You are not comfortable in your own skin, are a few kilos too heavy and would only too like to see some improvement in your health and appearance. Yet there is something that keeps you from this, something that a lot of people run into… Time.
Due to the hectic pace of daily life, you just can’t manage to bring about actual changes in your body. Early to work, because the breaks skip to get the work done, go home quickly in the evening, make food, cleaning, shopping, maybe some time for your hobby, partner or friends and then the day will come soon to an end. When you have kids it gets even more challenging, because parenting takes a lot of time on top of your already busy schedule.
Where the hell do you have to get the time from to exercise several times a week, cook healthy meals and even eat those healthy meals if you actually work without breaks ?!
TIME OR PRIORITY?
It has been said that it is not a matter of time, but of priority. Everyone has 24 hours in a day and it is up to you how you spend it. If I can do it, you can too right? While that of course sounds nice and there is definitely some truth in it, it doesn’t help you much in practice. Your boss is not going to like it when you suddenly eat an hour of your day and your children would not be too excited about picking them up every day because Dad had to exercise.
So, give up then? Want to continue as it goes and accept that there is no other way? No definitely not!
Besides the fact that you really have to make it a priority to some extent, there are fortunately other tips that can help you achieve results without it becoming a day job. These 4 tips work ideally to combine a busy schedule with attention to your body. So do you recognize yourself in the above? Then read on!
TIP 1. LET CONVENIENCE FOOD WORK TO YOUR ADVANTAGE
You may not have the time to spend hours in the kitchen every day, but you will have to eat anyway. You probably lean a lot on convenience food now. Just grab a sandwich on the go, have a pizza delivered to your door or a ready-to-eat meal in the microwave for a few minutes and you’re ready to eat. The problem with convenience food is that it usually only offers convenience, nothing more. Many easy products either offer you no nutritional value at all or cannot really be eaten, or a combination thereof.
But if you do have time to eat convenience foods (which we hope, otherwise you’d be worse off), there is good news! Convenience food can also be healthy and tasty with almost the same effort!
In recent years there have been more and more ways to eat easily, quickly and above all healthy. How about ready-to-eat Delicious Fit Meals that only need to be put in the microwave for a while? Ready-to-eat canned chicken breast is another good example. Just mix with a salad from the supermarket and you’re ready to eat! For the snacks you have of course countless bars at your disposal and even an old trusted shake is fast, tasty and nutritious.
If we look for it purely in nutrition, Muscle Meat is a perfect alternative for you. Originally created with strength training in mind and an emphasis on meat in particular , Muscle Meat has grown enormously in recent years, making them known today as the Online Sports Supermarket. You do not have to be a bodybuilder to order your healthy meal at Muscle Meat.
NEVER COOK AGAIN ?!
You can go there for ready-to-eat chicken breast, which also tastes great, but it doesn’t stop there! The choice ranges from ready-to-eat vegetable mixes, frozen fruit, smoothie mixes and even products such as rice, potatoes and beans that have already been prepared for you! In addition, you will also find numerous products that you still have to prepare yourself, but where the portion size, cutting and seasoning of the products has already been done for you. Think of beef products, fish, burgers and so on.
All you have to do is weigh it, put it in the microwave for a few minutes and you’re ready to eat. Doesn’t it take you less time than a ride to the snack bar? In addition, you can simply order it online, after which it will be delivered to you the next day. Some space in the freezer is a requirement, but that is.
And the costs? Yes, they are sometimes a bit higher than prices you find in the supermarket. But for that you get a lot of convenience, high quality and good taste in return. And let’s be honest, a pizza for ten euros is not exactly a cheap meal. In addition, a lot of products are also cheaper than from the supermarket!
TIP 2. OPT FOR EASY MEALS
Healthy eating is also quickly seen as a difficult task because it requires ‘difficult meals’. Tip 1 can alleviate a lot of worries about that, but you may still be afraid that you will have to sit with a bowl of rice and chicken every meal, something that is not exactly practical if you want to eat in the car quickly.
Fortunately, meals don’t always have to be that complex, even when your focus is on healthy nutrition! Of course meals will become a bit more complex if you really want to put everything in it, but is that necessary? Do you literally have to eat like a bodybuilder if you just want to lose some pounds? Probably not.
It is important to realize that the degree of commitment is related to the goal you want to achieve. Imagine you weigh 100 kilos and would like to lose some kilos to roughly 90 kilos, you really do not need a six pack, but want to feel fitter and healthier. Do you have to follow the most extreme diet that exists, where you squeeze yourself in every turn? Of course not! You can also achieve your goal with a more flexible approach, as long as you do not want it in too short a time.
