It is that time of year again when delicious Halloween candy fills grocery stores, everything but your toothpaste is pumpkin spice flavored, and cooler weather makes you more inclined to stay in bed than get up for a workout. On top of that, it has already been hard to stay healthy this year with so much time spent inside. That is why this week's blog is dedicated to tackling some common obstacles that we face when trying to reach our health and wellness goals, especially this time of year.
Obstacle: I eat out too often.
Solution: Schedule a weekly date night. My husband and I order takeout and enjoy a movie at home once a week. We make it even more fun by matching the food to the theme of the movie! For example, when we watched Finding Nemo, we ordered seafood from a local restaurant and ate Swedish Fish for dessert.
Limiting the amount of time we eat out to just one night a week makes that meal even more exciting. We order as much food as we want and let that meal be our splurge for the week.
On Sundays, I prep my breakfasts and lunches for the week. Meal prepping helps me avoid eating fast food. I do not want to waste the food I prepared and, I know that the healthy fruits and vegetables I purchased go bad quicker.
I love planning my meals for the week and choosing to incorporate items that I know keep my body feeling good. For example, I know my body gets sluggish when I eat a lot of carbs, so I can plan to have avocado and egg on a bagel for breakfast, then a salad for lunch so I can limit my carb intake.
If you want to try this but short on time or motivation to cook? Merritt can now do it for you! Order food through our new meal service, LM Prep, on our Merritt Clubs app or our website.
Obstacle: I am not motivated to cook.
Solution: Try something fancy. Is there a recipe that you have always wanted to try, but never wanted to spend the time/money preparing? Try it now!
My husband loves to cook and we have taken a dumpling and pasta-making class before to learn more. Do you know how long it takes to make pasta??? I never have the patience. But now that we have some extra time, we turned our Saturday nights into cooking nights, where we make lavish meals for ourselves. It is amazing. I actually get excited to buy ingredients!
See the photo above of us covered in the flour we used to make awesome Vegan Boa Buns. And yes, I made it even more fun by getting us French maid aprons to wear - highly recommend! This recipe was so fun to make, delicious to eat, and had tons of veggies! Check it out here.
Obstacle: I am obsessed with candy.
Solution: Treat yourself! Choose one or two things to have each week that satisfy your cravings. I am obsessed with candy corn (controversial, I know), so I treat myself to a small handful in my lunch to enjoy each day. On the weekends, I let myself get a fancy PSL (Pumpkin Spice Latte, duh), or my new favorite discovery, warm spiced apple wine. These sweet treats satisfy my fall cravings while also regulating my splurges so that I can stay on track with my health and wellness goals.
These tips help me feel more energized and motivated to work out several times a week and plan tasks that would have normally been mundane. As someone who loves to plan, I feel saner knowing that I have something small to put together and look forward to each week. And if you need a little more help staying on track or learning about good nutrition, our Nutrition and Wellness department is here for whatever you need.
Incorporate these Halloween-themed moves/activities into your day to get your heart pumping AND get into the spirit of the season.
- Bench press a bag of Halloween candy 10x
- Do 30 grumpy squats while waiting for your coffee to brew
- Perform the Thriller dance during a video meeting
- Have an old school Double Dutch tournament
- Grab the smelly laundry pile you’ve been avoiding and carry it up and down the stairs 7x
- Fill all those empty wine bottles with water and run around the block with them looking like the neighbor no one wants to have
- Dare whoever loses a game of Monopoly to do 100 burpees and pray it isn’t you
- Have a push-up competition to see who gets to choose the scary movie
- Put on a T-Rex costume and perform 50 jumping jacks
