How do you stay on target with eating healthy and being active? Between work schedules, kids schedules, appointments and change of plans, finding time to exercise and eat right can sometimes feel impossible. The “me time” in the schedule is usually the first thing to go in effort to help everyone else stay on target. In order to be successful in keeping and attaining your goals, you must first plan! Thanks to our friends at The Center for Physical Rehabilitation, here are some effective ways you may not have thought about that can assist you to make time for exercise and healthy nutrition.
- Ask yourself why you want to do what you are doing?
Why do I want to eat healthier?
Because I want to improve my performance on the basketball court.
Why do I want to improve my performance?
Improved performance will get me more playing time with the team.
Why do I want more playing time?
Because more playing time makes me feel good about myself and my abilities.
But why do I want to feel good about myself?
Because when I feel good about myself I feel more confident and can become a leader.
By continually asking yourself why you may get to a completely different reason or a reason that provides more motivation for your goals.
- Identify your top priorities
Think of your life like an empty jar. First you need to fill it with your big rocks – those things you feel are the most important in your life. These things are also good for you!
- Time with family and friend
- Spiritual lifestyle
- Healthy Eating
- Getting enough sleep
- Staying hydrated
Second, fill more of that empty space with pebbles, these are things that still provide fun and happiness in your life but are not completely necessary.
- Projects
- Being a competitive athlete
- Hobbies
The remaining open space is filled with sand – those things that should fill in the little parts of life – they are enjoyable but not crucial to survival or making you who you are.
- Watching T.V.
- Social Media
- Playing video games
- Indulging in food or drink
This is an excellent scenario for life in the sense that if you begin with the sand you will no longer have the room for the bigger more important things in life – they simply will not fit!
- Keep a journal
Journaling your time and comparing it to what you really want to do can be extremely beneficial. If you are like me – what I actually do with my time and what I perceive that I do with my time can be drastically different at times! It is not until I begin to log it that I see where my breakdowns are AND by logging where I spend my time and what I put into my body that I am forced to take ownership.
- Analyze and adjust
Increasing the good habits by 15 minutes and decreasing the be bad by 15 can be an easy and sustainable way to improve your overall lifestyle and achieve goals permanently.
- PLAN AHEAD!
Help yourself achieve your goals by creating ways to be successful! This may be as simple as leaving a full glass of water by the sink to drink when you first wake up, to spending an hour on a Sunday prepping healthy snacks for your week.
