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Tips For Working Health And Fitness Into A Busy Life

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Many years ago, I used to find staying in shape pretty easy, it helped that I was young, of course, but I also had plenty of time – I could hit the gym every day if I wanted to and I had plenty of time to cook decent food most days.

Unfortunately, as you get older, staying fit and healthy seems to take more time, and the amount of time you have available seems to disappear too. In fact, between a full-time relationship, job, and social obligations, I soon let my fitness levels slip; it’s easy to do.

The good news is that living a healthy lifestyle doesn’t have to require a lot of time at all, below are a handful of tips that I now use to keep my body healthy while still living a hectic lifestyle – you can do it too.

Have A Schedule & Stick To It

Most people feel like they are pretty busy most of the time, and the truth is that when you look at your behavior, you realize how much of your ‘busy-ness’ is taken up with nothing. Planning your week will save you so much time you won’t know what to do with it.

As a first step, set yourself three gym sessions a week – on Sunday, work out when you will go to the gym in the next week, make a note of those three times, and stick to them. To be successful, you must make these non-negotiable, so whatever else comes up, work it around your schedule.

You’ll soon be doing this for other areas of your life too, trust me.

Quick Healthy Snacks Are Available

There are various times during the week when you might find you haven’t had time to eat, and you might well feel ravenous. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that your metabolism will drop or anything – it is easy to talk yourself into a McDonalds when you are this hungry.

Healthy snacks are usually available, and at the very least, you can choose healthier options – a sandwich on brown bread will tide you over until you can get some healthy food in you.

I try to keep a supply of healthier snacks in the car, they are there for emergencies only, and I use them to save myself when the need for fast food raises its head.

Work Out Wherever You Can

Working out is not always easy if you are busy, and maybe one day you can’t get to the gym, well don’t worry, even 5 minutes of muscle stress will help a little bit.

Bodyweight exercises such as squats, press-ups, sit-ups, and wall presses can give you a quick and reasonably good workout when all you have it a bit of floor space.

And when you have a little more space, try chair dips (support your legs if needed) and pull ups. Take the time to make yourself a 15-minute routine, commit it to memory, and do it whenever you get the chance. Exercise even helps your productivity, so it is time well invested.

Cook More Food At Once

Eating healthily will power, but there is plenty you can do to help your will power. Getting hungry makes you want unhealthy food, so don’t let yourself slip.

If you cook in bulk and freeze your food in portions, you will always have healthy options on hand so that when you feel hunger approaching, you can get some calories in you before temptation drags you to the cookie pot.

You can still cook when you have time, of course, but preparing a big pot of something like soup in advance means that even when you are busy, you don’t resort to unhealthy snacks.