Fitness Tips for the Busy, Lazy Gal

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Have you ever checked your watch and been like “wow, I haven’t worked out in 2 months”? lol. That happens to this busy gal all the time. I will get into workout and health routines and be so good for so long, and then as soon as something in my life changes and I get busier than normal, I’ll completely lose track. It’s something I’ve dealt with ever since I can remember, and even though I still go through times when I completely lose it, I’ve finally figured out how to realize it’s happening and get myself out of that hole and back to feeling good again. Here are a few tips I have learned!

The first thing I do is go grocery shopping. You might be like, but that’s where the chips are, but for me, having healthy food in my house is the best start to getting back on track. When I get really busy, the last thing I want to do is spend time at the store, so I find myself picking up Chic-fil-a for dinner or going out to lunch instead of bringing it, which can really add up to some bad habits. So, when I realize I haven’t brought my lunch to work in a few days or had dinner at home, I’ll make myself get to the store and stock my house with easy, healthy meals. This also saves you SO much money, which is also a plus.

Second, I don’t cut out fun entirely. A lot of bad habits for me can stem from booze consumed at happy hours, wine nights, and beer at Alamo Drafthouse, which are all my favorites things, and that sucks. I have tried to cut out alcohol from my routine completely, (that seems to be the celeb favorite for keeping in shape) but I always ended up cheating anyway and then feeling bad about it and probably eating and drinking more because I felt so lousy. I realized I really just didn’t have the willpower to never have fun, and I personally don’t think it’s even worth it. So, instead, I’ll do my best to save the fun for the weekend and stay on track during the week. This also goes hand in hand with my first tip of having healthy lunches. That way, I’m still having fun if I want to, but I’m not ruining the fun by worrying about what I’m eating because I know that my healthy week balanced it out.

Third, get in a fitness routine that’s hard to get out of. My bestie recently got me into Class Pass (not an ad, I’m paying just like everyone else lol) and it has been the best thing ever for me. I’m not like some people who look forward to working out every day, it’s just not me. I hate waking up early and I’d much rather hang out after work than go to the gym, but Class Pass keeps you accountable because if you sign up for a class, you can’t cancel it within 12 hours of the class or they charge you! I can’t think of better motivation than that. It’s also super fun to try all the different kinds of classes. I’ve found workouts that I really enjoy, like kickboxing and barre, and I make sure and sign up ahead of time so I can plan out my week.

My fourth tip is one that’s obvious probably, but it’s something I didn’t learn until later. There are good tasting healthy foods that don’t take long to cook, so try and eat them. I’m guilty of stocking my fridge with lean cuisines for lunch because I’m SO lazy about preparing food. Anything that takes more than 10 minutes to make completely kills me, lol. It’s so stupid but it’s true. That’s another reason why I have a tendency to eat fast food when I’m going through my unhealthy streaks. So, I have learned from trial and error, and tips from my healthy roomie, that healthy meals don’t have to take forever to cook. Some of my favorite quick and healthy meals are avocado toast with red pepper flakes, cut up avocados with olive oil and fried eggs, turkey burger with avocado, and avocado salad. Mike says I’m going to turn into an avocado, but hey, they’re something green that I like, which is pretty crazy, and they take little to no preparation.

Last but not least, my fifth tip is to never feel discouraged. As soon as I start feeling bad, it’s when I want to keep doing bad because I feel like it’s no use trying, but that’s not true. You’re not going to automatically ruin weeks of hard work after a few days of being unhealthy, you just have to start back up and know that your good days are going to overpower your bad ones if you keep going at it! You also need to remember that you’re not perfect. Find a place where you feel good and don’t try and reach for an unattainable goal. News flash, it might be possible to look like a model with incredibly hard work, but remember that that’s their job! Until your job pays you to be fit, don’t sweat it so much, you’re doing great.

Photos by: Carlos Barrón Photography