NO TIME TO WORK OUT? TRUST ME, YOU DO HAVE THE TIME to do it.

Our health and fitness editor Jet is hibernating for the entire month of November to cook up a storm. Or in her case, a cookbook. And since she doesn’t want us to go off the deep end when it comes to health, she’s found a couple a cool fit girls to guide us through the month. To kick it off, we’ve got Jenny Alvares, a food, travel and sports blogger. She’s going to be introducing us to her healthy and fit lifestyle.

“I don’t have the time” is an excuse I hear all too often.

Having no time to work out, no time to walk your dog, no time to cook a proper meal, no time to give your grandma a call. Guys, let’s be real. You do have the time, you’re just not willing to make the time. There is a difference. We all have time to spend, but what are your priorities? What are you willing to spend your time on?

I too have to micro manage and make time to do certain things. I have a busy life: I’m in the middle of graduating, I work as a Personal Body Plan Coach, I write 5 to 6 times a week for my own website, I have a social life, I have things I have to do at home and then I also work out on my own and take care of what I eat. Quite a lot don’t you think? I often get asked: how do you do it?

To be fair, sometimes I really don’t know how I manage doing it all. I have days that stress me out because I don’t know how I’m going to be able to plan everything in. And when I’m stressed I skip my personal workouts which makes me crabby. And I hate that feeling. It’s something I need to work on. It’s a trial and error process and through trial and error, you learn.

How I try to avoid it?

Working out in the morning. My alarm goes off at 6AM each morning to get me out of bed and in the gym. That way I’ll have my workout out of the way and the rest of the day to do everything else I need to get done. I’m personally not a big advocate for working out in the evening and that’s why I try to do it in the morning as often as I can. As soon as I don’t, the odds of me going later in the day are bare to none. After spending an entire day studying for school I have a hard time finding the motivation to go to the gym. Anyone recognize this feeling? If so, I would advise you to go in the morning.

How I stay on track when it comes to my nutrition? I prep my meals. I don’t make everything for an entire week, but I try to prep as much as I can for a few days. The easiest way to do it is if you make bigger portions. That way you can split it between a few days. It’ll save you a lot of time during the week. My fridge is nearly always full and by always having something (healthy) prepped to eat, you’ll avoid snacking on less healthy things.

Long story short

My tips for when you’ve got a busy schedule: always plan your workouts. It’ll relieve you from stress. Wake up an hour earlier than you usually do, work out, and you’ll have a ton of energy for the rest of your day. And when you’re cooking, make twice the proportion size than you usually do so you’ll have meals prepped for as many days as possible. Less time in the kitchen and less likely to snack on things that’ll make you feel miserable afterwards.

I hope these tips will help you out!

♥

Jenny