How to Insure That YOU Come First!
It’s a cool, cloudy day here on Long Island, and I’m writing this to you from my parents’ home. Every Tuesday and Friday, I visit my hometown, Port Washington, NY, to help my grandmother rehab from a hip replacement surgery she had last summer, and to help my dad build muscle and stay in shape. Today also happens to be my dad’s 59th birthday, so a very happy birthday to him!
Today, let’s talk about how you can insure that YOU come first! It’s tough when you have a myriad of other responsibilities, ranging from family to your significant other to work… The list goes on and on…
I understand the sense of overwhelm that comes over you when you imagine finding additional time for yourself when there doesn’t seem to be enough time in the day for everything else you’re already tending to. Trust me — Been there, done that…
On my personal journey, I had to report to work on the New York-Connecticut border at 8 AM, which meant a two hour commute from my home in rush hour traffic every morning heading to work, and ever afternoon coming back. I’d then force myself to work out on fumes from 6–8 PM, would then go home, wolf down dinner, shower, and get to bed by 10:30 or 11, just to repeat that all over again the next day.
This was during my two-year-long plateau, so as you can imagine, combining sleep-deprivation with activity overload and my body in starvation mode was INCREDIBLY frustrating!
I understand if that sounds like peanuts to you if you’re a working parent, as I’m not yet a father, and haven’t had the luxury of parental responsibilities yet. The closest thing I’ve had to that is taking care of both my dog and my bunny, which, while time-consuming, isn’t quite the same as taking care of a human child.
That being said, there are plenty of clients and plenty of folks the world over who make their health a priority, and it’s best done when you create a consistent morning ritual focusing on YOU and your health, BEFORE YOU DO ANYTHING ELSE!
How do you do that? Simple! Here’s a simple six-step process I recommend to my clients who feel they don’t have enough time in the day:
1) Wake up 30–60 minutes before everyone else in your household. Go to the bathroom, brush your teeth, and head to wherever you exercise. If you don’t currently have a section of your home, a gym, etc. available to you, then get creative and find one! All you need is some floor space, and enough room for you to lay on your back, with your legs straight out, and your arms straight overhead.
2) Do a morning warmup. You’re going to be stiffer than you usually are because you just rolled out of bed, but this will help get the blood flowing, will loosen you up, and will help to wake you up a bit. If you’re in need of a quick warmup each morning, check out the Dynamic Warmup I put all of my clients through here: https://youtu.be/_8X_iMqgjBA
3) Get a workout in. It’s nice when nobody in your house is awake yet, and there’s peace and quiet to do things yourself. If you’re currently waking up when everyone else does, then you need to wake up 30–60 minutes earlier. Worried about sleep deprivation? Then go to bed 30–60 minutes earlier. See how that works? ;-)
4) Shower and get dressed. Self-explanatory.
5) Prepare a healthy breakfast. You can check out my Recipe Book for examples of healthy recipes here: www.weightlossbypete.com/foodguiderecipes
6) Bring healthy snacks and meals with you to work, or wherever you’re headed that day. Remember to put two hours of meal prep on your calendar each week: One hour on Sundays, and one hour Wednesday evenings. Prep all your healthy meals and snacks IN BULK, throw these into Tupperware and Zip-Loc bags, and grab-and-go as needed. If you need help figuring out the snack situation, raw, organic nuts and seeds and low-glycemic fruits are your best bet.
By taking this simple approach to the start of each and every day, you’re putting both yourself and your health FIRST, which insures that you can better serve the people and the things that are already taking precedence in your life even better.
Hope this helps! Until tomorrow :-)
Sincerely,
Pete Weintraub
pete@weightlossbypete.com
