
Although there are many obstacles to forming healthy habits, you may get beyond some of them by using these suggestions.
Almost everyone has obstacles to adopting healthy living practices.
The largest obstacles to eating healthily among Division 1 collegiate athletes—a demographic not often linked to bad habits—were found in a 2023 study (Trusted Source).
What were some of the most difficult obstacles these collegiate athletes cited? Many of the same problems that others encounter:
- Insufficient time and limited
- availability of nutritious meals
- insufficient understanding about how to prepare nutritious meals
Whether you participate in collegiate athletics or not, there are easy ways to make healthy behaviors a part of your life.
These suggestions may help you reach your objectives, whether they are to improve your diet, increase your physical activity, or stop smoking.
Insufficient time
You can make minor but significant adjustments to your diet and workout routine by using time-saving techniques.
Work out
Even a few minutes a day might help you make exercise a part of your routine.
Making small adjustments can help you workout more frequently.
- Think about parking a few streets away from your location or using the stairs rather than the elevator.
- While engaging in other things, move. For example, if at all possible, walk rather than drive or stretch while on the phone. Set up time on your calendar to work out.
- Blocks of only fifteen minutes may be used. Building up to at least 30 minutes is ideal.
- Exercise from a Reliable Source, Every Day of the Week.
- Change what you’re doing to make your heart rate and muscular usage higher. Accept “exercise snacks,” which are quick workouts you can do all day long.
- These may be a minute of jumping jacks, ten squats, or some other quick exercise to raise your heart rate.
Regularity is essential. It takes time to form good habits, but this source is reliable.
You might stop looking for the couch or the elevator after a few weeks of using the stairs or doing light weight exercises while watching your favorite streaming sho.
A nutritious diet
Eating healthily doesn’t have to be time-consuming, and it doesn’t have to involve complicated recipes.
You might even save time in the kitchen by concentrating on making entire foods.
You can also cut down on the amount of time you spend cooking and preparing food.
Here are some pointers:
- Think about double or triple the quantity of your dinner and storing leftovers, or batch cooking, where you prepare ingredients for multiple meals.
- Get basic components ready. You can utilize this reliable source for a variety of dishes, such as salads made with quinoa.
- You can chop up common ingredients, such chopped peppers or onions, and store them in the refrigerator for later use.
- To enjoy over the next few days, prepare a larger dinner, such as a sheet pan meal, and divide it into multiple single-serving portions.
- Look for popular components that you can prepare ahead of time and think about a few dishes.
- Stock your cupboard with nutritious canned goods like tomatoes, tuna, and beans.