Weekends can be rough when you’re trying to work on healthier living. Monday through Friday we tend to have a schedule, a set routine that we can work those healthier choices into. Once those choices are part of that routine, they’re pretty easy to stick too. But weekends…damn. Weekends tend to be either a time for partying or relaxing, neither of which fit particularly easily with healthier living. I mean, when I think about relaxing, I think about a bag of mini Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, a couch, and as little movement as possible. For my friends who are more prone to party, it means a lot of alcohol, rich foods, and eventually throwing both of those up all over themselves.
So, how do we stick with our commitment to healthier living when the weekend hits? For the partiers (a group I’ve never really belong to. I’m much more of a homebody.) I don’t know, but I’d love to hear any suggestions you may have. For the relaxers, it helps to have a plan.
The great thing is that this plan is full of fun stuff. I mean, we’re usually planning a bunch of adult stuff. Weekends are our chance to plan a schedule that goes something like: Netflix, snack, NBA game, snack, video games, snack, nap, snack. And that’s okay. If we plan it out ahead of time, we can ensure that the snack are healthy. We can also work in just a little more physical activity than we might do otherwise. For example, when I planned out my snacks for this past weekend, I made space for some of the chocolate gram cracker sandwiches my mother-in-law brought over, but I squeezed them in-between a bunch of grapes and some low calorie whole grain crackers (Belvita makes some really tasty ones).
As for my physical activity level on weekends, there are a couple of approaches that I’ve found work. My wife loves to plan tasks around the house in between the shows she plans to watch. So, maybe a load of laundry or organizing her office between each show. I find it difficult to motivate myself at the end of each show, especially if it’s a cliff hanger, so I have found tricks like watching every third episode of a show on my tablet or phone while walking up and down the stairs. The key is to find something little that works for you.
Of course, the hardest part of the weekend is the Monday that follows it. Today was no exception. When your day starts off at 6 a.m. with a wet diaper (my newborn son’s not mine) followed up by a dog who needs to learn to wipe after her morning poop, things can only get better right? Well, unless you find yourself backed up and behind the eight ball at work only to be interrupted by a phone call about a side project you’ve been trying to take care of for months. Basically, it was one of those Monday’s where a lunch smothered in gooey cinnamon pull apart rolls sounds like a need not a want. Still, because I had established a routine of eating healthy delicious lunches at Twisted Noodle Café, it made turning down a sugar coated lunch a little easier.
Highlighting that a healthier lunch doesn’t have to look like a bowl of weeds pulled from your backyard, I enjoyed a rich and tasty buffalo chicken flat bread sandwich and side salad. Healthy? How? Again, it’s all about the little steps. When the sandwich is a on a wheat flatbread stuffed with fresh spinach, tomatoes, and cucumber, it certainly helps. If you can make your healthier living choices something to look forward to, it makes it that much likelier that you’ll stick to them. That’s why I sought out Twisted Noodle Café as a sponsor for this column. I knew that it was a healthier living choice that I could get really excited about.
It works the same with your physical activity. Pick things that you know will excite you.
I’ve been doing my…let’s call them drive by pull-ups consistently for five days now, and while I have yet to notice an increase in the number I can do per set (I’m still stuck at six a set; though, I’m getting in between 24 to 36 a day so far) I have noticed a positive change in my attitude toward doing them. Like I’ve said, pull-ups are my exercise I never dread doing, but I’ve started to look forward to them with more enthusiasm. I even find myself coming up with excuses to walk past the door way with the bar just so I can try and do another set.
Lastly, a confession. I had planned on picking up another old healthier living habit. I used to play what I call “old man” basketball every Monday, but with life being life, I fell out of the habit. My plan was to pick things back up today, but it just isn’t’ going to happen. So, I’m recommitting to do better on that one next week.
How have you been doing? Did you survive your weekend? What can you recommit to doing? I’ll look forward to hearing from you.
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