These 10 strategies will help you make eating better and moving consistently an every day part of your life. Even when you are strapped for time, you can still focus on your health goals. 

Happy Friday Eve!


We do not have anything too out of the ordinary on the agenda for this weekend, but I always look forward to spending time with Rob and Zoey without the rush of the week getting in the way. Also, with school winding down (there are only 3 weeks left!), things have felt pretty hectic as students scramble for last minute grades, paperwork for my specific students is on a deadline, and other general end of year stuff. I am looking forward to our weekend of volunteering at church and hosting our fifth and final race of the Healthy Kids Running Series.

Rob and Zoey in the morning

While we are on the topic of things being hectic, we all have such busy schedules with work, kids, and homes that finding time to workout and eat healthy can seem just about impossible. As we are in the beginning stages of the Mile a Day May challenge, many of the teams are concerned about finding the time to consistently get in their mile and achieve the weekly nutrition challenges.

If we are going to get really honest about time constraints here, having time to workout and eat healthy is not just going to appear in your day. Instead, you are going to have to “find” the time to do the things you know you need to in order to progress your health forward and reach those health goals. You are going to have to make fitness and nutrition a conscious priority for a while before it becomes more natural and feels like an unconscious habit.

Even though you do have to make it a priority, there are ways to incorporate healthy nutrition and fitness into your day without it taking an insane amount of time (that you already do not have). These are a few of the systems and habits that I have in place, or incorporate into my day when things are overly hectic.

Working Out and Eating Healthy When You Have Not Time

Before you get into these strategies, I want you to do a time audit of your day-to-day and week-to-week schedule. From the minute you get up to the minute you pass out, I want you to account for everything you do during the day. I promise you will find at least 20-30 minutes within your day (if not more) that you could use to focus more on your health and fitness and less on scrolling through Facebook or sitting in the front of the TV after the kids go to bed.

Within this time audit, you might also find a way to restructure your day. For instance, completing a workout in the morning rather than waiting until the day gets away from you, or scheduling a meeting earlier in the day so you are not hung up on the phone at the end of the day when you should be leaving to fit in some fitness.

After your time audit, you need to ask yourself a tough question: Are you just using your busy schedule as an excuse to not workout and prepare healthier meals, or is time truly the issue? Be honest with yourself here and then work towards altering those motivations.

Ok, here are the strategies and habits I use to find time for fitness and healthy eating. Granted, every day and week is not perfect, but overall, I am able to eat a balanced diet with lots of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean meats and consistently workout 4 times per week.

Make health and fitness a family initiative. Get your partner on bored to share cooking responsibilities and motivate each other to workout. You can get the kids involved in the cooking and movement as well! For instance, one of my favorite ways to fit in a workout on a busier day is to do a 500 or 1,000 rep workout while Zoey climbs around the playground. She even jumps in with me sometimes to do push ups, squats, and jumping jacks.

Zoey on the slide at the playground

Do shorter workouts. You do not have time for a 45-60 minutes fitness session, and that is ok. Opt for shorter workouts that incorporate compound moves or intervals. These types of workouts, as opposed to steady state cardio, can be accomplished in less time with good results. Even a 15-20 minute workout can work wonders!

Speed it UP Treadmill Interval Workout

Set up a home workout space. A set of dumbbells, a yoga mat, and some space to move around are all you need to get in a solid sweat session. If you do not have room to keep a designated workout space, those items are easy to move to the side, hide in a closet, or push under a couch until you need them. Having an at home gym is also less expensive than a gym membership and saves you on the travel time to and from the gym.

Break it up throughout the day. While the recommendation is at least 30 minutes of intentional movement each day, you might not find a full 30 minutes in your time audit and that is ok! You can break up your workout into smaller chunks throughout the day if that works better for you. For instance, a 10 minute wake up yoga sequence, a 10 minute lunch time walk, and a 10 minute lift with your dumbbells gets you to your 30 minutes of designated movement and did not require a giant chunk of time.

Have a plan. With a structured workout plan, you will know exactly what to expect and do with your designated workout time. This not only takes the guesswork out of it, but it makes your time more efficient and will get you to your health goals faster.

Get a copy of the Finish Line Strong 5k Training Plan. This 12 week training plan has beginner, intermediate, and advanced plans that include interval runs and strength building workouts, so you can cross your next finish line feeling strong and ready for more.

Be active even if you cannot do a designated workout. The worst thing you can do for your body is to sit more than you stand throughout your day. If there is not way you are going to be able to fit in a workout on a particular day, alter your habits so you are standing, taking the stairs, moving around with your kids, and overall in motion.

Opt for load bearing workouts. If you only have a few days in your week to workout, then opt for load bearing exercises. As women, load bearing workouts are vital to help us build our bone strength and prevent osteoporosis. Not only that, but muscles require more calories than fat, which means they burn more calories throughout the day. A great reason to have them! Ideally, you are using weights for these workouts, but you can also use your bodyweight. Aim for at least two days a week of load bearing work. You can find some strength workout ideas here.

Strength workout. This full arm and leg workout is great for at home or the gym. With only 4 moves, you will be done quickly. This is a great workout for runners!

Choose real food. Whenever you can, at the potluck, when choosing lunch, when reaching for the toddler scraps, start by eating the real food first. When I say real food, I mean fruits, vegetables, lean meats, and whole grains, not processed snacks. This will help train your eye to reach for the healthier items first and fill you up before you can even get to the other items.

Plan ahead for meals and snacks. Standing in line, stopped at a light, waiting for a meeting to start, make a quick note in your phone of the upcoming meals and snacks you want to make for the upcoming week. Planning ahead works wonders in preventing you from eating whatever is hanging around, or picking something up on your way home. Get all my tips and tricks for meal planning and saving money on our grocery budget in this Meal Planning Guide.

Meal prep what you can when you can. There are so many things you can do to make meal prep possible and not feel like an arduous task. For instance, if you know you are going to bring salads for lunch for the week, then chop a few at at time while you are making dinner. If the dinner you are making freezes well, make a second batch while you are at it and freeze it for a busier night. There are easy and quick tasks you can do to ensure you have healthy foods ready to go when you need them so you are not waiting to the last minute. Some tasks you can do in 20 minutes include washing fruit, chopping vegetables, defrosting a few night’s of protein, and portioning out snacks. With about 30 minutes, you could cook a big batch of quinoa, make to-go breakfasts, or cook some chicken for lunches and dinners.

Smoothie, Trail Mix, Salad, Apple in food storage containers

Yes, you are going to have to make intentional movement and eating healthier a priority for a little while, but soon you have it be a natural part of your life that you do not need to focus on. To make it even easier, take your ultimate goal and break it down into at least 10 smaller steps. Incorporate one of those steps into your life at a time for at least 2-3 weeks. Once you feel like you have a handle on that step, move to the next one. Before you know it, you will have created all these healthy habits and be at your goal!

What is your favorite way to get in a workout or eat healthy when time is limited?

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