This guest post comes to you from Dublin-based trainer Daniel Stanley of Daniel Stanley Fitness.
Having changed his life after leaving the corporate world, Daniel now aspires to show others that living healthy doesn’t mean drastic changes, but is in fact much easier than imagined.
DON’T LET BUSY TAKE OVER
“I am simply too busy to go to the gym.”
If you have heard or said this mantra before, then trust me, you are far from alone!
Many people fall victim to a busy lifestyle and end up having to sacrifice elements of good health for it. The most common culprits tend to be mobile devices, an “always on” mentality that comes with those devices, and believing that going to the gym requires a full hour commitment.
Well, it’s time to take a closer look at reality.
The reality is that being healthy is not quite as complex as you might initially believe. Leading a healthy lifestyle comes down to three main aspects: fitness, nutrition, and rest. Of these three, a small commitment can go a long way.
Let’s look at fitness first.
If you haven’t been active in a long time, going 5 times a week for an hour each day doesn’t make sense anyway. It’s better to temper your life with small changes, which will lead to greater results down the line.
For example, if you got up 15 minutes earlier in the morning and did a quick 10 minute workout before getting a coffee, boom!, you have already made a positive change.
Additionally, substitute lazy activities for active ones. Take the stairs instead of the elevator, bike to the store instead of driving—in fact, most of these substitutes are not only better, but depending on the situation can actually save time!
Next, nutrition.
Nutrition is a widely complex and, quite frankly, sometimes irritating field. One day something is good, and the other it’s bad (like fruits and sugar for example). But consider this: everything in moderation. You CAN have too much of a good thing, so it’s good to balance your diet with multiple sources anyway.
So how can this be applied to daily life? Always start with breakfast, have lunch, and dinner. Sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it? Well trust me…it works.
Take a plate with no larger than a 10” diameter, and fill it once with no more than 1/3 of it being carbs. To tide you over, bring some food with you. In the morning simply include some carbs in the snack, and in the afternoon even a piece of fruit is enough. Simple.
And finally, rest.
Rest is highly underrated, and is a large factor in why a lot of people don’t see results. Your results come from the time outside of the gym. The work you do in the gym is simply a catalyst to feeling better, but without rest your body will never grow or recover.
So get your sleep at night to recharge. And for crying out loud, TURN OFF YOUR PHONE! Unwind with a book or meditation and make sure you can start your next day fresh.
Put together this recipe, and you’ll see that making a difference comes with small steps at a time. Don’t try and overhaul your life with some crazy commitment that leaves you burned out.
Start with incremental adjustments and after a while, you will notice how much better you feel and how much easier it is than you thought!
Hope you enjoyed this guest post! You can also find Daniel on Facebook here, and Instagram here!
