Vacations are coming to an end and the children are back at school…now it’s time to get back to you. Why wait until New Year’s to make a resolution to lose weight and be healthy? September is a perfect month to start a “New You”.
With long work hours and after school sports here are a some IMPORTANT TIPS to make sure your September schedule is a healthy one that works for you:
1) PLAN YOUR WORKOUT IN THE MORNING: When you plan to do your workout first thing in the morning you have an 80% chance of actually doing it. On the flip side, if you don’t do your workout first thing in the morning, you have an 80% chance of NOT doing it!
When we start with a morning workout, we are much more likely to have a better nutritional day. Why? Because mentally you have put yourself on track for the day. You will not want to ruin your hard work and effort with an unhealthy snack or meal.
If you are a stay-at-home parent, get the kids off to school and head to the gym. Don’t put it off until after you clean the house or get the laundry done. Before you know it, the kids will be getting off the bus as quickly as they got on. Head right to the gym. Follow up by running your errands and then head home and do your housework.
If you are a working parent, make the effort to get up an extra hour early and get your workout in. It will change the dynamic of your day from okay to awesome! While I understand how difficult it can be to add an extra hour to your day, I can assure you it’s worth it, both mentally and physically. Your body will get used to it and in return, that extra hour will actually make you feel more healthy and energetic throughout the day.
2) REMEMBER: WORKOUTS ARE IN ADDITION TO HEALTHY FOODS, NOT IN REPLACE OF: What exactly does that mean? You are doing your workout so you can be healthy. If you want to lose weight in addition to clean eating it will help you lose even more weight; HOWEVER, you are NOT working out so you can eat whatever you want all day…AND you are NOT working out so you can eat more food throughout the day (even if it is healthy food – it’s still more). Workouts are to keep your body, mind, muscles and bones healthy and toned. In addition to a healthy eating plan, it will help you lose even more weight.
3) KEEP MOVING: When you are with your kids at after school sports, make sure you are not sitting, chatting and watching them. Even if you already worked out in the morning, grab some of the moms and dads and walk around the track or field. Unless it’s a game, you don’t need to watch your child practice. They have coaches to tell them how to play. They only need mom and dad to tell them what a great job they are doing and how amazing they are.
4) PLAN YOUR MEALS IN ADVANCE: Don’t ever start the day by winging it. If you don’t know what you are going to eat each day, it will most likely turn out bad. Either the night before or the morning of, make sure you know exactly what you are going to eat. Plan it out: You should know what you are eating for your meals and snacks each day. If you don’t know, you can quickly turn a healthy day into an unhealthy day all because of lack of planning. More importantly, when you don’t plan it out, it sometimes means mentally you know you will go off that day. That’s why you don’t want to think about it. So make sure you know exactly what you are going to eat from the time you wake up until you go to bed. When you are proactive it will make all the difference in your day.
When you incorporate some time for yourself into your schedule you can really make a difference in how you look and feel. No one said it’s easy to be healthy and fit, but everyone will tell you it’s worth it.
~Love to Live Healthy with Josephine Fitzpatrick
Innovation Weight Loss and Fitness
8031 Jericho Tpke Woodbury, NY 11797
469 7th Ave Manhattan, N& 10018