In addition, ask yourself how useful it is to take all kinds of extreme measures, knowing that you will not last longer than a month or 3. This greatly increases the chance of a relapse, so it makes sense to put in that unnecessary effort. to save initially.
WELL, TIME TO GET MORE SPECIFIC WITH SOME EXAMPLES …
If you barely have time for breakfast in the morning for whatever reason, you can drink a good nutritious shake . It only takes a few minutes to prepare and you drink it quietly in your car to work. You will get your proteins, carbohydrates and healthy fats without any problems. Maybe not as filling as a 500 gram of low-fat French cottage cheese, but that is a trade-off that must be made.
At lunch you could opt for a wrap or some wholemeal bread with protein-rich toppings and maybe some fruit on the side. No, you do not hear us say that eating bread is the best choice, but as mentioned above, it is not necessary for every purpose to pull out all the stops.
If you make sure you always have some ready-to-eat products in the freezer before dinner as described above, we’ve already covered that too. Just weigh, warm up and eat.
Eat something in the evening after exercise? A cup of curd cheese, Skyr or just a Night Protein shake with a number of things such as fruit and nuts can be found in front of you in no time, that hardly takes more time than pulling out a bag of chips and tipping it into a container …
IS THAT IMPOSSIBLE?
If you read the above, is that such a big obstacle? Wouldn’t you really be able to do that with your busy lifestyle? If you still believe that this is absolutely not possible, it is wise to first evaluate how you like the way of life now. If even the above doesn’t work, chances are that chronic stress and sleep deprivation will be bigger problems than the lack of a healthy diet.
TIP 3. TRAINING DOESN’T HAVE TO TAKE UP HOURS OF YOUR DAY!
Now that we have had nutrition for the most part, we come to another obstacle: sports. You don’t have time to exercise because yes, where do you get 2 hours every day to spend in the gym ?! Fortunately, this should also be overcome.
While exercise is important for both your health and your appearance, it doesn’t mean it should take over your life. This point is also completely related to your starting point, your goal and your time frame. If you’re going to work out because you want to enter a bodybuilding competition at some point in the future, yes, make sure you hit the gym at least 5 times a week. But if you just want to lose weight, build muscle, get fitter or become more energetic, everything changes.
THE GOLD STANDARD
As a rule, it is advisable to exercise 3 times a week to maximize the balance between effort and result. As soon as someone trains longer and sets higher goals, this will of course change, but three times a week is a good starting point for the vast majority of people. However, that does not mean that it is mandatory 3 times a week. There are also plenty of people who achieve good results with training ‘only’ twice a week and perhaps a cardio session in the open air, for example a long walk with the dog.
So it is good to remember that you don’t have to be in the gym day in, day out to work on your body. As a beginner, this will work against you even more than it does good. Exercising twice a week is in any case a lot better than not exercising at all. Combine that with better nutrition and you will be amazed at what you can achieve with relatively little effort.
“2 O’CLOCK?!”
Then we have the time you should spend in the gym. Above we mentioned 2 hours and then you probably think: “yes, I don’t have that much time in one evening!”. Beautiful! That is not necessary either. With the right approach you can finish a good training in about 45 minutes, again depending on your goal of course. Is it optimal? Maybe not, but here too it’s better than doing nothing and sitting on the couch.
Then try to go to the gym by bike instead of always taking the car. This way you may lose 10 minutes extra time, but you will soon have 20-30 minutes extra exercise!
So, net costs per week? An hour or 3 to 4. Thinking that a week has 168 hours, it should be possible, right?
TIP 4. OPTIMIZE YOUR SLEEP
Due to all the fuss and stress, enough sleep is regularly lost. 6 hours of sleep? Oh dude, will probably be enough. As a result, you cannot be burned ahead in the morning, you poop in the afternoon as standard and you are happy in the evening that you finally fall on the couch. The answer: get more sleep!
That’s exactly why more sleep can be your salvation. Imagine that you wake up fit every morning, enjoy driving to work, being much more productive there because you are not broken and even have the energy left in the evening to do something useful. It is true that making sleep your priority is one of the best ways to get more work done during the day. In your sleep you recover, not only physically, but also mentally. And how do you want to deal with all those worries if you also sleep badly during that short period that you are in bed? No, that does not happen.
LITTLE TIME, A LOT OF RESULTS, GO!
Hopefully these 4 tips have opened your eyes that despite your busy lifestyle you can still take a step in the right direction. The beginning may be difficult, but that is the case with everything. The only way to get real results is to start, persist, fail once and then persevere. Good luck!