Have you been struggling to find the time to workout?

Don’t have time to plan your meals or even think about nutrition?

Many people say that they are too busy and don’t have the time to workout.  I wonder if they are really that busy.  

Consider how much time is spent on social media.  You can start off clicking on one post and get sucked into clicking one link after another until, unbeknownst to you, an hour has gone by.  

Or consider the 30 minutes you might spend daily watching the local news in the evening.

What would happen if you set your alarm clock 30 minutes earlier for a few mornings in order to workout three times a week?  

These examples reveal the possibilities of finding time that could be spent working out.

However, in order to access this time, you need to take action.  You probably take action regularly on your job or in school in order to affect change or you take action to make a difference in an outcome for your family.  Action creates change.

What would happen if you took action in order to make a positive change in your health?  What would happen if you made yourself a priority? 

Perhaps it would be advantageous to begin thinking of yourself.  Recognize that you are important and treat yourself - your health and fitness - as a priority.  Take the initiative to put your fitness, nutrition, and health first.  Take action and create the change to reach your health and fitness goals. 

It’s Not Only About Being Too Busy

While the most common reason people have for neglecting a fitness and nutrition routine is because they are too busy, there are additional reasons why they don’t follow a plan. 

The table below shows these reasons along with recommendations on how to address them. 

Don’t Allow Perfection to Get in the Way

You don’t have to be perfect.  In fact, if you aim for perfection, you will never be consistent in your efforts because each time you don’t reach perfection, you will quit.  Don’t use this as a reason not to move forward.

Instead of focusing on perfection:

• Incorporate reasonable, consistent actions which make a big difference over time.  Soon these actions will become habits.

• Be patient during the process.  You did not develop your current habits or gain weight overnight, so allow results to happen.  You are on a journey that will last a lifetime and patience is key.

• Practice persistence. Being persistent means sticking to your guns until you reach your goal.  Determine your goal and stick to your plan.

And remember, no one expects you to be perfect.

Five Steps to Help You Get Started

First, remember that action creates change.  You have to take action and put in the work to reach your health and fitness goals and that change that you are looking for. 

1. Keep a food journal.  This is helpful to actually “see” what you eat daily.  You might be surprised at what and how much actually goes in your mouth.  This is time for the truth.  Write down everything you eat, every bite, lick, and taste.

2. Learn to eat well.  This doesn’t mean taking away the foods you love.  It’s actually more about adding more nutritionally dense food.  You don’t have to make drastic changes.  

• For example, add more protein.  Most of us don’t eat as much protein as we think.  And remember the food journal?  It will help you understand how much protein you are eating as well as everything else.  

• Also, add more nutrient dense foods to your diet.  And I’m talking about the nutrient dense foods that you like.  For example, if you don’t like broccoli but love spinach, collard greens, and cauliflower - eat those.  Why would you eat foods you don’t like?  The best diet is the one that you can live with.

• Understand that there is no food that is off limits, unless you are allergic or have some other health concern for not eating it.  However, there are foods that may help you reach your goal sooner than others and that requires you to make decisions about whether or not a certain food is worth it or not. 

3. Stay hydrated.  Much of our body is made up of water, 55-60% of our body is made up of water. Also many chemical reactions that occur in our body require water.  Larger people need more water than smaller people.  Your body requires more water when you are exercising and when the weather is warmer or dryer. 

4. Walk and move your body.  When it comes to movement and physical activities, one of the most accessible and effective activities you can do is walk.  You can walk quickly or more slowly.  Almost everyone can access walking.  

• But most importantly move your body and do activities that you enjoy - it can be running, yoga, Pilates, strength training, rock climbing - if you enjoy it, then you will do it consistently. Join a fitness community that supports your chosen activity.

• Keep in mind that regularly engaging in resistance training or strength training has been associated with improvements in some health measures - including a decrease in cardiovascular disease risk factors and a reduction in blood pressure.  Work with a coach or personal trainer who can help you learn more about resistance training and create a program for you.

• Also, cardiovascular exercise will promote an improvement in your cardiorespiratory fitness.

5. Get enough sleep.  And finally we really need to get more sleep.  Sometimes we neglect our bodies by getting too little sleep. How much sleep is enough?  It varies, but aim for 7-9 hours consistently.

Start Today

So, are you too busy to follow a workout and nutrition routine?  It may be a matter of reassessing your time and your priorities. You are important.  It’s time to take action and create the change needed to reach your health and fitness goals.  The actions don’t need to be huge.  In fact, they should be attainable so that you feel success, and that success will boost your motivation.  And the more you are motivated, the more actions you will take in order to create more change, which will move you closer to your desired goal.

Start today.  You are worth it.