Gilbert: Schedule your health, fitness and stick to it

By Aaron Gilbert

Create systems that make health and fitness faster and easier, such as:

• Keep fresh, whole foods in plain sight.
• Reduce or eliminate “treat” foods.
• Establish a morning or weekend routine to chop veggies and prepare protein+complex carbs in bulk.
• Sign up for a CSA box or healthy meal delivery.
• Keep berries and greens in freezer (for quick Super Shakes).
• Join a gym or personal training studio close to home or work.
• Keep a packed gym bag in your car or by the front door.
• Leave weights and resistance bands lying around for quick, convenient workout.
• Hold gatherings and meetings at parks and gyms.

Put meal prep and movement in your calendar. If we waited until we “felt like it,” a lot of important things would get neglected. Schedule it in, and stick to it.

Review at the end of each week: Did I use my time to support my health and fitness?

Yes
Explore what worked and keep doing that.
Celebrate! You deserve it.
Add 15 more minutes of health food prep and movement next week.

No
What do you do instead?
If it was low-priority stuff, combine those activities with fitness+nutrition. For example: Watch TV while prepping food.
If it was high-priority stuff, does it happen often? That’s OK! Life happens. Return to your goals and keep practicing. Set small weekly health+fitness goals and keep improving your systems. Get coaching to develop better systems and realistic goals.

As you can see, “being healthy and fit” is like an iceberg. Eating well and workout out is only the tip of the iceberg and it’s supported by all the thinking, prioritizing, strategizing and planning underneath.

Aaron Gilbert, CSCS, owns Longevity Athletics and can be reached at 520-261-4661 and [email protected].