Too many people think that being healthy means eating right OR working out – however, it’s quite the contrary. While you can eat healthy and not workout, or vice versa, true health comes from a mix of the two. Building a healthy routine will help you ease into a truly healthy lifestyle for lifelong wellbeing that benefits you in more ways than one.
Building a Healthy Routine
While your healthy routine may at first seem like a chore, it will soon become just another normal part of your everyday life. Like brushing your teeth or putting on your shoes, you have to repeat the action day after day until it becomes routine. Thus, it’s important that you try to stay within a specific routine that works for your current daily life.
To do this, it’s imperative that you choose the right workout time for you. If you aren’t a morning person, don’t work out in the morning. If you like to relax after a long day of work, then make time during the day. Regardless of how you build workouts into your routine, it will likely still take some time to adjust.
– Morning workouts: Can’t seem to drag yourself out of bed? Do it anyway. If you know that you won’t workout at the end of the day, it’s useless to plan for that. After merely a week of the early morning routine you are likely to feel more motivated the next. Remember, getting into this rhythm will take time.
– Evening workouts: If you truly can’t wake up a minute earlier, then an end of the day workout is necessary. Not only will not only help you sleep better at night, but get your metabolism moving before a big dinner.
– Middle of the road: Can’t do morning or evening? Try a lunchtime workout. You’ll return to work feeling refreshed and energized.
Eating healthy is just as much of a routine change as working out. Perhaps you’re used to your breakfast of coffee and a bagel or afternoon take-out for lunch. By planning ahead you can easily integrate healthy food into your daily routine.
– Make time to prepare your lunches and dinner for the week; Sundays are a great day for this. Prepare as much as you can beforehand – chop veggies, cook your protein, boil rice. You’ll have no excuse not to throw it into your bag before work or pop it in the microwave for dinner.
Integrating Diet and Workout
As you create healthy routines, you’ll soon see how your eating and exercising do in fact go hand in hand. What you put in your body directly correlates, not only to the results you see from exercise but the effectiveness of your workout.
– Vegetables such as bell peppers help decrease inflammation from workouts.
– A meal of high fiber carbs and protein after your workout will improve muscle soreness and overall effectiveness.
– Many say abs are made in the kitchen not the gym; foods such as almonds, fruit and leafy greens are integral to making all those crunches worthwhile.
– Your body can’t complete a workout on coffee and simple carbs – eating a full breakfast of complex carbs, healthy fats and protein will give your body the fuel it needs to complete a full workout.
While working out is important to staying healthy, so is making the right food choices. When you eat the right foods, your workouts are not only more successful, but you create an entire healthy lifestyle, both inside and out. Being fit is not the same as being healthy – though a healthy lifestyle does include both.
