What's On Your Schedule This Week?

Back to school, back to life, back to reality!  Much like January, September can signal a time of new beginnings - a time to start fresh.  Perhaps you got away from your healthy living routine over the summer or maybe you never had one to begin with!  Routines or habits first require planning before they can become ingrained into your daily life.  Ever hear the saying: "Prior preparation prevents poor performance"?  Words to live by! 

There is no question that starting or increasing your level of exercise and changing your eating habits takes some motivation, dedication and sometimes hard work.  If it was easy and had an immediate impact on how you looked or felt, everyone would be doing it!  However, like any new project that requires some work and some changes to your normal routine, if you don’t properly plan for it, it is never going to happen and success will be very hard to come by.  The best and only way to really make the focus on your health become a natural part of your life with your busy schedule is to schedule it.  Adding exercise, meal planning and grocery shopping to your calendar (i.e., penciling it on your wall calendar or entering it in your smartphone calendar) is critical to them becoming routines and eventually habits that benefit you and your family.  

Schedule Exercise! ~

To be successful in increasing your fitness, you need to add exercise to your calendar, just like a doctor appointment or business meeting and treat that exercise appointment with the same level of importance.  I know what my workout schedule is every day of the week and it rarely changes.        

*I also highly recommend you learn to embrace the morning as the best time of day to exercise.  You can’t beat the feeling of having this box checked off before the day gets going and gets hectic.  There is far less risk of not completing your exercise routine each day when you do it in the morning. If life throws any unexpected surprises at you later in the day they won’t prevent you from exercising as you have already done it. 

Schedule Meal Planning & Grocery Shopping! ~

If don’t know what you are having for dinner when you get home from a long day AND have the supplies for that dinner already on hand, it’s highly unlikely that you will prepare and enjoy a healthy meal.  Meal planning and grocery shopping go hand in hand.  Pick one day to go grocery shopping for the each week.  Friday, Saturday or Sunday are logical days that set you up for the week to come.  On the day prior to your designated shopping day, take a look at your and your family’s schedule for the upcoming week and determine how many meals you need to prepare. Then figure out the complexity of each meal and what you will be able to prepare based on your schedule and your other commitments.  Finally, select the appropriate meals given your requirements and create a shopping list for all of the ingredients that you need for those meals.  I have created a meal planning template for my clients to aide them in this process.  Check it out!  You can also find some new recipe ideas there.    

Schedule Prep Time! ~

On Sunday nights, organize yourself for the week by preparing and packing any meals and snacks that you can ahead of time. Boil a dozen eggs for snacks and salads.  Grill breasts of chicken for salads or burritos.  Chop veggies for snacks and stir-fry’s.  Set yourself up for success!

At this time of year the concern of being “over-scheduled” is on everyone’s mind.  However, scheduling doesn’t have to be a bad thing if it helps you achieve your goals and ensures that some of the activities on your schedule are for your benefit and enjoyment – not everyone else’s! 

Give it a try!