A Millennial’s Guide to Healthy Living on the Go — Part 1: Planning

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I don’t have time to cook. I’m too busy to go to the gym. I can’t fit being healthy into my schedule.

Sound familiar? If you’ve fallen into the trap of these excuses — this series is for you.

When you’re constantly on the go, it’s difficult to stick to a nutrition plan and a workout schedule. But It’s not impossible. Getting your health in order will make you feel better both inside and out. You’ll feel more confident, have more energy and be able to do more of the things you think you don’t have time for. 

The truth is — you don’t have time NOT to be healthy. Older relatives are always telling us to enjoy our metabolism while it lasts. But if you develop bad habits now they are more likely to follow you through life.

About a year ago, just six months after graduation, my freshman 15 had become a permanent fixture. My self-esteem was at an all time low and my energy was dwindling. I decided to make a change and signed up for Weight Watchers as a method of keeping track of what I was putting into my body and a resource for healthy recipes and support. After a few short months, I had dropped the weight and a year later, I’m happy to report it’s still off, and I feel great.

Throughout my journey, I’ve learned a few things that I believe are the keys to healthy living for millennials on the go, and I hope they’ll inspire you to make a lifestyle change too.  In this weekly series, I will identify the factors that I found most helpful as a busy young professional trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle. It’s up to you how you plan to get healthy, and the method you choose should also depend on your goals and your individual needs, but these tips will help you select a plan that you can stick to. 

Part 1: Planning

The first step to any lifestyle change is making plans. When creating a new habit, you should start out by planning for every detail. Although it may seem like overkill, planning makes healthy decisions easier and with practice, your planning will just become a force of habit.

One of my favorite blogs — A Life Less Bullshit — talks about decision making overload in her Goal Setting Formula. When you have to make too many decisions in the day — what to wear and what’s for breakfast, let alone making work decisions — you start to get overwhelmed and you shut down.

That’s when cookies become your dinner or you end up crying on the floor in a pile of the contents of your closet. Or is that just me?

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If you allow yourself to “decide” what to do at the end of the work day — its a slim to none chance that you’ll select an intense cardio workout over your bed, the couch or the dinner table. However, if you set a workout schedule and make yourself accountable to it, you’re more apt to follow through.

Planning meals is more difficult. When you first get started you have to try out new recipes and learn how to cook and eat healthily. You have to train your body to stop when it’s full and not start up again when it’s bored. Once you have your go-to recipes and basic knowledge of healthy cooking, the time it takes you to plan your weekly menu will decrease.

Planning meals also means… dun dun dun… weekly food shopping. UGH. This is one of my least favorite chores. It’s hard for me to put into works how much I hate going to the grocery store, but this GIF sums it up pretty well.

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However, when you make the switch to healthy eating, it’s important to always have fresh fruits and vegetables and this requires more frequent trips to the grocery store. On Weight Watchers, most fruits and vegetables are ZERO points, so I try to eat as many as I can to get the nutrients my body needs and feel more full. And if you’re like me and you hate food shopping — try to avoid the busiest times, go to the store on a full stomach and make sure you have enough time to browse.

Along with planning what you’re eating, you should plan when you eat. I try to eat 6 meals a day, roughly every 2-3 hours. Plan out your meals and snacks to keep yourself within a healthy range — whether you count in WW points, calories, or some other system, planning is the key to staying within your limits. For example, I always save a few WW points for an evening snack because I’ve found that no matter how late I eat dinner, my sweet tooth kicks in around 9 p.m. This way, I’m less likely to go over my points for the day.

Over time, healthy eating and daily exercise will become intuitive. Now, I don’t think about whether or not I want to exercise each day, I just do. Healthy eating hasn’t quite become a habit yet, but I’m on the right track. After a few days of poor eating my body will let me know that it needs nutrients, and I get back on my plan.

It’s not about being perfect — it’s about making a lifestyle change one step at a time. If you’re committed to becoming a better, healthier you, you have to make a commitment to yourself and find the time.

Stay tuned for part 2 next week!