Over the past year, I've taken a huge interest in creating a healthy lifestyle. That being said, toward the end of 2020 I found myself falling back into my more unhealthy lifestyle. Take out meals and skipping workouts were way more common in my weekly routines than I wanted so when the New Year started I made a promise to myself that I'd start taking my health and wellness seriously again. For the past month, I've been slowly reintroducing healthy habits and routines into my daily life, and slowly but surely I feel like I've been getting back into shape. One of the most important things I've realized about this process is, it takes time. Typically, I try and rush into things to get to results as fast as possible. This time around, I'm taking everything slowly and making sure my lifestyle is sustainable. That being said, here's what I'm doing to get back in shape and create a healthy lifestyle.
Finding a Workout I Love
I've said this a million times but I would not be able to stick with a fitness routine if it wasn't for Pure Barre. This is the one workout I've found that I absolutely love! For me, the key to sticking with a fitness routine is finding something that I love doing because it makes it easy to fit working out into my daily routine. For years I've tried to "fall in love" with traditional workouts or going to the gym and it never failed that after a week I'd give up on the routine. That's because I hated everything I tried. I'd get to the gym and within 5 minutes I'd be finding any excuse to leave early and cut my workout short. Once I began Pure Barre I found myself looking forward to working out - which makes keeping a fitness routine so much easier!
Prioritizing My Workouts
When it comes to creating a new lifestyle you have to start prioritizing new aspects of your day. For me, working out was never a top priority - until now. I realized how important working out was, not only for my fitness routine and physical goals but also for my mental health. Giving myself time to workout and disconnect from the rest of the world each day has been a game-changer. I can recharge, and do something that is going to help get me to my physical goals. I knew when I started this process, prioritizing my workouts were going to be one of the biggest changes. Now, instead of skipping a workout to go meet up with friends or watch another episode on Netflix, I plan my days around my workouts. I've found that working out first thing in the morning is best for my days, but for you, this might be a little different. Whatever the case is, trust me prioritizing a workout is never a bad way to structure your day!
Meal Planning
The area I struggle in the most when it comes to health and fitness is by far my eating habits. I really love cooking but when it comes to the end of a long day at the clinic, the last thing I want to do is come home and think of what to make for dinner. My problem was that I would come home and instead of making something healthy I'd fall back on making pasta or snacking because I didn't feel like thinking about anything more complicated. Meal planning has been the biggest help when it comes to fixing this problem. On Saturday and Sunday, I'll sit down to figure out what I want to make for the week so I can cut out that step throughout the week. This also helps me figure out what I need when I go to the grocery store so I don't buy things I don't need. I've also found that meal planning makes it easy to pack left-overs for lunches so I'm not having to eat out when working a 12-hour shift.
Packing Food
This goes hand-in-hand with meal planning for me. One of my worst habits of 2020 was simply buying lunch every day when I went to work. Not only was it not even close to healthy, but it was also expensive. Now that I'm focusing on my health and wellness, I've had to seriously cut back on the number of times I'm ordering food for lunch each week. Sure, there are still days where I get busy, or forget food and end up ordering something. But, for the most part, I now pack lunch and snacks for my day so I don't rely on candy and delivery to keep me going at work. I've also started throwing healthier snacks into my purse for days when I know I'll be on the go a lot. It's so much easier for me to eat healthily and choose the healthy option if it's right in front of me!
Water, Water, Water
Everyone's heard how important water is when it comes to health, fitness, and overall wellness. To be perfectly honest, I was so sick of hearing how much water helped when it came time to start my health journey I didn't even want to try it - just because I was sick of people telling me to drink more water. But, I was finding myself getting dehydrated at work to the point of feeling sick multiple times a week, so I decided to try increasing my water intake. Let me tell you, as annoying as it sounds drink more water. I went from drinking maybe half of a hydro flask at my workouts to drinking at least two hydro flasks a day (just for reference I have the 40oz bottle and it's my favorite water bottle ever!) All of the things they say about water are true! My skin looks better, I'm obviously dealing with dehydration way less frequently, my skin looks better, and I snack way less when I'm hydrated!
These are just a few of the things I'm doing to get back in shape and develop my healthy lifestyle. What's important to remember though is that this is a process for everyone! There are still weeks where I find myself in my old routines and it will take a long time for me to fully develop all of these healthy habits and rituals; just like it will take anyone a long time to do the same. Developing a sustainable lifestyle is the most important focus of this, so if you're like me and you're trying to reset and get yourself into this type of lifestyle, don't expect it to be perfect right off the bat! Take time and give yourself room to grow! Let me know what you're doing to add some health and wellness into your daily routines!