EAT 2 LIVE 101: Making Health a Priority

One of the most common complaints or excuses for not adopting a healthier lifestyle is lack of time. I’ve heard it again and again. You have to many engagements and commitments between work, kids, school, and juggling that with whatever life throws at your day planner. I get it. The problem is, nothing worth having can be achieved without some sort of sacrifice or investment and that includes radiant skin, and a healthy disease-free body. If you find that whenever life gets full your healthy living goes out the window, that may be a red flag that you need to learn new ways to deal with stress. Most of medicate or feed our faces when the ish gets the fan.

This month I have been reminded greatly of this truth as my life has taken on a more hectic pace and more commitments have surfaced. When all the new activity first began, stress took a hold, but by last week I finally found my groove and it was  daily meditation practice and feeding my body the right fuel that has kept me grounded.  Even if you are busy and ESPECIALLY if you are busy, it is essential that you eat consciously to give yourself the right amount of fuel to perform at your highest level. Below’s a list of ideas to get you thinking about how to make healthy living number one on your to-do list. It’s up to you to take the daily actions and carve out the time that you need, but trust that if you do, the investment you make now will pay dividends in the future. -XoXo Raw Girl 

• Schedule and track your workouts with apps or write them in a planner or calendar, make your other commitments work around your fitness “dates.” There are so many great apps out there now to help you track and maximize your workouts. If you are like me and are still a traditional pen and paper kind of boy or girl, you may want to try tracking your workouts in a day planner. I have a fun system that works for me in which I track my workouts and mediation practice daily by marking the day with star stickers. When you get to the end of the month it’s always great to have a clear visual of what your commitment has been like.
• Plan your meals days or even a full week ahead and shop accordingly. It’s easy to by random things we don’t need or shouldn’t be eating from the grocery store when we don’t have a plan. With a list and some forethought, it will be easier to bypass all the temptations and end up only with the health essentials by the time you reach the checkout line. You might also add some change to your piggy bank in the process.
• Stock your workplace with health snacks so you are are not tempted to become an office cookie monster whenever someone brings in treats. This is a big one for a lot of people I know doing the nine to five hustle. If your office doubles as a part-time bakery with people bringing in desserts, sweets, and non-veg friendly fare, you’ve got to be on your A-game. Humans are not meant to be sedentary, and when we sit at desks for long periods we get bored, and out of boredom start snacking. You can easily nip the office love handles by having health snacks in desk drawers, having frozen fruit to blend into smoothies (if there is a fridge), or even fresh juice.
• Find one stress relieving or mindfulness practice and commit to it daily for a set period of time. It helps sometimes to create a challenge for yourself and say I am going to meditate every day for 30 days. Most times often than not, by the time you reach day 30, your practice will become so engrained you will not want to stop.
• Never travel without your health living rations in tow. It’s never ever fun to be a veggie lover in a food desert with no green oasis in sight. Make sure if you have longer days or if your heading on a road trip you pack ahead of time so that you can stick to your true life insurance plan (ie: EATING TO LIVE). Doing this not only will keep your stomach from growling, it’ll also keep your mood balanced so that you can indeed be a healthy and happy example while everyone else is indulging in their vices.