Fitness and nutrition for those who are too busy.

Let's face it: Most of us know what we need to do to improve our health - whether it's exercising more regularly, improving our diet, getting more sleep, or reducing stress.

Everyone has their own unique barrier to health and fitness, but the main objections we hear from our professional clients are lack of time, lack of motivation and sometimes lack of support.


With so many of us working 10+ hour days, carrying a lot of stress and regularly missing out on precious family time not to mention sleep, the question arises: how do I find the time and energy to invest in a nutrition and exercise program , and how do I use my limited time and energy to get the best results?

Whichever way you go about it, it's - for those who devote themselves to the profession - a difficult balance.



Set yourself realistic goals

The hardest news for many fitness novices and busy ones is that not all results can occur at the same time. Do you want to lose weight while building muscle, running farther, lifting heavier, and eating healthier? So that is exactly the problem of many beginners and novices.

With a little time, and most importantly, experience, we can achieve all of these results. However, many fitness goals are mutually exclusive; For example, losing weight and gaining muscle mass are two goals that, in most cases, directly conflict with each other and therefore do not work.

In the short term, the primary goal must be determined by yourself or a trainer. Once the first goal is met, choose a new one. Then focus on it again, achieve it, maintain it, and then keep going.



Focusing on goals that can always be expanded.

Consider making your goals "process-oriented" rather than "outcome-oriented." The number one reason most fitness and especially diet programs fail is a lack of simple adherence to principles. This results in a loss of motivation, which in turn is due to disappointments. If you don't start concentrating on a single goal, which you will only achieve in the distant future, you can quickly lose motivation. However, if you start to take the process as your goal and, for example, see every gram / every kilo you lose as a goal achieved. This way you have one sense of achievement after the other and always stay motivated.

Results-oriented goals usually have an endpoint that completely ignores the process. So if we set an outcome-based goal (like a weight loss goal) and don't achieve that goal in the timeframe we set ourselves, even if we've made progress in other areas in the meantime, we'll be disappointed and lose motivation.

Rather than setting a weight loss or performance goal, set a goal for yourself to build and maintain a regular 3-day-per-week exercise routine for the next two months and beyond. This goal is much easier to achieve and still promotes you and your training equally.

Once this goal is easily maintained, set a new goal such as eating fresh vegetables at least two meals a day. As soon as you maintain both goals regularly, choose another, additional goal.

The more aggressive or results-oriented goals may come later, but your initial goals should be realistic and appropriate to your lifestyle. First and foremost, build healthy habits.



Create a routine

That's the boring part. Creating and sticking to a routine takes a lot of time and effort. Find simple, actionable daily steps you can take to ease your busy life, such as:

1. Prepare meals (lunch) every Sunday evening for the week.
   
   
2. Pack your gym clothes every night before bed.
   
   
3. Go to the gym or your sport of choice at least on Monday, Wednesday and Friday immediately after work.
   
   
4. Buy a large drinking bottle (at least 1.5 liters) and fill it up completely with water every morning.
   
   
5. Find a gym near your home or work and choose a route to and from work that passes right by the gym.

Every day you can take small steps to steer your life in a healthier direction. Find out what these steps can look like for you and check them off one by one.



Have a "Daily Plan B"

Our everyday life is not always predictable. And as much as we plan, plan and prepare, sometimes we just forget to prep our food or we just don't have time to make it to the gym or exercise.
So what can be done in these cases?

Find a place near your work that offers healthy lunch and snack options. And preferably before you get hungry. If you're really serious about it, just research healthy places to eat in your area even though you don't need them yet. If you get hungry quickly, you always know where to go.

If you sit for several hours a day, at least think about moving several times a day. Take a walk with colleagues during your lunch break, get up at your desk or stretch. Get your body moving and give yourself a mental break. This is exactly why we developed our sitting ball, the STRYVE Ball. If you want to move around more at your desk, take a look here .

However, sometimes it's best to give yourself and your body a day off. Fitness and healthy nutrition should enrich your life. And don't stress yourself out any more. Make sure your efforts to improve your fitness don't become an unhealthy attitude at the expense of your health. Enjoy your break day, go home, rest. Start fresh the next day without guilt and with renewed vigour.

Remember, the first step is motivation, and if you're here and have read this up to this point, then you're already motivated, so let's tackle some of those steps today to turn your new found motivation into results.


If you're further interested in training and still not sure which area of ​​fitness training is right for you, also read our article on " Fitness 101: The Absolute Beginner's Guide to Training. "