How to Be Healthy When You’Re Busy
Neglecting our health is a costly mistake in the long run
I work in a quite demanding field like IT and at the end of my working time, what I want to do is just rest, not do any kind of exercise. Another thing is that during the week I don’t usually feel like cooking, so sometimes I eat unhealthy food.
Before the pandemic started, I used to go to the gym a couple of times a week. It wasn’t a lot but enough to at least not put on a lot of weight. I was also going to an office, so I had to walk from home to the underground, maybe walk to another station and then to the office. During lunchtime, I’d also go for a little walk.
All of that changed in March 2020. I started working from home, I couldn’t go to the gym even if I wanted to and I often found myself craving snacks between meals, so it wasn’t a big surprise that I gained a lot of weight.
By the end of 2021, I decided to get a blood test. They found I had a bit of cholesterol and mildly elevated transaminases. The doctor told me it wasn’t worrying as I was in my 30’s, but that I should start taking steps to change my habits.
These are some of the things I’m doing while I have a busy schedule:
1. Change my diet
I love eating not-so-healthy foods. The problem is, that I was doing it multiple times a week. Now, I’m eating much healthier during the week and during the weekend I allow myself to eat what I want once or twice.
I don’t have a lot of time to prepare meals, so I make myself a lot of salads, I’ve reduced my red meat consumption (I’ve replaced it with chicken or turkey) or if I cook something, I make sure I prepare extra portions for days that I don’t feel like cooking (this is called “batch cooking”).
2. Do some exercise
My job is sedentary. I’m at home pretty much the whole day and I’m sitting down a minimum of 8 hours, normally more. I go twice to the gym per week and on weekends I go swimming. Doing 3 days of exercise might not sound like a lot, but it’s still better than doing no exercise at all.
3. Go for walks
I have a car, so it’s tempting to drive everywhere I go. Instead, I’m trying to walk to most places I go as it’s one of the healthiest things one can do. Walking one mile (1.6km) burns approximately 100 calories.
4. Have a friend holding me accountable to make sure I do all this
This is very important, especially at the beginning. Ask a friend or a relative if he/she can hold you accountable to make sure you stay on track. We all have our moments of weakness, when we think about eating junk food or snacks, or when we want to skip the gym.
What do you think about what I’m doing? Do you think I can improve anything? Are you doing something different? Leave a comment.
