NEW weekly Monday health tip on Daily Inspiration Board: get a five-day healthy week plan that is perfect for you
Every week, I tend to get back into my exercise and nutrition routine on a Monday after relaxing and giving myself time off over the weekend. It’s important to have balance in life and I think that weekends are definitely for chilling out and indulging a little. Particularly when we’re working around a five-day work schedule, fostering healthy habits during the week and allowing a couple of days to relax and not stick too rigidly to a nutrition and exercise plan during the weekends can be a great plan.
Forming healthy habits and sticking to them without too much thought is the key to maintaining a great balance in life, and forming good habits requires an element of routine. A five-day healthy week can be fairly simple to work around, and in fact you may very well do this already – to differing degrees. I’ve also had my beliefs reaffirmed from some of you that sticking to good habits is tough when we’re under pressure at work – which is why I think having a generic ‘healthy week’ schedule that you stick to no matter what (except important social events), without too much energy going into the decision-making process, could be highly valuable.
To this point, each Monday I am going to post a new article on healthy living to inspire your week and help to keep you up to date with the latest in health trends and research. It’s not selfless, of course - these posts will also help me to stay on track!
Here’s how to get started on a five-day healthy week plan.
- Plan your healthy food menu in advance. Account for all meals, including breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks to prevent blow outs or buying food out during the week, unless it’s a social occasion. I love to keep a variety of cook books because it’s much easier to flick through them and keep tabs on my favorite recipes than it is do look at them online. I have my meal planner stuck on my fridge each week.
- Organise to cook some meals that are robust, healthy and have a good yield. Meals such as lentil soups, rice dishes, curries packed full of vegetables, and home made Mexican food are all at the top of my list. Food that can be easily packaged and reheated, or frozen for later in the week, are ideal because one cooking session will result in several meals for later. Perfect when we’re time-poor.
- Choose the best produce you can afford. Eating great produce makes food much more appealing. I am constantly looking for ways to reduce what I buy but make what I get go further – for example, use one bunch of herbs in two meals and those extra shallots in another, rather than using half the sticks then chucking the rest out at the end of the week. Reduce costs this way where possible, but buy the best-quality food you can.
- Place exercise as a huge priority during the week. Make it a focus to put time and energy into exercise during the week. I find the best way for me is to have classes to turn up for, and get involved in. It’s easier to push yourself harder when there’s a room full of people doing the same, and an instructor to prompt you. Set fitness and weight goals if you need – monitor the improvements with a weekly one-sentence journal to keep you on track, and celebrate successes as you go!
- Meditate daily. I am meditating most days for 20 minutes in the morning and in the evenings and I find it is the most brilliant thing for calmness and clarity. If you suffer from stress, any anxiety, mood swings or depression, meditation is a fantastic way to bring those out-of-whack chemicals in the brain back into balance (but please see your doctor if it’s more serious!). Remember that thinking is part of meditation – the trick is to be an observer, watch the thoughts and don’t latch onto any of them. Keep at it, and it gets easier!
Do you work on a five-day healthy week schedule? Let us know in the comments below! We would love to hear from you!
