Make the Time

As of last week I have officially reached the 10-pounds-left-to-go mark. Victory is so close, I can almost taste it! Once I get to that point, I'm gonna keep this lifestyle going and see what happens! It feels great to know that I did this the right way, and that I can keep it up because I know how to eat right and exercise correctly. I've made healthy habits. It's not the weight itself; I see the weight as a reflection of my health, and especially my hard work.

I was watching The Biggest Loser finale tonight, thinking about how great they all looked, and I was seriously getting choked up just thinking about how much work goes in to changing your life like that. There are so many hurdles to get over: learning how to eat right, keeping the motivation to exercise, getting over emotional roadblocks, perfecting the balance in order to keep it maintainable, etc. It's just amazing to see other people change their lives like that. Many of them were on the verge of death, and now they are happy and healthy.

One excuse I used before, and that I hear a ton of now, is "I just don't have time to lose weight." True, it is much easier not to work out and pick up some fast food after work, but if you really want to change, you gotta make the time. Here are a few helpful tips:

1. Cook enough for leftovers. This happens to me whether I try or not. When you only have one person to cook for, plus a toddler that is hit-or-miss when it comes to meals, you end up with food to spare. Learn the proper way to freeze and reheat, or make just enough for two days so you don't get bored with it.
2. Plan time to work out. If you pencil in some time to work out and you require yourself to stick to that schedule you'll get it done. We all have more free time than we realize sometimes. You wouldn't let the day pass you by without going to work, getting dressed, or taking the kids to school, so make sure exercising is on your to-do list also.
3. Take the stairs. If you happen to work all day, plan a few activities to do at lunch. Walk up and down the stairs, take a walk around the building, or walk to a nearby restaurant for lunch. There are always a few ways to sneak in some exercise.
4. Buy healthy snacks and bring them with you. Out at school all day? Don't buy from the awful vending machines. Pack yourself some grapes, an orange, some carrot sticks, or even a few hard-boiled egg whites.
5. Package your own food. This one goes along with the previous tip. Sometimes it can be very time consuming to prepare a healthy snack and so we just grab whatever is the easiest when we are really hungry. When you first come home with your fruits and veggies, separate them into single-serving portions and place each portion in a ziplock bag. Then when you want a snack, it's easy to grab a little bag of something healthy.

How do you busy folks make the time to be healthy?