Looking for tips & tricks!
Life has been just crazy lately. I feel like I am going in a different direction all the time. I am sure you can relate. I found that when life gets super crazy it becomes more important than ever to plan in advance. I have been trying desperately to get organized. I have been taking small steps. The other day I bought a shoe rack to go by the garage door and today I bought a magnetic dry erase board for my kitchen. I wrote a “To Do” list and I got them all done. Although these things are so small and minor it really has helped A LOT and I want to keep the momentum going!
I have been pre-making food for the week. I have learned that If I do not pre-pack a lunch or have something quick, easy and healthy to grab I am more likely to eat out. Although there are plenty of healthy options for eating out it is still best to eat your own food. Not only is it more cost effective but when you make your own food you know exactly how it was made and what went into it. This allows you to keep better track of your calories.
One other issue that I seem to be having is packing my gym bag in advance. I have learned that I have to get my primary workout done in the morning. I work full time for my mortgage company and I have to be in the office. If I fail to pre-pack my gym back in the morning then I am losing precious time in the gym.
What other planning tips do you use (or wish you would use!) in your daily routine that could help with maintaining an active busy lifestyle? POST THEM HERE!
15 comments
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When I worked in an office, and even now working from home on my computer, I always make sure I take breaks to go stretch or do some leg lifts or arm circles. Obviously when I was in an office, I went to the ladies roomn to do them, but working from home I can do them anytime. xoxoxo
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I plan my television time around 2 activities: working out and preparing meals for the week.
1) 1 day a week (now usually Sundays with football) I prep healthy foods for the week, especially cutting up fruits and vegetables to be ready on the go. I can watch the game and prep the food. (Requiring no extra time - NET Time!)
2) Training to walk a marathon in January - only allowed to watch soaps from the treadmill (so there is 5 hours a week!) Also go to the gym with friends to walk on the treadmill during Biggest Loser so we can yell at the television together. (another 2 hours a week!)
3) I have 3 drawers in my closet just for workout clothes - shirts in 1, shorts/sweats in 1, and socks in the other. No matter how late I am running, i can grab 1 from each. I also have all my gym towels in the same area.
Keep up the good work Kristin.
Just think - If you don’t take time to workout and eat right, will you have the strength, time, and energy to do it all over again?
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I always plan my workouts for the week in advance…that way I can’t wiggle my way out of them and I don’t waste precious time debating with myself what I want to do.
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I always make my lunch the night before. Lately I’ve been taking cut up celery to work as an afternoon snack since I get hungry late in the day. Other snacks I like are apples, fiber one bars or a yogurt. I pack my gym bag the night before and in the morning I put it in my trunk. I go to the gym right after work. I find that if I go home after work I’m not motivated to go out again so it has to be straight after work.
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I count my calories online, and try to plan everything out the night beforehand - it’s a visual way to force me to stay on track during the day. Also instead of going out for lunch during the day, i take a break and go take a quick walk down the street for a Grande Green Tea! It’s fresh air and a little exercise.
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I have no planning tips at all! Yikes! I do, however, love reading all of these
I go to the gym 5x a week - always on a whim.. but I always go. 
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Maureen I LOVE the drawer idea! That is awesome!!! Thank you for sharing!
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I am saving up for a treadmill. I already have a bike in my basement (aka the torture chamber/pain cave) and want an alternative! I make myself go down while I watch tv in the evening. This works great when I want to watch a show the kids shouldn’t watch (too much violence/bad language/whatever). Having the equipment right in my house eliminates any ‘don’t want to go out again in this weather’ issues - be it to walk outside or to go to a gym. And I use my equipment almost every day, so spending a few hundred dollars on something will be paid for in less than a year, because I don’t have gym fees/gas/babysitters/etc that are associated with a gym membership. I think we paid 450 for the bike - that’s just over a dollar a day for the first year…after that, it’s free. So saving for a treadmill will be a bigger challenge, but it will pay for itself in a couple of years with regular use. (Can’t say that for my husbands food dehydrator that got used twice…ugh!)
Permalink9
You are doing everything right. Planning makes everything happen.
