Healthy tips when life is busy

This post is sponsored by Chiquita. Chiquita is partnering with the American Cancer Society in the fight against Breast Cancer. Check out their October Breast Cancer Awareness initiative here. It’s a cause that’s near to my heart, and I love that they’re spreading the message of the benefits of a healthy lifestyle. 

This month, I’m proud to be partnering with Chiquita to help encourage action from millions of consumers in the fight against breast cancer. Through October, more than 200 million Chiquita bananas will feature pink stickers for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The pink stickers are intended to serve as a reminder about the importance of eating healthy, donating, signing up for a Making Strides Against Breast Cancer® walk, or getting recommended screenings.  Chiquita supports the American Cancer Society’s (ACS) mission to save lives. According to the ACS, adopting a physical, active lifestyle and consuming a healthy diet, with an emphasis on plant foods, can help reduce the risk of cancer.

As the days get shorter (and hopefully a little colder around here?) I feel like our schedules get more and more packed. There are holiday celebrations, school functions, extracurricular activities for the girls, parties, festivals, birthdays (all of our birthdays are in the next few months!), etc. While everything is SO much fun, it can make it a bit more challenging to stick to our usual active, healthy lifestyles.  That’s why for today’s post, I thought I’d share some of my favorite healthy living hacks for when your routine is a bit busier than usual so you can ensure you’re adopting the active lifestyle that the ACS recommends.   

If you can’t hit the gym for a full workout, split it up into mini segments at home.

I’m a huge believer in splitting up workout sessions if you don’t have time for a class or full workout. 10 minutes here and there can really add up, especially if you’re pushing yourself. When you work out at a moderate to vigorous level, your metabolism is elevated. If you work out 3 times during the day (even if it’s only 10 minutes in each session!) you also get 3 EPOC, or Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption, sessions. Consider it a bonus instead of a fail if you end up needing to split up your workout time. I like 10 minutes of HIIT intervals, 10 minutes of strength, and 10 minutes of yoga, core or stretching. 

 No time for a full meditation session? Set a timer for 5 minutes, find a quiet spot, and breathe.

I use the Breathe app on my watch, even though it conveniently tells me to breathe when I’m trying to get the girls to get ready for school or to stop doing gymnastics at bedtime. (It’s like it really knows when I’m stressed!) No matter what I’m doing, I start the Breathe app when it notifies me. It only takes 60 seconds to breathe and come back to earth and I always feel better afterwards. If I can, I’ll set a timer for 5 minutes, find a quiet spot (ha!), and use the time to focus on my breath while thinking of my favorite mantra.  Set a timer as a reminder to hydrate.  Whenever I get super busy or we have a lot going on, it’s really easy for me to forget my big water bottle at home and forget to hydrate. Seeing “drink up, buttercup” on my phone screen reminds me to get in some H2O.

 When you don’t have time to do a full meal prep, plan and prepare something for the following day. 

I haven’t been able to do full meal preps in a while, but instead, I just try to take some time each night to pack the girls’ lunches and figure out my own snacks and breakfast for the next day. I’m a huge fan of making breakfast the night before because it makes mornings a thousand times less hectic. Chiquita bananas are a great on the go snack or breakfast, that does not require any preparation.  

We can’t control every factor that could lead to disease or illness in our bodies, but it’s important to focus on the things we can control like exercising, eating nutritious foods, sleeping well, managing stress, limiting alcohol consumption, and hydrating. Even when we don’t have as much time as usual or that we’d like, there are still tiny steps we can take each day for our health that have a cumulative effect. Along those lines, the American Cancer Society recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate (or 75 minutes of vigorous) intensity activity a week along with a diet consisting of at least 2 ½ cups of vegetables and fruits per day. Little burst of exercise here and there throughout the week is a great way to make a couple hours of activity fly by. 

Make sure you’re keeping an eye out for the pink stickers on your Chiquita bananas throughout October and look for some healthy recipes that meet the American Cancer Society’s nutritional guidelines on Chiquita.com!  

What’s a small step you take each day for your health, even when things are more busy than usual?

 xo

Gina

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