Hello everybody! Welcome back to my blog. The purpose of this blog is to help people find their way to a healthier lifestyle. I mostly talk about exercise, nutrition and the science behind them, which are my areas of expertise, but I also talk about sleeping habits, minimalism and many other subjects related to wellbeing and healthy lifestyle. 

A while ago I shared a post about one of the most common reasons (or excuses) people have to not do exercise. Have a look at it!

Fitness myth number 1: “I don’t have time”

On top of that, last week I shared a post for busy parents who cannot find time to be a bit active.

Exercise ideas for busy parents

Today I would like to dig a bit deeper on this subject. I would like you to read this post with an open mind. I understand that everyone has their particular situation. Try to keep in mind that doing exercise is for you to be healthy and stay healthy for a long time, especially as you age. Nobody is punishing you if you don’t do exercise, and if you’re not willing to make adjustments, changes, or you just don’t want to do exercise, that is totally fine, though this is not a site for you. Now, let’s go!

What would you do if you have a backpack full of things, and you really want to carry something that you think it’ll be good for you, like let’s say, a book? In order to put that book inside your full backpack the two only possible things you can do are taking something out, or rearranging the backpack, probably you’ll end up doing both.

The first thing you do to rearrange your backpack and put the book inside is emptying it completely. Just doing this will you be able to figure out what happens inside and how you can make this work. It’s the same in life: to find out how you can fit doing exercise, reading more books, spending more time with your partner, cooking more healthy food, or whatever it is that you want to include in your lifestyle, you need to make a list of all the things you do (and I mean everything, including the time you spend on social media).

Putting on a paper all the things you do is like emptying that overloaded backpack. The first thing you’d think is that all the things you do (like all the things that you’re carrying on your backpack) are really important, and what’s more, you think that it’s you the responsible one for them. But putting everything together is a great exercise to realise that some of those things are not really that important, some others can be shared with someone else, and many others can be done less often.

Now that you (honestly) have all of the things you do put together, what is it that you can change? Which things are not really that important, and which things can you eliminate? These are some of the things you can do LESS often or completely scrap out if you really want to include a healthier habit in your life, such as exercising:

1. Netflix or other streaming platforms, including on demand TV shows.
2. Go to the bar to socialise (how about going for a bushwalking instead?).
3. Watching videos or photos of famous people or influencers (and complain about how perfect and easy their life is!).
4. Scroll down on your social media for hours (check your screen time, it will shock you).
5. Overload yourself with information. We all want to know what’s happening in the world, especially with the unfortunate events occurring in Ukraine, but we don’t need to stay constantly updated. Once or twice a day should be enough, and we should filter the information we get. More is less!
6. Stay constantly in touch with everyone. We all like being in touch with family and friends, but we’re losing touch with ourselves. We should be more selfish, spend more time with ourselves, getting to know us better and look after ourselves. You are the only single person you’ll be with for ever.

Everyone has their own situation. Therefore, you’ll need to find out what you personally can eliminate or reduce. Once you know what you want to keep, you should spend some time thinking how you can reorganise your “backpack”. You still need and want to do some things. Like you need to keep certain items inside the backpack, in real life you’ll need to keep going to work, minding your kids or pets if you have, having your home clean and tidy, or whatever your priorities are. To make this work and include physical activity, organising week a week or even day a day is essential.

I got into the habit of doing this every night when I was 15. I really wanted to do athletics, dancing, going to piano lessons, and keep my good grades at high highschool. I needed to do this years after when I wanted to work, study at uni, and do athletics. As years passed, I had to make adjustments here and there to make sure that my new priorities and my must dos (exercising, sleeping well, cooking healthy food, keeping a nice home, and sharing quality time with Harry) were covered. It’s a great habit and I hope it helps me in the future when I have my own kids or simply to adjust to any changes life may come up with.

When you do this exercise, you’ll realise how much time you actually have to go for a 30′ walk, to do some bodyweight exercises at home, to read that book that has been sitting on your bedside table for such a long time, to cook the healthy food you deserve, or to do whatever you want. If you’re not sure about what is important, this chart could be very helpful. If you find it difficult to differentiate between what’s important and what’s not, this chart could be very helpful:

Have a look on the bottom left. One of the things we can do is delegating some tasks. There are things you need to do by yourself, but there are many others that can be shared. Looking after your kids or your pets, cooking for the house, doing the groceries, tidying up and cleaning the house, are examples of routinely things that you can share with someone else (if you do live with someone else). And I want to talk directly to all the busy mums who want to become superwomen: you are not, and you will not be a superwoman. If you are a single mum that’s another story, but if you have a partner, older kids, parents or family who live close to you, ask for help. You’d always help them if they ask you, why do you think they won’t help you or they’d be bothered?

To finish this post, I would like to remind you of something. When someone (including me) says that we all should do exercise we don’t mean wrong. In order to be healthy, exercise is an essential part of the formula. This kind of post is for you to stop and think, to realise that there are other possibilities. Don’t try to copy what other people do, but get inspired by them. Maybe you won’t be able to do what we do, but we can give you some good ideas to think for yourself and find a solution that works for you.

Exercising is not meant to be for you to be socially accepted, or to do what you’re told by others. Exercising is for you to feel better, move better, avoid many issues and illnesses, and set up a good example for your kids and other people around you. If you have ended up here is because you want to make a change, so please know that all these tips come from a place of love.

That’s it for today! I really hope that you enjoy it. If you like what I do and you want to support this project, follow me on Instagram and Facebook, like the post and comment! Should you have feedback you’d like to leave, a comment to share with me, or a cool idea for a post, send me an email to sanchisayslifestyle@gmail.com