Most people can do pretty good during the week. You get into a routine, you do your scheduled exercise program, and you handle your business.
Then the weekend comes and it is laying on the couch surrounded by pizza boxes and bon bons. Maybe that’s just me…
A study in the Journal of Cardiovascular Medicine found that people who were sedentary during their leisure time (watching TV, video games, computer time, etc…) were 3 times more likely to die of cardiovascular disease. Pretty scary right?
So I want to help you out. Here is the official Joe Martin Stay Healthy on the Weekend Plan. Needs a better name, but I have been sitting too long as it is. On to the plan!
1. Get 30 minutes of fun, physical activity in on Saturday and Sunday
Just get out and move for 30 straight minutes, preferably outdoors. Fresh air and sunshine do a body more good than you think. It can be a walk, a bike ride, chasing your kids (sometimes not classified as fun), etc…
If it rains, I will even count some Wii or Kinect video games. I want you to be as active as possible, as often as possible.
You can’t just count on your workouts to reach your goals, you have to lead an overall healthier life. If you exercise for 5 hours a week, sleep for 8 hours a night, that still leaves 107 hours for you to make or break your fitness program.
Find some healthy ways to fill in those gaps. Stand up more at work, park farther away, use the stairs. Little things become big things when you do them consistently.
2. Make better, bad choices
Choose the cheeseburger, small fries, and small drink over the Big Mac with Super Sized Drink and Fries, apple pie. Choose the guy who is unemployed and missing some important teeth over the guy on Death Row.
3. Try to get it right 90% of the time
If you can do that, especially on the weekend, you will be doing better than most. Don’t beat yourself up when you don’t get every meal perfectly balanced with vitamins and nutrients.
Pizzas happen, alcohol happens (a lot on the weekend), just don’t make it happen all the time. I went to a pizza buffet last weekend, I lived. Barely, but I made it though.
4. Eliminate the negative self talk
Why would you ever talk bad about yourself? That’s other people’s jobs! Never talk bad about yourself, it doesn’t do you or anybody else any good. Thoughts become reality, so pick the good ones.
5. Prep your food for the week
Chop up vegetables and fruit. Bake, grill, or Crock Pot a large amount of healthy, lean proteins. Prepare healthy snacks for the week.
The more you do to set yourself up for success, the better your results will be. You know how crazy the week gets, take advantage of this time to help yourself out.
Think about what you tend to eat when there is nothing prepared. Not good is it? Having systems in place beats relying on your will power that will eventually run out.
6. Rest and recuperate
Do your weekends leave you completely exhausted? Are they jam packed with activities from sun up to sun down?
Slow. It. Down. It's ok to have some time where you just do nothing. Those are some of the greatest days ever for me.
I stay pretty busy during the week, but I make sure to take time on the weekends to chill. Not getting up at 4am helps to feed my rest needs too.
Whenever I have a really busy weekend, I feel it during the week. My workouts aren't as good, I feel tired all the time, and I regret it.
Get plenty of sleep, take a nap if you can, and make sure to recharge the batteries. Your stress level will go down and you will feel better prepared to tackle the week ahead.
