How To Re-Start Your Routine

Hey there my lovelies! I hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful fall weather! Today I am going to be talking about how to get back into the routine of being healthy, after taking some time off. For me, I was doing awesome, I was exercising, eating right, my skin was clear, and then life got hectic and my healthy lifestyle suffered. A lot of changes happened in my life in the period of a few weeks and it threw off my routine. So now where do we go from here? Well it’s important to not pick up where you left off, especially when it comes to working out. Even if it has only been gone a week or two, you still need to give your body time to stretch and get back into the swing of things. Here are a few tips and tricks on how to re-start your routine, after taking a hiatus.

DETOX 

The first thing you want to do when re-starting your healthy routine, is to detox your body. Detoxing is so important especially if you have spent a period of time eating foods that are not the best for you. Your body is going to be filled with a bunch of excess sugar and fats, which is why you probably feel icky. There are a million and one ways you can detox. The easiest and most natural detox of all is water, pretty simple right? The more water you drink the more you are using the bathroom, and each time you pee you are getting rid of all the crap your body has been holding onto. If you want to be a bit more proactive with your detoxing you can add lemons and apple cider vinegar to your water. Apple cider vinegar is an amazing product that helps with all sorts of things. In this particular case it will help clean out your system & get rid of bad bacteria. There are also detox tea’s, and drinks you can get at the supermarket. I think tho, the cheapest and most effective detox is water, so lets start there!

LET’S START PUTTING GOOD FOODS BACK IN OUR BODY 

We have all heard the statistic before, 75% percent of weight loss is eating healthy, and 25% is working out. What you are putting in your body is so important to your overall health goal. It is also important tho, to feel like you are not depriving your body, especially when it comes to cravings. For example, you might be in the mood for chocolate, but don’t want to lose the progress you have been making. There are ton of things you can eat to fill that sweet tooth without going off track. Things like banana nice-cream with coco nibs, halo top ice cream, dark chocolate and more. Eating healthy does not have to mean you hate what you are eating. My main piece of advice would be, look around your kitchen, in your refrigerator, in the cabinets, and toss out any foods that are not good for you. White bread, plain pastas, chips, candies, cakes, crackers, these sort of things. Even if you are not trying to lose weight the chemicals and bleaching they use in products like white bread are not good for your system. After you have removed all the bad foods, go grocery shopping and replace the bad with the good. Things like whole wheat pasta, chick peas, fruit, veggies, and so on. You know what eating clean and being healthy looks like, you just have to push yourself to make decisions that are good for you.

MEAL PREP SO THERE ARE NO EXCUSES

Another important tip I have for you is to meal prep. How many times have you been driving home from work, exhausted and the thought of cooking a full meal is so unappealing. You make a stop to a fast food restaurant and call it a night. Meal prepping takes the thought out of dinner. There is no excuse not to eat healthy, when all you have to do is pop your meal in the microwave. Take one night out of the week, I usually do Sundays, and prep all your meals for the week. Make sure each meal has a protein, veggie, and a carb, so your diet is well balanced. Now there is no reason to stop for fast food, when you have a healthy meal waiting for you at home. It’s easier then you think and it’ll help you tremendously to stay on track and stay healthy!

KEEP A LOG OR JOURNAL OF YOUR ROUTINE

The thing about routines is, they don’t work unless you do them everyday. You can’t be sporadic, nothing will be accomplished by doing things in a half-ass manner (so to speak). For me it was extremely helpful to have a journal I could write in, but also a fitness log on my phone. The app on my phone, gave me fitness challenges, marked how much exercise I did, and how I have progressed. In my journal I write down the food I have eaten, and what foods I want to meal prep. You don’t want to write down every single crumb you have eaten and obsess over numbers, this is often how eating disorders are developed. However it is important to write down what you’ve eaten, how you felt afterwards and so on. This can help you come to a better understanding of your body when it feels at it’s best, and the steps you have taken to get you there.

FIND THE MOTIVATION TO LIVE HEALTHY

This may seem like a silly one but I promise it’s actually important. If you don’t have the motivation, to cook healthy, to eat meals that are good for your body, to drink water and exercise, then you are simply not going to. You need to find that motivation within yourself to decide to live better. For me a way I find motivation is through words, and videos. I love reading books, inspirational quotes, blog posts, anything along those lines. Reading about a lifestyle that interests me, sparks a fire in me, that helps me stay motivated and focused on the goal. I also have some favorite YouTubers who videos are focused around living a healthy lifestyle. When I see someone else living healthy it motivate me to do the same!

CREATE A SCHEDULE & ROUTINE THAT WORKS FOR YOU

When you start or re-start a healthy daily routine it’s important to know what works with your schedule and what doesn’t. You might have fallen off the bandwagon because your last routine didn’t fit in with your schedule. If you work a 9 to 5 job getting up early to workout, especially if you have kids, just isn’t going to work. You need to find time either after work, when the kids have gone to sleep, on the weekends and so on. Block off an hour of time to get a home or gym workout in. If you are finding the time doesn’t work, switch it up. It needs to work for you or you won’t keep up with it. You can get ideas from others about routines that work for them, but it is gonna take a process of elimination to create a routine you are happy with and one that works with your schedule.