The No More Excuses Diet (49 page)

You need to schedule your workouts the same way you schedule your doctors’ appointments, work meetings, and family meals. Your exercise needs to be a planned appointment at least three days a week for a minimum of 30 minutes each time. Take a good look at your schedule and figure out what you are doing on an hour-by-hour basis. The most opportune times to incorporate a workout are in the morning, during your lunch break, or directly after work. Some people get their training done close to bedtime, but for most people, exercising late in the day impedes quality sleep. So you have to figure out what works for you.

My best advice is to exercise right when you get up in the morning. The morning is a time when you can’t think yourself out of working out. Set your alarm clock, have your workout clothes ready—perhaps even sleep in them—so that all you have to do is brush your teeth and start exercising. The energy boost that you will feel from getting your heart pumping at the beginning of your day will make it worth rising a little earlier.

When I first had my children, I worked out right after I nursed my infant at 5
AM
. I put on my running shoes and hopped on my treadmill for 30 minutes. Sometimes I ran outside or performed a workout DVD. Whatever I did, I made sure it was done in the morning when my head and body were fresh; once the boys woke up, all of my energy was focused on caretaking, cleaning, cooking, working, and surviving the daily hustle.

But time is one of your most valuable assets, and you need to be able to efficiently and effectively utilize it. You have to eliminate things that waste your time. There is definitely nothing wrong with playing video games, watching TV, or surfing the Internet; everybody needs a mental break! But while half an hour of online shopping or watching an episode of your favorite show can be a
good way to unwind, you can’t spend hours vegging out in front of a screen if you want to have a healthy life.

Tally up how long it takes to perform your tasks and see how you can get them done faster by using focus and organization. Write down your task list and create appointments for each, including exercise! Be realistic about your schedule and figure out the best, uninterrupted,
flow times to perform your daily tasks.

Flow times
are when you are most efficient. For example, it takes me 30 minutes to fold and put away four loads of laundry, but if I’m playing with my phone or trying to complete this task at a bad time—such as when the boys are awake—then it takes me closer to an hour. Sometimes you can’t avoid having to complete certain tasks at inconvenient times, but it’s important to be aware of when you are able to do each kind of work.

Lastly, when you lack time, always remember that your success is 80 percent diet and 20 percent exercise. So if you can’t get the additional 30 to 60 minutes of exercise in your day, this means you need to be more vigilant about your intake. Eating healthy doesn’t require additional time; it just demands that you choose healthier options when eating.

Write down your goals every evening, and plan out your next day. For each day, block out one 30-minute interval for some kind of heart-pumping exercise, choosing different times each day of the week: If you usually exercise after work, try setting your alarm earlier; if you always promise to wake up early but find yourself hitting the snooze button, schedule a workout during your lunch break; if mornings are too hectic for you, find a way to get in a quick session before your dinnertime. Trying out different times for your workout will help you settle on the best fit with your schedule. Having “made an appointment with your exercise” will remind you that
your health is just as important as that meeting, doctor’s appointment, or scheduled pickup.

Anyone who argues that healthy eating isn’t expensive hasn’t looked at a fast-food menu lately (and yes, I sometimes find myself at a drive-through!). Trust me, I get it: Purchasing fresh vegetables and fruits seems more expensive than buying a box of fruit snacks on clearance. But don’t lose hope. If you start recognizing what defines real food, you will begin shopping wisely, and I promise you that you will actually reduce the amount of money you’re spending on food.

You have to understand that your health is an investment worth making. When you exercise and eat nutritious foods, you are investing in a long and healthy life. Like any goal worth striving for, it will take planning so that you invest in that body to take you through this life. While it requires extra effort to consume nutritious foods, it costs a lot more to deal with health problems, including prescription pills you’ll need in the future. According to a study conducted by the Brookings Institute,
obesity directly results in increased medical spending. Since excess weight is linked to serious health conditions such as type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, stroke, and hypertension, obese patients have 105 percent higher prescription costs and 39 percent higher primary care costs.

