Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Making time for your health

Anyone who knows me knows that I strive for a healthy and fit life.... Strive is the key word here. It's hard at times since I love my carbs, sugar and wine but then again, I also love my fruits, veggies, lean protein and water.... but given the choice between a celery stick and a brownie- you know what I'm going to choose?! And it also doesn't help that if I look longingly at a piece of cake, I will gain a pound.


So because of that, I really carefully think out our week. It's a little more work but then we're organised and make healthier choices. I go with the 70-30 rule--- it should be 80-20 but I'm not there yet. I make smart, healthy choices through the week so I can indulge a bit a couple times throughout the weekend. Here are some of my favourite planning/eating tips: (nothing life altering but it's what works for us)


  • Plan  meals at the beginning of the week so we can make a grocery list. I write a list and stick it on the fridge- Target notepad for the win!
  • Rotate through fruit and veggie choices so we don't get bored through the week. 
  • Lots of water- I put a large jug out to finish through the day. I also use club soda for a little fizz! 
  • Keep the junk out of the house as much as possible--- if it's there, we will eat it. This week, we have some brownies left over from the weekend. Guess what I'm having tonight?! 
  • Try different, interesting ways of prepping veggies- pinterest, people!
  • I usually cut fruit up and leave it on the counter when I can... so that's what my peeps fill up on. 
  • Smoothies are a great way to get lots of fruit and veggies in. 
  • Experiment with different grains, veggies and proteins. That's how I began my love affair with quinoa! 



           

And then there is exercise.... so important for overall health! I started exercise when I was in university and got more into it in my twenties. I'm a much happier (and healthier) person when I work out. I work out five days a week now, Monday to Friday- less than an hour and a half each time. I know that not everyone has that time but to me, it's important to squeeze in exercise. Here's are some of my exercising tips that have stuck with me through the years.... again, nothing ground breaking!

  • Make time for exercise, even if you only have 10-15 minutes- there are so many quick power workouts you can do. 
  • I'm in a gym but when had C and went back to the corporate world, I got up very early in the morning and got a quick workout in. Sometimes it was 20 minutes, sometimes it was 45, sometimes (hardly ) 60. I used DVDs as my minutes were precious and I didn't want to spend the time going to a gym. 
  • Both cardio and conditioning is important.
  • It's also important to mix it up a bit. You can definitely plateau-- which is happening to me right now, so I'm trialling another gym with lots of different classes. 
For more health stuff, here's a post I did a while back. 

We need to teach our kids good health, eating habits and proper fitness. To me, there's no better way to do this than by doing it ourselves.

Linking up today for
Mary Martha Mama

and also one of my favourites.




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7 comments:

  1. I'm in a similar boat. I was motivated and on top of things but at some point over the summer this started to fizzle. I'm working on getting things back together.

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  2. You are so good! Much better than me! I still have baby weight to lose and with the holidays on the horizon I am SCARED!

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  3. Sounds like you have a pretty good balance going on! I am the same way about the junk. If it's in the house, I will eat it! Thanks for linking up and sharing what works for you!

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  4. Thank you for motivating me to get off the computer and go work out! It's just what I needed right now :)

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  5. Yeah, brownies always win in my book too. I just started meal planning every meal, not just dinner which is what I had been doing. Helps us stick with the better choices when it is already in my planner and easy to look at.

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  6. mmm! Love smoothies in the morning.

    Keeping junk out of the house really does work.

    Meal planning is one of my biggest tips too. It is life altering (when it's actually done). ;)

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  7. I'm like you and I do try and be healthy but sometimes get lost along the way. Thanks for the great tips!

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Hearing from you makes me so happy!!

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