Are you struggling to stay fit while working your 9-5? I remember when I had SUCH a hard time managing my time around the gym, meal prep, life, and work. It wasn’t until I started doing 5 small things everyday that I started to stay fit while working my 9-5 easily. Want to learn what those 5 things are? Continue reading!
My Experience Trying to Stay Fit
I would wake up, rush around getting ready for work, go to work eating breakfast in my car, work all day, try to go to the gym, and go home exhausted. Usually, I skipped the gym and just went home. It was so hard to mentally push myself to the gym after spending hours at work. I would read all the magazines, all of the lunchtime workouts, all of the tips and tricks. Nothing worked. I would read everything, file it away in a binder, and never look at it again.
I was spending more time trying to figure out how to get and stay fit than I was actually getting and staying fit. I was frustrated with my results, angry that nothing seemed to work for me, and resigned to the fact that maybe nothing ever would.
If you work in corporate America, I am sure you know this feeling, am I right?
My Solution (Simple AND Easy)
Finally, I realized that I had been operating from my personal mantra though life, “Go big or go home.” If I couldn’t get in a 1 hour gym session, I didn’t do anything. If I couldn’t eat 100% clean, I ate anything and everything. There was no balance in my quest to stay fit. I realized that what needed to change was that I needed to do LESS to get MORE.
So I started doing these 5 things everyday to stay fit while working my 9-5.
- Hit 7,000-10,000 steps EVERYDAY. Maybe this means you go for a walk in the morning, or at lunch, or at night.
- I drank AT LEAST half my bodyweight in ounces of water everyday + an extra 16 ounces. For example, if you weight 140lbs, drink 86oz water.
- I STARTED my day with AT LEAST 8 ounces of water. Just plain water, though you can add lemon if you want.
- Cut out drinks with artificial sweeteners and replace with bubbly water. I personally like La Croix or Bubly. Yes, these count towards you water goal.
- I began allowing myself to eat when I was hungry. Not when the time said I could eat, when I was hungry. I had 2 complex carbs, 2 fruits, 3 vegetables, and 3 proteins prepped every Sunday so that I could keep my food fast AND interesting. I just made sure I had ENOUGH food with me. I also kept a snack drawer at work that has rice cakes, peanut butter, protein bars, protein powder, baby food packets, and protein granola.
Wrap Up
That is literally all I did. I made sure that everyday I hit my step goal, drank my water, started my day with water, cut out crappy drinks, and allowed myself to eat. This meant that I was MORE active because I wasn’t overthinking it, I was MORE hydrated so I didn’t retain water, and I was MORE satisfied so I didn’t binge eat when I got home.
So, I encourage you to work these 5 things into your daily life. They will simplify the process you are doing to get and stay fit in your 9-5. Drop the most useful tip for you in the comments below!
