11 Ways to Get Healthy Even if Your Personal Trainer Would Think You’re Cheating

We need to find a way to talk about health that isn’t all-or-nothing.

But so often when we hear advice on how to get healthy it requires a complete overhaul of everything in our lives overnight.

I think most of us would agree that yes, in an ideal world we would all eat perfect, organic food and work out multiple times a week and be regimented with our health. But the reality is that for a lot of us, life is really really busy!

This month we’ve been talking about how to make daily life easier. We’ve covered figuring out the causes of stress in your life; figuring out kids’ schedules; figuring out what’s getting in the way of having sex; even how to get dads more involved with the kids. So since we’re talking this month about just getting real with our daily routines and how they affect us, we thought we’d end off the month with a discussion about healthy habits.

We didn’t include any of the typical ones that are usually said like eat more vegetables, stop drinking soda, because those are ones you’d normally hear from a personal trainer, nutritionist, or doctor. Instead, we wanted to give you a few ideas for small tweaks you can make that aren’t so commonly talked about because, frankly, not all of them are 100% “healthy.” But changing our lifestyle is about steps in the right direction, and a small step in the right direction is always better than staying still!

So let’s ditch the all-or-nothing mentality when it comes to health and talk about some small, easy changes that can get us going in the right direction!

Note: if you currently struggle or have ever suffered with eating disorders, this is likely not the post for you. Instead, we’d recommend talking to a professional who has experience working with eating disorders to help find a personalized and safe way for you to approach fitness, food, and health. 

 

1. Have frozen meals on hand

Having some ready-made meals in the house can actually help many people get healthier by having a safety net for when the planned meal just isn’t going to work out. Then, instead of going to a restaurant or getting take-out food, you can just throw the frozen meals in the microwave or the oven. No, it’s not the healthiest option, but this is about the lesser of the two evils here!

Rebecca and Connor like to have pre-made stuffed chicken breasts in the freezer they can just pop in the oven and then eat with microwaved frozen veggies. It’s cheaper than buying individual frozen dinners (which can run $6 a person) and is just as filling, all while making it easier not to order in pizza when you just don’t feel like making dinner.

2. Don’t immediately jump to intense gym workouts

Often when we decide to get healthy that includes a very strict workout regiment.

And what happens? You go for a week and then, somehow, it’s 5 months later and you haven’t been once.

When we start working out or getting active it’s tempting to go all-out from the beginning. But what often happens is that we get really sore, or really tired because–frankly–going to the gym is often a big time commitment at inconvenient parts of the day!

What can work better is starting with focusing on increasing activity level in general through easy first steps. Just start taking walks as a family after dinner (or, better yet, if you’ve got teenagers or preteens, let the teens clean up after the meal while you and hubby get a quick walk around the block to reconnect and hold hands!). Start to go to bike trails once a week to just ride bikes or roller blade as a couple. It doesn’t need to be a “work out” when you’re starting–just get in the habit of being active through achievable, easy steps.

3. Instead of working out, join an activity

Take ballroom dancing lessons together, or join a rock climbing gym! Rebecca started doing highland dance in an adults class two years ago and can’t wait to get back after she’s recovered from having the baby!

Having activities instead of gym time can help those of us who don’t enjoy the gym stay active by turning it into a fun, social activity where you are learning new skills and can be proud of what you achieve. Seriously, even if it’s just bowling as a family that doesn’t burn a lot of calories, if it keeps you from sitting on the couch all night, it’s worth it!

4. Wear clothes that are structured

When trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle, one of the most frustrating things is to step on the scale one day and realize that you gained 10 pounds and didn’t even realize it.

Solution? Wear tailored/structured clothes. It’s easy to gain weight and not notice if all you wear is yoga pants or sweats with loose tops! But if you’re wearing structured clothes like jeans and tailored shirts, at least occasionally, those extra pounds aren’t going to creep up in the same way and it’s easier to nip unhealthy habits in the bud.

5. Have a full length mirror

Similar to the tailored clothes tip, if you have a full-length mirror it’s easier to see when bad habits start taking a toll. This isn’t about standing in front of the mirror and pointing out all the bad things about our bodies–not at all! This is about deciding to become empowered about our health and giving ourselves the ability to notice potential issues while they’re still easy to nip in the bud.

6. Try meal plan kits like Hello Fresh

We’re not sponsored by Hello Fresh, we just really like them and use them ourselves!