New Year . New You?
Do you think people really want to reinvent themselves each year? Our media and our day to day chatter would suggest that people really only start new things on January 1 or January 2 (completely after the holiday) and lots of times the summary of media articles and conversations we have is "new year, new you." I don't know about you, but that sounds exhausting to reinvent yourself every 365 days, and not to mention, I'd like to think I'm a work in progress - not a year to year project, you know? Anyhow, I think what people tend to mean is that they want to improve something....whatever that something is. Lots of times people aim at losing weight, getting fit, and eating better (who is doing Whole30?). I have also seen goals of reading more, creating more and consuming less, and just overall being more intentional with our precious time. These are all great things and if you read my last post, I love setting goals and working towards something, but for the sake of this post I'm going to focus on being healthier in 2020. Hopefully this will offer a few tips to "clean" up 2020 - not totally reinvent yourself, but help you achieve those goals surrounding health.
I get asked all the time how we meal plan, how I come up with workouts and how I have time for it "all". So look no further, I will spell this out below, and will even include a few of my favorite must have items in order to be successful (workout gear included). Let's get started, shall we?
Time
Time is of the essence, huh? Someone always seems to not have time for something. It's our default answer: "I just ran out of time" or "I don't have enough time!" Now, I don't know every persons day to day schedule, but I'd be willing to say you have more time than you think. Every single one of us has the same amount of time in each day (24 hours) - it's just what we pick to do with that time. Earth shattering, huh? For me, I choose to get my booty up in the morning and take care of me when the house is quiet. So I'll either workout, read articles or write blog posts. I'm trying hard to create before consume in 2020, so I have been jumping out of bed shortly after my alarm goes off and do not waste time scrolling social media first thing in the morning. I also don't do it "all" because I don't have time to do it "all." No one does. I have a partner in crime - AK!! AK does a lot of the morning routine - breakfast for the kids, he packs Kenny's lunch and typically unloads the dishwasher if we run it after dinner. This allows me to have some time in the morning. And then I do a lot of the evening stuff - cook dinner, dishes, organize for the next day, and some of the bedtime routine. This was not our default though. After having Kenny I really struggled finding the time and once we figured it out, we were both happier. You know how the saying goes, "happy wife, happy life!" ;) So evaluate your day to day, figure out what you can rearrange or let go of, and take advantage of those new found 30-60 minutes.
Meal Planning
"How do you possibly meal plan every week" has to be the million dollar question. I seriously bet I'm asked that question 1-2x/week because I typically have leftovers at lunch which seems to prompt a lot of questions. And the answer is, it's actually pretty easy but you have to be committed to your plan and have a little bit of forethought. So how does it work? Typically (in a perfect world) AK and I decide what we're having for 3-4 dinners the following week over coffee on Saturday mornings. We usually have to navigate some toddler fighting and overcome about 80 interruptions, but all in all deciding what we're having for dinner takes about 10 minutes. Next we create the grocery list on Instacart - this is the most time consuming in my opinion. And side note - if you're still going to grocery stores every week, you're doing it wrong - just my opinion. Once our groceries are delivered we diligently unpack them and try to do a little food prep. So we brown sausage for weekday breakfasts, clean & cut fruit, roast vegetables, and brown taco meat/grill chicken/throw a soup together, etc if those things are on the menu. Then one meal or the protein is already made. After that it is easy peasy lemon squeezy. You just follow your menu and pull the ingredients/items you need each night. We choose to make 3-4 meals, because inevitably one night we eat leftovers and one night we either make or order out pizza. We have really benefited from meal planning as we save money and we control what we eat the majority of the time. And nothing makes me feel more accomplished than an empty refrigerator by Friday evening. I'm always so proud of us for eating all the food we buy, prep and eventually eat.
Workouts
I grew up playing a ton of sports so I've always been pretty active and interested in keeping my body healthy and straong so I do not require a lot of motivation to fit movement into my day. That being said, I still have to create the time and get it done. This past Summer I decided to let go of my gym membership and strictly work out at home. This was a big change as I can't remember a time when I did not have a gym membership and now I had to be the one to come up with and implement said workouts. Overall, it's not as hard as you'd think. I followed some good people on Instagram and copied and took pieces of different workout plans, I scoured Pintrest for at home workouts and I took what I learned from belonging to a gym for all those years and combined all the knowledge and I've never been happier. You do not need a ton of equipment - I have a set of 5lb and 10lb hand weights, a jump rope, a 15lb and 25lb kettle bell, a box for box jumps (if you're at all handy, you could easily build this), a slam ball, and we just pulled the trigger and invested in a Peloton bike (a post on this is coming). But if you're not at a point to make the investment, my tip is to pay for the Peloton app ($20/month) and use your road bike on a stationary trainer or a cheaper spin bike and then you essentially have a make shift Peloton - I did this all Summer/ Fall to prove to myself the actual Peloton would be worth the investment. With the app you also get a number of different kinds of workouts, including HIIT, running, yoga and meditation. I personally like this because I can workout when it's convenient for me and I can do whatever I feel like doing. I'm not tied to a specific class schedule. It's pretty great and and way more convenient for ME. A typical week of workouts for me is as follows: Long run (5-6 miles), HIIT x2 days, and Peloton ride x2 days - equaling 5 workouts per week, which is my goal and keeps me in shape and feeling strong.
That's a wrap on how I attempt to stay fit from week to week despite it being a new year, bikini season, or full holiday indulgence. If this helps just one person, then I've accomplished my mission.
Happy (healthy) New Year to the Same You that continues to evolve and grow each day of the year.
Cheers to 2020.
AFK