This post is sponsored by Zone Perfect
The highs and lows of New Year healthy living goals always feel very familiar.
We start the year off with the best of intentions. We are laser focused.…and then life kicks in, schedules get busy and we find ourselves right around month 3 and tight on time to plan and prepare our meals and snacks.
I’ve personally been there– all too often– just last week in fact. Over the course of 2 days we had 4 basketball games and an all day cheer competition (that was an hour away from home).
I didn’t plan. I winged it. And let me tell you that the instantaneous regret weighed about 3 lbs.
Life with kids doesn’t really ever “slow down”. It’s a lot of go-go-go. We know this and need to recommit to what is going to keep our healthy living goals on course.
Below are a few reminders of what we need to be doing to reduce the temptation to hit the drive thru or empty calorie-snack stand.
Once A Week Cooking
Setting aside a day to cook for the week would be AH-MAZING… but keep’n it real? Not always feasible. So set aside a few hours – maybe break it into two days of prep instead of one– and cook enough easy to heat up, meals to last your family all week.
Stop Being A Short Order Cook
The key when meal planning for an entire family is to find 6-8 healthy meals everyone enjoys and rotate them. Starting a Pinterest board could help!
When you are thinking in terms of a short order cook, it is easy for your own eating habits to get side tracked – or for you to run out of time to make yourself something healthy and enjoyable.
Keep A Supply Of Snacks Ready To Grab & Go
When you have already cleaned and cut fruits, vegetables, and chopped up salad ingredients in your refrigerator you are more likely to nosh on them and resist the temptation to snack on higher calorie foods.
Some healthy prepackaged options are always good to have too. Things like yogurt or nutrition bars are can be great for a healthy snack. Zone Perfect’s Perfectly Simple bars have a whopping 10 grams of protein (their limited Edition Pumpkin Chai & Peppermint Bark are amongst my favorites), which helps you feel fuller longer!
H2O-Yea!
8 glasses a day, you guys. We need it. The benefits of keeping hydrated throughout the day go on and on– but mostly, do it for energy. No it doesn’t work like caffeine or even give you the adrenaline rush a good work out will but it definitely can keep us from feeling sluggish throughout the day. I started buying those big .99 gallons of water and challenging myself to finish one every day. Baby steps.
30 Minutes A Day
If we had time for a long work out, we’d totally look like Beyonce and J-Lo, right? I am SO with you!! – But if we are really honest with ourselves, we can probably find 30 minutes a day to work out. This might mean getting up earlier (I know. I love my sleep too.) If the gym seems beyond your time limits, you can find a variety of workouts right on YouTube that will not take more than 30 minutes– no drive time necessary.
Ok. Now that we are refreshed on our commitments… who’s with me??
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About Zone Perfect’s Perfectly Simple Limited Edition Protein Snack Bars:
With Perfectly Simple, you can enjoy the flavors of fall and winter without any worries. Each seasonal bar has at least 10 grams of protein and less than 200 calories.
Available in Target.
