Time For Fitness

It’s finally time for fitness. You’ve made up your mind. It may have taken a bit of cajoling or maybe even a scare or two to get you to this point, but you’re there. You’re taking it very seriously and don’t plan on looking back. What you really need now are some practical points in planning the little details that will help in making your longed for lifestyle a regular part of your life. You need the kind of plan that will get you up and running and also enable you to sustain it with enthusiasm and confidence that you can do this thing.

And you can do this thing. Like you said; you just need a few pointers; just a little help. Here is that help. You’ll make the healthy changes you need to make, with help and you’ll succeed! How? Keep reading.

There’s nothing like going back to the basics when the goal you want is success, not frustration or failure. Some strategies seem old, weak and almost too simple; but are in reality tried, true and never change. The following are simple, yet very helpful tips that will coincide with and augment any fitness plan. As you utilize the following tips, you will begin to recognize and treasure each one as a helpful assistant, keeping you on track and pushing you ahead to accomplish your goals. The primary key to these tips is preparation. Preparation is important and has always been a powerful tool to the success of any plan.

Having a couple of raw fruit and vegetable trays handy goes a long way in detouring your unhealthy tendencies from snacking on the unhealthy or plain empty nutrient snacks. Although the produce trays can sometimes be costly, buying at least one a month can help out or more than make up in cost for the convenience it and push towards healthy eating it encourages. Alternately you can take the time to buy and cut up about four or five varieties of raw fruits and vegetables that you actually enjoy. In order for this to work for you, the fruit and vegetables always have to be there and ready to eat. To keep that produce fresh and from turning brown on you, keep a bottle of lemon juice or a good supply of lemons on hand so you can cut and squeeze the lemon juice over the cut fruit and vegetables. Don’t buy or cut more fruits and vegetables than you know you’ll actually eat within a few days at a time. We’re not trying to waste money here. This is just an effective suggestion that will encourage you to into a healthy eating lifestyle habit.

Ready-made eggs are a time saver. You can make a meal of it and eat it plain, make a green salad with sliced boiled egg and tomato, or avocado, or another favorite fruit or vegetable with your favorite dressing. There’s also any number of other salads; tuna, salmon, chicken or turkey. Just pick a few or try them all. Variety is a huge boost in any lifestyle change and it is known to be powerful in helping you to avoid foods deficient in nutrients.

Egg Alternatives

There are a couple of good alternatives for those who don’t eat eggs. One is the avocado. Although well-known for its ever tasty guacamole dip, it isn’t the avocado’s only culinary accomplishment. The avocado is an all around versatile food that can easily be substituted for eggs in many salad dishes,and can also be prepared in many other recipes as well. The avocado even pairs well with some health drinks. Or it can just be eaten alone. Another excellent substitute is sprouts. Often just forgotten or overlooked when considering good nutrition, sprouted beans and seeds are miniature powerhouses of nutrition that will easily fit into any fitness lifestyle. Alfalfa is among the most familiar of sprouts, regularly showing up in salads, sandwiches and side dish menus. The mung bean is probably the most convenient and frugal for a busy lifestyle. The mung bean is very easy to sprout, taking from three to five days or longer according to your own preferences for each batch. Whether you choose eggs, avocados, sprouts or a combination of all three, make sure you monitor your consumption and always have what you need on hand.

Brown rice, wild rice, along with other whole grain rice varieties are an excellent staple to have in your cupboard. Other popular grain varieties such as millet and quinoa are also good staple choices. Mixed with beans, they each form a complete protein and are filling; a plus in curbing the appetite. Cooking enough for a week will give you a ready made ingredient to mix with beans, meat, vegetables or to enjoy by itself.

Just as previously suggested above about your other food items; consider buying, planning and cooking your meats and/or other proteins to be ready when you need them. Whether it’s chicken, turkey, beef, fish or beans, think about what you want, plan your meals for the week or the entire month. Purchase the amount you think you’ll use, then bake, broil or steam it and prepare it to be ready when you need it. The only thing you should need to do is any necessary reheating and placement on a plate or in a bowl with the appropriate utensils to eat with. Be sure to include every meal you would normally eat in your meal planning and preparation. If you normally eat breakfast, lunch, dinner and two snacks, make sure you have it all covered.

Hardly anyone goes without at least one snack during the day, however only a small percentage of us actually do better on the healthy side. So being soberly forearmed with that knowledge, prevent self sabotage by being prepared with nutrient rich snacks. Some of the above fresh raw vegetables or fruits are good, but many get bored quickly with fresh produce being a large part of their dietary intake. Mix it up with a handful of nuts and seeds. Nuts and seeds are calorie dense and fatty but in a good way if you don’t get carried away by making them your only food group. Choose raw whenever you can. Integrate them slowly if you’re not accustomed to the difference. Add almonds, walnuts, cashews or macadamia nuts; along with sunflower, pumpkin or other seeds to your grocery list, avoiding the salted canned offerings which are highly addictive and can derail your goal of fitness fast.

Assuming you already have or soon will have your own exercise plan in place, consider a simple evening task that can work towards your success. Put your work and comfortable exercise clothes out the night before. If you exercise at home, your clothes are right there, ready to put on and get busy exercising. If you don’t exercise at home, put your exercise attire, water bottle, non-perishable snacks like almonds or walnuts, and everything else you’ll need in the bag the night before. Laying out your attire for the next day isn’t just helpful it’ll give you more time in the morning, eliminating any confusion and indecisiveness, insuring that you are ready both for exercise and for work. Everyone is usually more alert before bed than in the morning, although it’s always assumed that one is fresh after waking up in the morning. And you will be fresh, after you fully wake up. Just not first thing in the morning.

If you can afford to, consider what many frugal families do every month to eat healthy and save money at the same time. The concept is simply to purchase, cook and prepare everything you need for for a month. You then, pack the individual meals in freezer storage bags , plastic wrap or aluminum foil and freeze. You can do the same thing. It takes just as much time to prepare a month's worth of meals as it does preparing them one at a time. The difference is the cost savings, the time it'll save you and that wonderful feeling of knowing you already have a meal prepared. Decide your menu for a month beforehand. Choose a variety of meals from among your favorites.

Shopping and making up a meal plan for the week can keep you on the fitness track and save you money too. When you coordinate your purchases with your meal planning it always saves money. In this case you win for time saving, you win for fitness and you win for saving money too.

If you give it an honest trial run, you are now armed with seven easy and very practical ideas that can make your goal of a healthy lifestyle a reality in your life. As these golden and time tested ideas become second nature, you will notice other areas in your life in which you can add a preparation segment of success to. Remember, preparation is a powerful tool in any plan. As you discover its power and become a believer in its effectiveness, use it often and make it work for you.