to healthy food, train yourself to be. It’s the only way.
Workout When You Are Most Motivated in the Day
If you have to force yourself to work out, you will never work out. Find a workout routine or sport that you love so the exercise itself becomes fun and easy.
Whether it’s dancing, spinning, yoga, swimming, jogging, tennis, etc. It’s important to pick something that is fun to you and that gets your body moving in some way.
Picking a time of the day where you have the most energy to workout is crucial. This is where routine and repetitiveness will be in your favor, because the sooner your body gets used to a routine like this, the easier it will be to stick to.
Stick to Your Routine
Again, the only way to live a healthy lifestyle is to stick to your routine, which is why being realistic is so important when goal setting in the beginning. It’s totally fine to miss a day if you’re feeling off or sick, but make sure you get back to it as soon as possible. The more you take time off, the harder it’ll be to get back to where you were.
Become Obsessed with Drinking Water
Hydration is key! Water is the key source for our health, energy, happiness, etc. Without water, we will feel dehydrated, irritable, tired and un-motivated.
Make sure to invest in a water bottle and keep it near you at all times. Dedicate yourself to drinking water throughout the day that you cannot be without one to replenish water levels in your body.
It’s such an easy and effective way to keep health at the forefront of your day when drinking multiple glasses of water.
Give Yourself Grace
Don’t be too hard on yourself when you can’t eat healthy for a day or get to your workout. Life happens and not every day is going to look the same. Just like one healthy day won’t make a difference, neither will one bad one.
Make Health a Lifestyle & Not a Quick Fix
If you really want to learn how to live a healthier lifestyle when you don’t have time for it, the most important takeaway is understanding that health should be a lifestyle and not a quick fix. Longterm health comes with making little efforts every single day to benefit your health.
This means staying away from those intense “30 Day Programs.” Whatever challenge, diet or program you’re thinking of doing, consider if this will only make you healthy temporarily or if it will set you up for success longterm.
Health should be in your everyday routine, in one way or another. If it feels like too much work, it’s because you need a mindset shift. You have time for health when you make it work for your schedule.
How will you plan to live a healthier lifestyle?