Making the Most of Your Time

It seems like there's more and more stuff to occupy our time every day.  For me, it seems like I'm even busier now that school is out for a few weeks than I was during the school year.  Our lives demand a lot from us.  How do we manage healthy living in a "go, go, go" world?

The excuse that you don't have time to exercise is no excuse at all.  Keep a journal of all your daily activities for a week.  You'll notice that you do, in fact, spend much of your time in sedentary activities.  If you were to cut those out entirely, could you fit in some exercise? Probably so.

For me, it's difficult go get in some exercise when I'm at work all day long.  I work 13 hour days, and the last thing I want to do most work days is go to the gym.  Here's a couple of things I do to get some activity in, that you can do too!

Fit in your exercise.  During your breaks and your lunch time, do something to get your heart rate up.  During my 45 minute lunch break, I take a 25 minute walk.  I get my heart rate up, and I don't walk so fast that I'm super sweaty by the end.  That's always another concern of mine - getting too sweaty.  I also keep a stick of deoderant in my cubicle.  Shorter breaks are a great opportunity for some simple strength training.  Do some push-ups, sit-ups, lunges, squats, etc.  You can fit those in and, again, keep from getting too sweaty.  Even small amounts of strength training like those mentioned will raise your burn rate a little, and help with your weightloss.  Another reason I do these things - it keeps me from focusing on food.  I used to look forward to breaks and lunch becuase of the food I would eat.  Now I focus on healthier things. 

Another aspect that we must not overlook is planning meals.  We've all been in the situation before where you're at work, or out and about and hunger strikes.  What do you do? Go to the nearest drive through and get the poison they sell.  We've all done it.  Plan your meals and your whole day ahead of time so you don't get stuck in this position.  Bring healthy snacks, or pack a healthy lunch to take with you.  You'll save money and eat healthier.

Remember, if you need to cut things out of your life, cut sedentary activities.  Plan your day ahead of time, and never eat fast food.  Also, fit in your activity whenever you can.  Make it work!  It's your life we're talking about here!