How to stay healthy and fit even when you’re super busy.
By guest writer Portia Larhuey of Your Parent Resource.
Your schedule is wild. You’ve been grabbing fast food on the go, and your only exercise is dashing off to your next appointment. Yet you know you can’t keep this up much longer. You want to be healthy and fit even though — and perhaps especially because — you’re super busy, but you don’t know how to get there since you’re also on a budget. Read on for some ideas, presented in the following article by Portia Larhuey and presented by Chemaine’s Model Health.
Make Good Food Choices
It’s so easy to gulp down a burger and fries on the run, but it certainly isn’t healthy. You can make better food choices even when you’re busy. Set aside time on the weekend to prepare and freeze meals for the coming week. You can even separate your dishes into single portions that you can grab, heat, and eat on the go. Also, Daily Burn suggests packing yourself a lunch each morning instead of relying on unhealthy choices from the nearest fast-food restaurant or cafeteria, and make an effort to drink water rather than soda. You’ll be eating healthier, feeling better, and saving money. *Please note the meal recommendations from Canadian Living and Daily Burn are not necessarily aligned with Chemaine’s Model Health teachings.
Exercise Throughout the Day
You might think you have no time to exercise, but this isn’t true. You can actually exercise throughout your day even if you’re stretched for time. Take the stairs at work instead of the elevator, and do a couple of extra runs up and down to get moving a little more. Go for a walk during lunch, too, and get up every hour to do some stretches and run in place for a couple of minutes.
Make an effort to exercise after work at least a few days a week. You can go to a local gym and sample some fitness programs to see what works for you, or you can develop your own program right at home. Try to get in 15–20 minutes of exercise, and build up over time.
Track Your Health
As you make changes to your eating and exercise habits, track your health as well. There are several free or low-cost apps that can help you with this. Some let you plan meals or count calories. Others let you mark your progress in your exercise routine, provide ideas for improving your sleep patterns, and even note your blood pressure readings or other health measurements. Pick out some to try, and commit to using at least a couple.
It’s also important to be aware of how what you consume affects your mood. For instance, many people become anxious after having too much caffeine. You might be drinking that cup of coffee to wake yourself up, but you could face a new (and more stressful) challenge by increasing anxiety. Start tracking how much caffeine your favorite beverages have and experiment with different strengths to see how you feel.
Regularly See a Doctor
Regularly seeing a doctor is vital to maintaining good health. By scheduling routine check-ups, you can catch potential health issues early on and receive preventative care that can help avoid more serious health problems down the line.
If you do not receive insurance through your employer, finding affordable healthcare options can be challenging. However, it’s important for you to have access to quality healthcare, regardless of your financial situation, so you can prioritize your well-being and live a healthy life.
Manage Your Stress
Finally, to improve your overall health, especially when you’re super busy, the National Institutes of Health notes that you must manage your stress. You don’t need to spend much money to do this. You might use a calming playlist for some music therapy or try some guided breathing exercises. Read a good book, or watch a favorite movie. Take some time to chat with a friend and have a good laugh. Just have some fun, even for a few minutes, every single day, and your stress will decrease.
If you enjoy having people over, throw a small gathering and invite your closest friends. Socializing is great for our mental health. And you can make it fun and fancy by sending out invitations. Don’t worry. You can add your personal touch by creating stunning invitations with a user-friendly tool. Start with a template that reflects your gathering, customize it, and send it off. And it’s all free!
Be Healthy and Fit
You can be healthy and fit even when you’re super busy, and you don’t have to spend a lot of money to do it. So make a commitment to follow some of these tips – from getting in a walk when you can and seeing the doctor on a regular basis – and improve your life.