During the week, I prep these nightly for the next day at the office:
breakfast–mixed berries, yogurt and granola
lunch–salad with lots of veggies, 1 oz chevre, 1/4 avocado and 6 olives
snacks: usually an apple and some walnuts
Other snacks are occasionally one of these: sometimes a low fat string cheese, or 2 dried pineapple rings, 1 oz. dark chocolate with peanut butter, medjool dates with peanut butter…
Dinners I make a plan for weekly–I just make sure I have things in the fridge–salmon for a few nights, chicken for another few, squash for one night–these can all be seasoned lightly and thrown in the oven to cook. Then I always make sure there are ample supplies of broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, kale, chard, spinach… one of these gets washed and chopped and steamed or sauteed to have with the fish or chicken or squash.
If you plan to go to the gym, you will. On days I go to the gym, I absolutely pack everything the night before and pile it all up in front of the door. Then I only have to get up, get dressed, brush my teeth and GO.
If I offered only one tip here it would be to make sure you pack some snacks. They will save you! Apples, walnuts, string cheese… Having something to munch is key.
Permalink10
I love crazy t-shirts with sayings on them, so I wear them to work out in. One has “Men Confuse me, Chocolate I understand”! It always gets attention. It makes for an enjoyable workout. If you put your outfits together and prepack you bag, your always ready to go. I have a couple of bags and several workout clothes. I also have several bathing suits so I never have an excuse not to swim. Also, treating yourself to tea or latte at the gyms coffeeshop works too.
Permalink11
I REALLY want to pre-make my meals for the week. I’ve been good about bringing lunch to work lately and limit myself to eating out only if I’m meeting up with a friend which might be once every 2 weeks.
Could you please share with us what you usually pre-make for the week? That definitely would be awesome!
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I was just wondering how you stay motivated. I stopped going to the gym about a 2 months ago. I was having problems with my stomach so I had to stop going. Now that I have not been at the gym I find it hard to get back there any tips would help thanks
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We spend a lot of timing talking about not being too hard on ourselves when we fall off the wagon or slip up, but I think there’s another concept that’s just as useful (or more so for me): when you have “AH-HA” moments along the journey, take time to sear them into your brain so you can recall them instantly. For instance: 1) that first time you put on a T-shirt and you realize “this really is too big for me” 2) that first time you catch someone checking you out “in that way” 3) that first time someone asks YOU for fitness/health advice 3) that first time someone says “You’re a beautiful girl, you know that don’t you?” 4) that first time you really WOULD rather have salmon than a burger (seriously) 5) that first time your doctor tells you that you have the resting heart rate of a conditioned athlete 6) that first time your godson says “Oooh, camo pants, that’s hot” 7) that first time something drops into a small space and you say “I’ll get it, I can fit in there”
that first time a regular towel fits around you after a shower 9) that first time someone asks you to be on the other end of lifting something heavy because you’re the strongest choice 10) that first time someone says, “You kind of look like Jillian Michaels” (I don’t but it was an incredible moment for me and the person was very generous for saying that). These are moments that sustain us and help us realize we’re headed in the right direction. Savor them. File them away for rainy days. And never forget how you felt when they came your way.
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Practical things: 1) keep 2 gym bags so that 1 is always clean & ready to go, 2) get a vacuum sealer, buy in bulk, freeze your favorites in pre-portioned amts and you’ll never have an excuse for impulse eating out 3) weigh your food 4) buy a tiny weight set (3 & 5 lbs.) so you can sit & do curls while you watch tv; it kind of becomes like knitting 5) carry hand sanitizer with you all the time & in both gym bags & use it on you & the machines at the gym so you won’t get the flu 6) lace your shoes with fancy laces so you smile when you see them 7) throw out your “fat” clothes, you’re betting on you & not going back
buy those cute little colorful cereal bowls at IKEA & use them for portion control; you’ll be surprised how quickly those become your correct idea of what a good portion is 9) if you have to buy Halloween candy, don’t buy YOUR favorites; in fact buy stuff you hate or that you don’t care about (for me that’s Whoppers, hate ‘em)
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I like all your input here. I too would like to start preparing meals in advance so I’m not rushed in the evenings to get home and waste all my free evening time in the kitchen when I could possibly be at the gym. I’m having a bad time right now finding “me” time for the gym. I usually have to compromise and take my daughter with me. She agrees to sit in daycare for an hour while I use the gym, then I take her to the pool for some time for her. However great this is for us, it really kills our evenings. We get home at 8:30 and still haven’t had dinner. I would love to know how people are getting creative with the workouts. I could really use some suggestions.