#Basic
First of all, I cannot believe how many of you all read my first blog post. I was so touched by all of your kind words and encouragement. I had such a hard time sharing my story, because I never want to be viewed as a “sick person”, but now I know better. You are viewed by how you deal with the cards you are dealt. I wanted to start this blog because I wanted to inspire people to be healthy, no matter how impossible it might seem. The older I get, the more people I meet, I have realized that we all have our own story. I wanted to tell you mine, to empower you to tell yours. I have figured out that no matter how alone you feel in a particular instance, someone can benefit from your experiences. You can inspire people you don’t even know. We have all been through our own storms, but what matters is how we celebrate when they pass. Will you use it to empower and inspire people? You have a choice every day to let your life and circumstances control you, or you can believe that you were meant to use these things for a greater purpose. Anyway, I just want to say thanks again from the bottom of my heart.
Lets get #Basic
People ask me all the time “How do you stay on track?” It seems like a simple enough question…from years of having to re-adjust, pack my own food, and squeeze in workouts whenever I have the time. I have a few #basic methods that ensure my success throughout a busy week, and now, I would like to share them with all of you!
Let me side-step for a moment in saying that I am an extremely Type-A personality, and my days are extremely scheduled. Everyone has methods that work best for them, so adjust these to how they would best fit your life! Anyway…here are a few #basic tips!
1. Prep your food! I know some of you may be telling yourself that you don’t have time for this, or that you wouldn’t know where to start. I will admit, it does take a few weeks to get into a routine, but after that you are golden! Now, let me preface this by saying, you don’t have to prep all of your food. Do whatever works for your life. Personally, I prep breakfast, lunch, and snacks on all work days. I start off my week by prepping 3-4 days worth of protein. This could include ground turkey, chicken breast, salmon, ground chicken, or whatever else floats your boat. That’s the most difficult part, taking all of an hour. Then, from there, pack your food the night before in Tupperware. You can create whatever dish your heart desires. I eat a lot of egg white omelet creations, spaghetti squash, veggies, corn tortillas, and PB2! It is mostly just a game of assembly. All you need is a microwave (or you can eat your food cold, like I often do) and you are good to go! Food prepping ensures that you stay on track and don’t eat all of those office goodies. Disclaimer: you can bring your food with you to restaurants, they cannot kick you out, and your co-workers will think it’s awesome. I have also found that a good motivator for this is to have an awesome lunchbox, and great water bottles! I use Camelbak water bottles and I have a Vera Bradley Cooler lunchbox for the workday, and a Six-Pack Bag for weekend trips!
2. Always have a gym bag. This is a lot simpler than number 1. Pack your workout clothes before you leave the house and keep them in your car. I will admit that this technique often lends to a weird combination of colors and outfit combinations, but who cares! I learned this trick when I was in undergrad. I figured out my weakness: the couch. If I went home after class and sat down, I wouldn’t want to get back up again and go workout. My solution to this problem was that I would always go to the gym right after class (now work). I haven’t abandoned the habit ever since. I bought a huge workout bag, and have that little buddy packed with me wherever I go. It’s important to know yourself, and your weaknesses. I know that even if I am exhausted, if that gym bag is in my car, I don’t have an option. My Nikes would feel so abandoned if I didn’t use them, and they are always ready to run!
3. Plan Ahead: I’m going back to my trusty planner now. At the beginning of every week I look through my planner and see which days will be hard for me to workout, cook, do homework or whatever and I plan ahead. If I know my Tuesday is going to be extremely busy, then I plan for that to be my day off. I will compensate for that day another day that week. I am always aware of what my week will be, so I can make sure to plan for it! SO…what I’m really trying to say is…go buy a planner!
4. MyFitnessPal: Last year my New Years Resolution was to track everything I ate in this App. Well now the year is almost over, and I haven’t missed one bite! This has been a great tool to keep myself accountable and for me to learn my body. I can look back weeks and weeks at a time and re-evaluate my food intake. I have learned what kind of food my body responds well to, and what it doesn’t. This is much more that a calorie counter, it is a way to educate yourself about nutrition. You can look at exactly what macronutrients and micronutrients are in all of your food! You can also track your water, weight lose, and exercise. We will have a post about Macronutrients on a later date; the subject deserves its own post.
5. Grab a buddy: I love to workout with people throughout the week. Especially on the days when I’m tired, because the chances are that my buddy wont be! It kicks my butt right into gear and I quickly forget about my bad day or my exhaustion. I will say this though, don’t be afraid to workout alone, and really focus on your goals. Be comfortable in both situations! Working out is as much of a mental process as it is a physical one.
I think this is a good start! I will be elaborating on these things throughout other blog posts, I’m sure. The important thing to remember you are running your own marathon of health, and what works for you and makes you happy will be different than other people’s journey. Health is not as complicated as we make it out to be. Do things that make your mind and body happy.
-B
What’s That? Wednesday
Every week I am going to do a product plug of cool grocery store finds that I love, or that I have tried and is a great staple for your diet! This week I am going to introduce you to a delicious member of the Larabar family, the Uberbar! I have been a fan of Larabars since I got diagnosed with food allergies, because they have the least amount of ingredients, and that equaled less stress for me when I was trying to figure out how to eat again. Anyway, these are great and they came out with some new flavors! (I can’t eat Uberbars anymore, because they contain brown rice syrup, but I’m sure they are still as wonderful as I remember).