Time Saving Fitness Tips

Want to annoy a fitness trainer?  Repeatedly tell him or her you don’t have any time.  Here I go again,  gotta stop before I offend.  Really though…it’s not so much that we get annoyed, it’s more out of frustration of knowing what we know, teaching, and seeing the consequences of the self sabotage of “not having enough time”.  Think about it.   How often do those words come out of your mouth?  I’ll bet quite a bit.  Along with the old, “things were just crazy this week”, and “I was going to, but….”.  Now, don’t misunderstand, I get it.  I’ve been there.  I am there.  I do understand that there are time constraints to your daily and weekly routines, and sometimes they really throw you for a loop.   We trainers are guilty of falling into the same traps…so you’re not alone.  What we do know, and I can speak from experience, is that the more these excuses come out of your mouth, the more the body fat goes up.  That’s where we come in….

I know what you’re looking for.  You want life to be convenient.  We all want that.  Problem is, there are not always easy solutions to complicated problems…like fitting in exercise and a healthy eating regimen into your life.  So, in the spirit of offering solutions to time issues, I’ve come up with a bunch of time-saving tips that can aid you in your fitness quest.  Some of these may be obvious, and some not so much, but at least if you take a few of these and apply them…you’ll be much better off. Here they are…

First, let’s start with cardio.  It’s easy to skip cardio on a day that you don’t have a date with a trainer.  What does that tell you is the problem?  Yep, the appointment.  You have a calendar for everything else, so schedule your cardio sessions with yourself, just as you would with your trainer.  That might eliminate many problems right there.  OK, now let’s assume you are booked to the brim on cardio day.  A few things you can try…

1)    Cardio at kids sporting events – most of these events have grass fields, and/or bleachers.  How bout some sprints?  You’ll most certainly have some time during warm-ups to give yourself a quick 10-15 minute burst.  You might even start a trend.
2)   Cardio during your lunch break – I’ve often seen folks walking/running in the parking lots of various businesses during lunch breaks.  Clients have often talked to me about running stairs in their office buildings, if they have them.  Another thing, too, you might even be more productive at work if you can step away for a half hour and get your body moving.  If nothing else, take 10 minutes during a lunch break in your office and stretch. (for you sedentary job folks)
3)   Cardio before breakfast instead of coffee time – nothing wakes you up better than an invigorating workout.  Many of us rely on the false “energy” of a cup of coffee.  You could get a great interval workout in the time it would take you to sit awhile and drink a cup of coffee, and you might ween yourself off the dehydrating beverage (as tasty as it is)
4)   Cardio while you are watching Grey’s Anatomy – an obvious one, but why not use the time that you sit to watch your favorite shows as a fat blasting cardio session?

Next, let’s talk a little nutrition.  If someone asked me the question I get asked the most from a nutrition standpoint, it would be….”what bars are good?”  I know why I get asked it.  All you have to do is unwrap the little package and go to town.  Truth is, and we’ve talked about this, is the more you live out of a wrapper, box, can, etc, etc, the worse off your body’s ability to burn fat will be.  There are some decent options, many of which we have, or will talk about during our grocery tours, but from our teachings you know that 15 grams of sugar, or 6 grams of saturated fat are hardly a recipe for burning fat all day long.  So, the first thing I will do is give you a list of tips that can help you throughout your day, then I will give you a few examples of actual snack combinations you can roll with to make things a bit easier.