Eating healthy is a good investment for the long haul, and it is affordable if you just start making some strategic choices about where you get your food. Most processed foods are laden with trans fats, salt, additives, food coloring, and highly addictive ingredients like high fructose corn syrup. Not only are processed foods stripped of most of their nutritional value, but they are also void of fiber, the
roughage found in carbohydrates that satisfies your hunger and triggers your brain to notify you that your stomach is full. So even if you get a great price on chips, cookies, fruit snacks, and frozen dinners because they were all on sale, you will end up eating more of them at a time because these “foods” lack nutritional value and fiber. You will wind up spending much more money because the food you’re buying doesn’t leave you feeling satisfied.

There are ways to integrate healthy foods into your diet without breaking the bank. So start buying the foods that will give you more bang for your grocery buck. Here are some quick
tips:

Maybe you’ve heard the saying “Health Is Wealth.” It’s true! Your health should be treated as an investment that can be affordable on any budget if you put your mind to it. If the cost of food is deterring you from achieving your best body, then it’s time to start making changes. Review your personal budget and assess how much you’re spending on different kinds of food. Clean out your freezer and make room for bulk meats that go on sale. Research your local farmers’ markets and look in your local paper or online for weekly discounts. Cut back if you are eating out more than two meals per week; not only could you be saving money but you can never be sure of what ingredients go into your takeout or restaurant meals.

Working out doesn’t require a gym. In fact, it doesn’t even require a workout video or training shoes! When I became a mother, I started a free “mom group” in my local park. My eldest son was too young for me to take along to the gym and it was tough for me to leave him
because I was nursing. So the other moms and I worked out at the park, performing body-weight exercises like step-ups, push-ups, tricep dips, squats, crunches, and planks while we kept an eye on our kids. Talk about multitasking!

All you need is a little knowledge about how your body works (which I cover in
Chapter 6
). Keep reading and you’ll find all the resources you need to turn any space—your bedroom, a public park, even where you work—into a place where you can get in a workout!

Pick a corner in your house and designate that as your workout space. This can be in the living room in front of the TV (where you exercise following a DVD) or in your garage where you placed your elliptical. Find a space and take your time to furnish it with your No More Excuses fitness tools. You can find inexpensive videos and workout equipment online, at consignment stores, and at garage sales. Wait for new workout DVDs and/or dumbbells, resistance bands, medicine balls, and foam rollers to go on sale, then buy what you need. Even my tiny home gym took years to build. I asked for fitness equipment on my holidays and birthdays and eyed garage sales for cardio equipment. You don’t have to spend any money to work out—all you need to do is create a small space for your “me time” and take a little bit of every day to make your fitness goals happen.

A successful environment includes the people in your world, not just keeping a healthful pantry and having access to a gym membership. Not having support for your goals can be damaging, especially when your schedule and life are tied to others.

How do you overcome the discomfort of always explaining and showcasing your healthy lifestyle choices? It’s not easy skipping
happy hour because you have a date at the gym. It’s difficult to order seltzer with lemon when your friends are buying a round of cocktails. It’s not easy going to bed early because you’re prioritizing sleep and are waking the next day to train. Look, fitness isn’t about avoiding everything unhealthy, and of course you should celebrate and enjoy special occasions. But if you want to change your life, you need to be selective about when you splurge, and you have to be firm about living by your priorities, even when people are trying to coax you to do something else.

But stand strong! It’s an amazing thing to keep your eyes on the prize, and nobody should make you feel embarrassed or ashamed of sticking to your goals. There will always be people who look at you and say “you’re fine the way you are” or who encourage you to partake in poor habits because “one splurge won’t hurt.” There may be family members who insist you have a second serving of food, or who make you feel bad for not sampling the macaroni and cheese they proudly cooked. It might feel awkward at first, but you need to stay strong with your message to the world about your priorities. Gradually people will realize that your new habits are helping you become the best version of yourself that you can be. And if they are truly people worth having in your life, they will celebrate that with you!