Take a poll of 100 women who have strayed off the weight loss track and 90 of them will tell you they are just too busy. It is an extremely common problem in today’s modern world where women are expected to be super women; cleaning the house, caring for the kids, going to work and then trying to find time to exercise. But there are some solutions. All is not lost. This article is the busy woman’s guide to staying toned, sexy and healthy.
How busyness kills exercise
The first thing we need to look at, obviously, is why being busy kills your exercise, weight loss and health goals. Why is it that most of us aren’t able to maintain the routine when we are run off our feet. It is an interesting question that doesn’t have a straight forward answer. Some women find that by the time they are free to think about working out they are completely zapped of energy. Others find that they are just too busy to even put aside 20 minutes for a jog around the block.
But the thing that ties all of these problems (excuses) together is actually very simple. It is what Oprah would call and “ah ha moment”. The reason you aren’t working out is not because you are tired or don’t have enough time; it is because you have not made it a priority. If exercise, eating healthy, etc. was a priority you would make sure you had time for it, just like you do for other important tasks. And here’s the real kicker – your workout is one of the most important things you do because it plays a big role in your quality of life. Without exercise you will put on weight, become unhealthy and feel miserable. But it’s still not a priority.
Making exercise and health a priority
If you are a busy woman you need to make exercise a priority. If you continue to put everything else before your workout then you will never get toned, sexy and healthy, no matter how much you long for it. Making exercise and health a priority is a mental act as well as a physical one, it is important that we acknowledge that.
How to make exercise a priority
If you want to make these things a priority in your life in order to allow yourself to achieve them there are a few things you need to do:
- realize that you need to exercise
- realize that you need to exercise regularly
- realize that without exercise you cannot be healthy
- realize how important being healthy is to you and your loved ones
- realize that if you don’t make time you will never achieve the results you desire
- actually make time, today
The most important one here is the last one; make time today. Today is the time you need to start because if you don’t do it today, the word tomorrow will always be in your mind. So many women out there promise themselves that they will start their new life tomorrow. But tomorrow is too late because it usually means never.
How to stay toned, sexy and healthy
Now that we have looked at the important preliminary items of why busyness kills exercise and making exercise a priority we can get into the main ideas of this article. What follows is a bunch of ways that busy women can stay toned, sexy and healthy. Adopt as many as you can and you will be well on your way to success.
1. Do some exercise, whatever it is, every single day
At the beginning it is extremely important that you do some exercise, whatever it is, every single day. Even if you only work out for ten minutes it is so much better than doing nothing. Why? Because more than anything else you are creating new habits. More than getting fit and toned you are teaching yourself the discipline that will last you a lifetime. If you do some exercise every single day you will find that, over time, you will naturally increase the amount and push yourself further. You can do easy things like:
- 50 squats, push ups and crunches when you wake up in the morning
- a walk around the neighborhood after dinner
- a quick gym session on your lunch break
- park the car 20 minutes away from work and walk
All of these things are so easy you will hardly notice you are working out but they will make a massive difference to how you look, feel and how you approach your exercise. You have, all of a sudden, made exercise and fitness a priority in your life.
2. Control your portion sizes
When you don’t have a lot of time for exercise your portion sizes become extremely important. Why? Because over time those extra large meals add up. They are calories that go straight to your hips and thighs because you aren’t doing the exercise to burn off the excess energy. Let me explain.
In our guide to losing weight we looked at the mathematics of weight loss. This talked about the fact that in order to lose weight you need to burn more calories than you take in. And portion sizes play a massive role in this equation. For example, if you go back for seconds after dinner every night you might be taking on 150 extra calories. That works out to over 1000 calories a week. And seeing a there are 3500 calories in a pound of fat, that means you have put on one pound of fat in three weeks JUST from your seconds! Now add up all the other big meals you have; breakfast, snacks, lunch, etc. and you see why it is so hard to lose weight.
If you don’t have a lot of time for exercise it is really important that you control your portion sizes. This will help keep you toned and at a healthy weight. Do not worry too much about eating more serving of vegetables and fruit, it is the pasta, rice, bread and sugars that you need to look out for.
3. Eat protein and fiber rich foods
You have probably heard this a million times but it is really important for busy women to remember as it relates heavily to controlling your portion sizes. Protein and fiber are extremely important for maintaining a healthy weight and keeping your body toned because they help to keep you full. If you have a high fiber meal it is very unlikely that you will feel hungry afterward. These foods are also very rarely high in calories so you can rest assured knowing that you are eating something healthy. Foods that are high in fiber include;
- Flax seeds
- Garbanzo beans
- Kidney beans
- Lentils
- Bran cereal
- Oats
- Avocado
- Carrot
Try to include one or more of these foods in every meal. For example, you might have oats for breakfast, avocado in your sandwich for lunch and carrots with your dinner. Easy! These foods do a lot more for you than just increasing your fiber, they are full of valuable vitamins and minerals.