1)   Cooler in the car – took me awhile to get to this one, but for Christmas my wife bought me a cooler for the car that plugs into the little outlet thingy.  I think Igloo makes it (who else).  Some days I’m in the car for 3 or 4 hours, driving all around town.  Can you relate?  At least if I have something to keep some healthy food cool, I’ll be less apt to stop at a Chik-Fil-A.
2)    Planning ahead – sounds silly, but this might be the thing that gets us in trouble the most.  If you go into your day not having any idea about how your eating regimen will go, odds are the outcome will be “ehh”.  Not saying you have to pull out a spreadsheet and plan to the tee, but an idea of how your day will go can be huge, and might be the thing that can help you the most.
3)    Cooking the night before, or on Sunday – an old practice of Kelly and I is to cook a few meals on Sunday night for the week ahead.  If you were planning on cooking every night anyway, why not double, or even triple up the recipes so you have lunches and snacks for the days ahead?  That way you are not scrambling for lunch the next day.  Doesn’t even have to be full meals too, as you can boil up some eggs for breakfast so you don’t have to stand in front of the stove the next morning while getting the kids ready.

Here are some quick, healthy options to keep you fueled when you’re on the go…

1.   Cottage cheese and fruit -  preferably lower, sugar, higher fiber options like berries and apples
2.    Low fat cheese and low fat Triscuits – Cabot has a great 75% leaner cheese that you can slice up and take with you in your new cooler
3. Low fat cheese and fruit
4.    Boars Head Lean deli meats with fruit, or Triscuits – stick with only a serving of the triscuits, as the carbs can add up
5.    Bars – though I am not crazy about them, some are OK every once in awhile.  Try to use them only as a last resort.  Pure Protein, Zone, Kashi Roll Bars, Luna, and South Beach are some of your better options, but again, even these may have a bit too much sugar as compared to protein and fiber.  Shaklee puts out a pretty healthy bar, and can be ordered through me, if you are interested.
6.    Deviled eggs with hummus – instead of the traditional recipe for deviled eggs, use hummus instead of the usual concoction with the egg yolk.  The hummus, though still high in fat (the good kind, at least), is a lower saturated fat option, and offers a good source of carbohydrate (with having a chick pea base)
7.  Non-Fat Greek Yogurt -seems to be the rage.  Truth is, this stuff tastes like sour cream.  So, the trick is to drizzle a little honey (and I mean a little drizzle)  and add some walnuts, and maybe a little fruit if you don’t like honey.  Greek yogurt is packed with protein, so it can be a great snack or mid-meal source of the stuff.

Finally, what about actual resistance workouts?   Sometimes we just can’t make boot camp, be it because the kids are sick, or you are out of town.   What do you do?  For starters…

1)    Body weight workouts – you can do wonders with your own body weight.   You can get a great workout in 20 minutes in a hotel room, or in front of the TV by using your own bodyweight.  While it may not be as great as a full hour workout at camp, you can at least do enough to keep pace and not lose a step.  Squats, hip raises, situps/crunches, and dips are just some of the basics you can blast your body with in a short period of time.  See your trainer for some ideas in this realm.
2)   Basic weight circuits – take some time to learn the basics of weight training…ie squats, pulls, rows, etc so that you can do your own workout with free weights or machines if you have them.  You can also use resistance bands.  They are light weight and portable so you can take them along on trips.   Again, your trainer can give you a basic circuit to do if you are out of town, or have some weights in your basement.
3)   Practice while you cook or are hanging around the house – this may seem silly, but you can practice some moves that you might be having some trouble with in your kitchen while you cook.  Beginners can practice squats with the help of the counter to stabilize.  In addition, those of you who have balance issues can work on this aspect of fitness by simply standing on one leg at a time for a given time period, and use the counter to keep you from falling.   Working on these things at home can make for much more effective workouts during boot camp.

There you have it.  All of this seems simple, but you must take the time to apply some of this stuff.  Sometimes it’s the little things that hold us back from achieving the body we want.  Use some of these quick solutions and get a little momentum going.  If you are still having trouble, ask yourself  the question…was time really the issue, or something else?  Something to think about the next time you tell someone, or yourself that you don’t have time.  Perhaps that makes you uncomfortable?  That’s OK..it’s how we grow.  So start out with one or two of these, and let the good habits perpetuate.  Good luck!

Your trusted health and fitness expert,
Jason

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