When you stop and think about it, maintaining health and fitness should be a no brainer for a successful business professional and mandatory for work-life balance. After all, if you don’t take care of your mind and body through smart eating and fitness habits, how can you expect to perform your best, make a great first impression and truly enjoy life?
However (and unfortunately), if you’re anything like me, making time to workout and choosing to eat healthy can often be a daily (if not hourly) struggle. It’s all too easy to sit at my desk all day, grab food that’s fast and all together forget to workout, let alone get up and stretch.
It’s a BIG problem and it’s one I’ve been working to overcome for some time now. To help combat this, below are two customizable steps I use to help make staying fit and healthy in business an attainable priority.
Step 1: Create a Diet Plan that Fuels Your Mind and Body
For quite some time I ate a strict Paleo diet and I even blogged about it daily for more than a year. Over time and due to some kitchen remodel challenges, I lost that strictness and left my healthy eating choices all together for several months.
Recently, I’ve gone back to eating (mostly) dairy-free, gluten-free and avoiding refined sugars. Those things upset my body so I avoid them as much as possible. That’s just what works for me and I have been feeling the positive impact of this shift to healthier eating for several weeks now.
I’m not promoting one diet over another, but I do want to stress the importance of consuming foods that fuel your body and mind and move you forward into bright thinking and increased activity. Find what works for you and listen to your body. Also, be sure to consult your physician if you think you may be allergic to certain foods. It’s worth seeking expert advice.
Step 2: Physical Activity that You Enjoy for Energy and Health
Although I hear rumors of people who absolutely love exercise and have gotten themselves to the point where they simply cannot miss a workout — I have yet to reach that stage of enlightenment — although, if such a place exists, I do hope to arrive there one day.
Instead, I tend to get bored with workouts very easily. So, it’s important that a workout allows me to “mix it up” and if it can be completed in less than an hour — all the better. Right now, I’ve been experimenting with a combination of cycling (due to a knee injury that prevents me from running), Pilates, CrossFit and occasional yoga.
I like workouts that don’t require much preparation or equipment because they allow me to stay indoors if the weather is bad or fit something in while I travel. Here are five resources I use to help fuel my workouts:
1. Blogilates.com – This girl is inspirational! I use the Blogilates app on my iPhone for simple workouts (usually under 30 minutes a session) that are fun, produce results and keep my interest. Each workout has a corresponding video, so you can watch and make sure you’re doing the moves correctly. Also, the sessions are usually a combination of several short videos (5-15 minutes) so there literally isn’t time to get bored.
2. Pinterest – Yes, you can actually do more than tag DIY projects and recipes for double chocolate cake from Cake Boss. Here’s a link to my Pinterest board with sample CrossFit workouts and here’s one with workout motivation. Again, variety is key here. I love that I can find new variations of workouts and many can be done while on the go.
Right now, my go-to strength training workout is this WOD (workout of the day): 21:15:7 Kettlebells, squats and burpees.
3. YouTube – There are SO many workout options on YouTube. Whether you’re looking for Yoga, advice on how to do a proper pushup, P90X workouts, Zumba — literally any workout you’re considering can be searched through YouTube to uncover how-to videos.
4. RunKeeper – I love Runkeeper because it alerts me to when my friends are running and working out. This gives me a chance to cheer them on and motivates me to get out and get my workout on. RunKeeper will map your route, time your run / walk / bike workout and it will keep track of your progress. There are even reminders you can setup to keep on track with your workout goals.
5. Workout Challenges – Don’t underestimate the simplicity of tried and true workout options. I keep simple equipment like my tennis shoes, kettlebell and yoga mat handy for days when I just feel like doing something quick or need to workout on the go. You can really up your motivation and accountability without getting too technical by starting or participating in a workout challenge with friends, colleagues or your significant other. The Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans is a great resource for workout challenges.
I hope these resources help motivate you to renew your commitment to healthy living.
What’s your go-to workout routine or resource? Let me know in the comments below and I’ll try it out!
