A new year brings a fresh opportunity to take control of your health. A few weeks in and you may be faced with the harsh reality that you don’t have enough time in the day to accomplish all the well-intentioned resolutions you set for yourself. You have two choices: either allow your goals to fall by the wayside or adapt them to better fit your schedule. When it comes to resolutions that pertain to your health, it’s best to choose the latter. Fortunately, there are multiple techniques available to help you achieve your health goals while still being mindful of your busy schedule. Here are three time saving ways to stay healthy in the new year.
Quick Workouts
Staying physically fit is an important part of any health journey, but finding the time to fit a traditional workout into your day can be difficult. If you are struggling to get enough exercise in, change your approach by making your workouts shorter. Be intentional about pinpointing specific exercises that target multiple muscles (termed compound exercises). Because you’ll be working on several muscles at once, you won’t need to waste time on extra machines, consequently making your gym time more efficient. Try mixing a few combined exercises into one workout to maximize your time investment.
Quick Meals
In addition to genetics and regular exercise, your diet is one of the single most impactful factors that affect your health. Although many people know the foods they eat contribute to overall wellness, most still fail to prepare healthy meals consistently. If your reason for skipping out on healthy eating is lack of time, there are several solutions that can assist you in saving some time in the kitchen.
- Try meal prepping. Meal prepping is a time saving method of cooking that focuses on preparing large quantities of simple foods, then dividing and packing repeated meals for the whole week. Because all the cooking is done in one day, you won’t need to worry about cooking throughout the week.
- Consider a meal delivery service. If grocery trips for healthy foods are cutting into your schedule, a meal delivery service may be a perfect fit for your needs. A meal delivery subscription enables you to choose your meals. The ingredients and recipes will be delivered right to your door – all you have to do is prepare the meal and enjoy.
- Research easy recipes that emphasize speed. Both instant pot and one pan/pot meals allow you to combine multiple ingredients to be cooked all at once, saving you time and frustration. Cold lunches and dinners (i.e. salads and sandwiches) skip the cooking aspect altogether and can be completed in as little as 15 minutes. Recipes that include the phrase “last minute” are also specifically curated to save time.
Quick Germ Eradicators
During the winter months, flu season is at its peak. Managing symptoms can be a tedious process that consumes time that you don’t have to begin with. Instead of wasting precious moments sitting in a doctor’s office or making multiple trips to the store for cold meds, make better use of your available time by being proactive instead of reactive.
- Drink more water. Increased water intake helps the body remove toxins more efficiently, which may prevent illnesses from taking root before developing into a real issue.
- Get more sleep. Your immune system needs the proper amount of rest to recoup its defenses to ward off sickness.
- Get in the habit of using natural immune boosters to prevent colds. Daily consumption of ginger, garlic, nutrient dense foods and warm liquids (like tea or broth) can help your body fight off infection.
It’s easy to take your physical well-being for granted when you give a higher focus to everything else in your life. However, good health isn’t guaranteed. It’s easier to prevent a disease than to treat one, which means it is vital that you do your part to prioritize your health. While it may take a bit of extra planning and ingenuity, it is indeed possible to remain health-minded while managing a busy lifestyle. Use these three tips to make this the year that you make the most of your time and remain consistent about placing your health first.
