Health and Fitness Guide for Every Busy Millennial

Everyone’s bound to face the challenge of maintaining a healthy and fit lifestyle at some point in their lives. On top of one’s responsibilities, the daily inconveniences like traffic, cramped commutes, and long wait lines for goods and services do take its toll on health and fitness.

Millennials are no strangers to the dark shadow of their weights—yes, pun intended. In fact, millennials are more health-conscious compared to previous generations. It’s a commendable feat given the plethora of conveniences like fast food, same-day delivery services, and online shopping that they enjoy.

Unfortunately, leading a healthy lifestyle isn’t easy for everyone. It can still pose a massive challenge for others because of some factors like how much it seems to cost (time and money-wise) to start and maintain a healthy and active lifestyle. Plus, let’s face it—there isn’t some magical cheat sheet to hit those health and fitness goals instantly.

On the bright side, you can become an improved version of yourself and stay fit in a low-cost way.

Read on to learn how you can take control of your health.

1. Take a breather

You can take this piece of advice, both literally and figuratively. Pausing to take a break from your daily tasks can improve your productivity and give your brain the perfect creative boost you need in the middle of the day. That being said, it’s the perfect opportunity to move around as much as you can to hit those health goals.

Some things you can do:

• Walk around outside or even in the space you’re in. Breathe in some air to help take your mind off things for a while. You’d be surprised to see that in no time, your mind is ready to dive back into the right working condition.

• Meditate. Relax your mind and body by closing your eyes and channeling some good energy in.

• Take a quick power nap. A few minutes off may be the energy booster you need to power through the rest of the day.

2. Stay hydrated

Drinking water does actually benefit you. Missing out on your healthy dose of H2O can affect your brain function and body temperature. It also helps flush out waste by promoting good bowel movement. Keep a tumbler of water by your side to remind you to keep at the hydration!

3. Exercise at home

If you’re tight on a budget or can only spare so much time (and money) in a day to travel and work out at an actual gym, you can always work with what you got at home.

There are a ton of exercises that only need your body weight (without equipment) to start. Go for yoga, Pilates, or even calisthenics. Many YouTube videos available can help you kickstart that fitness journey, too!

4. Choose healthier alternatives

This isn’t to say you need to cut out sugar and fatty foods altogether. Healthy options could take many forms and don’t have to be as frustrating and as expensive as it might seem. Here are some ways to work around healthy food choices and curb cravings:

• Meal prep – There are a lot of different meal plans you can follow to save you more than what you spend on buying food.

• Choose healthy snacks – If you’re craving for a snack, you can always go for things like fruits, nuts, or yogurt. Try bringing a portable fruit juicer around. This is especially handy if you’re at work and craving a sweet drink.

• Sign up for a diet delivery plan – If you’re short on time to do the actual meal prepping and want to save, many diet plans pack and deliver your daily meals. You won’t have to worry about keeping track of your food intake or calculating calories either!

• Smaller portions – If you’re not keen on making drastic changes to your diet, the next best option is portioning. Take the opportunity to adjust your regular serving size, like going half a cup of rice than your usual. It can make all the difference!

5. Work around a good sleeping schedule

Never underestimate the power of a good night’s rest. Getting just the right amount of sleep every night will not only give you even more energy to power through another grueling workday, but it also helps regulate your body’s hormones. This means less sleep can affect how much food you take.

6. Build good habits

Let your ideal lifestyle stick by integrating some of the tips that work for you into how you live. Here are some things you can try:

• Practice getting to bed at an earlier time. Making incremental changes of 15 minutes earlier per day is an excellent way to move around your sleep schedule.

• Bring a bottle of water in your bag for when you work through the day.

• Pack a small bag of healthy snacks to curb any unhealthy cravings.

• If you choose to give in to your cravings, go for a smaller portion or split it with a friend!

7. Monitor your progress

A great motivator can be seeing how far you’ve come. You won’t see the change immediately, but keeping track and looking back at how much you’ve lost is a great confidence booster.

• Take note of your essential measurements by listing it down or taking photos.

• Download apps that can help track your fitness progress.

At the end of the day, it’s all about figuring out what kind of healthy lifestyle works for you. Hopefully, this guide has offered useful tips that resonate with you to help you live a fuller and fitter life.