Episode Content
As I record this, we’re getting towards the middle of December, which means many of us are super busy, rushing around trying to sort out Christmas present lists, writing cards, ferrying children from one Christmas concert to another, hanging up decorations and thinking about what food needs to be ordered in and when. And it doesn’t help when, for those of us in the northern hemisphere, the days are short and dark, and the weather’s a bit bleak and miserable.
Even if you’re listening to this at a different time, or Christmas isn’t your thing, we all have those periods of time when life just seems to get super busy for a few weeks, and all our good intentions about our health and fitness go out the window.
So this is just a quick episode for me to share 3 simple tips to help you stay healthy when you’re super busy. These 3 tips take hardly any extra time to do but can have a big impact, so stay tuned!
Before we start, just a quick disclaimer as always. The information shared on this podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. Always check with your doctor before making any changes to your diet or lifestyle. Ok, let’s dive into today’s show.
When life suddenly starts to get busy, we usually get affected in 3 ways.
Firstly, our nutrition. It’s easy to lapse into quick and easy snack foods and ready meals, and there’s often more chocolate, sweets, crisps and alcohol around to tempt us off our healthy eating plan.
Secondly, exercise, too, is often one of the first things to get dropped in all the busyness, because the effort it takes to go to the gym or turn up for that class, or even to go out for a run, just seems too much to add to our already overflowing plate.
And then thirdly, you have all the stress! All this rushing around and endless to-do lists can raise our cortisol and adrenaline, leading to a whole host of issues such as increased inflammation, poor sleep, sugar cravings and headaches. And if you’re also going through perimenopause or menopause, the stress can make your symptoms worse, so you might notice your hot flushes and night sweats increasing, and you notice an increase in anxiety, low mood and irritability.
So, what can we do to help stop what is meant to be a very happy, joyful time of year from negatively impacting our health? And what can we do that isn’t going to add more things to our to-do list and tip us over the edge even further?
I have 3 quick and easy tips for you today to help you maintain your health and avoid slipping backwards so that, hopefully, when the busy season has passed, you’re able to more easily get back on track in the new year. Each of these 3 tips can be added into your busy routine without needing a lot of time or effort or preparation.
1. Increase Your Walking
We all know that it’s important to do regular exercise, but that can be really hard when your routine changes and you get super busy. Or, if you’re like me, you can’t do the activities you once enjoyed because of an injury or the fact that they’ve decided to close your local gym for maintenance work for the whole of December! But what we can all do, often without needing to change our clothes, is walk.
So, focus on keeping up your step count. You might like to track your steps, if you find that helpful, but just look for ways to keep moving. Maybe you can take the stairs instead of the escalator when you’re shopping. Or park at the further end of the car park so you need to walk a little further. Or walk up to the post office instead of taking the car. Or walk your kids to the school nativity play and back. At the very least, just take a quick walk around the block once or twice a day. You’ll be surprised at how much walking you can get into your day whilst still being able to do all the things you need to do.
2. Eat Protein With Every Meal And Snack
Eating healthily can be hard when we feel rushed and out of routine. During the holiday season, there’s also food everywhere! Office parties, family dos, special Christmas services – all of these tend to involve food and sometimes alcohol. Now, it’s important to feel able to enjoy yourself and have these special treats that you only have at one time of year (unless you’re someone that eats mince pies all year round!) but the danger is that we will keep spiking our blood sugar levels, which leads to inflammation and excess weight.
So a quick and easy tip to keep your blood sugar levels more stable is to eat protein with every meal and snack. This could be as easy as having a small handful of nuts with your Christmas cookie, or some hummus with your tortilla chips. Having protein alongside what you’re eating will help to dampen down the blood sugar impact of the food, and it will also help increase your satiety levels so that you feel fuller for longer. In addition, you’ll avoid that blood sugar crash a few hours later that will have you reaching for more chocolate.
3. Take A Minute For Some Deep Breathing
Stress is a major contributor to poor health, especially when you’re perimenopausal. So managing your stress well is absolutely key, especially at those times when you feel super busy. There are many ways to help move our body out of the red zone – that fight or flight, sympathetic nervous system response – and into the green zone – that rest and digest, parasympathetic nervous system response. But when we’re busy we might not be able to find the time to go for that long walk in nature, or take that bubble bath, or go for that massage, or meet up with a friend, or whatever it is you like to do that helps you to feel calm and happy.
But there is one thing that is super effective and super simple, and that’s deep breathing. You see, deep, diaphragmatic breathing is one of the fastest ways to tell our body that we’re safe and to switch us over from the red zone to the green zone. It immediately sends a signal to the brain to say that we don’t need to pump out any extra cortisol or adrenaline right now, both of which can be damaging to our health if they’re kept high over the long term.
And it doesn’t have to be for long. Try to pause for just one minute. Close your eyes, put one hand on your belly to feel it expand out and in, and take four, long, slow breaths. Counting can be really helpful – breathe in for a count of 4, hold for a count of 7 and breathe out for a count of 8. Do that four times and you’re good to go. If you can manage it twice a day, even better.
So, there you go. 3 simple steps you can take to maintain your health when you’re super busy:
- Increase your walking
- Eat protein with every meal and snack
- Take a minute for some deep breathing.
I hope you found that helpful. I have one final tip for you – if you feel like you’re too busy to put a lot of time into your health, then why not come and join us in the Healthier Life Club? We have 2 laser coaching group sessions per month, so that’s just 30 mins of your time every 2 weeks. It’s a really powerful way just to check in with your goals so that you can stay accountable and get support. Go to catherineshelton.com/club to find out more and get the link to join. If you’re listening to this in real-time, have a wonderful Christmas. I wish you peace, joy, hope and happiness. And of course, good health!
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Disclaimer: This information is for educational purposes only and does not replace advice given by your primary care provider. Please see your doctor if you’re considering making substantial changes to your diet and lifestyle.
GRAB YOUR FREE MENOPAUSE WEIGHT LOSS GUIDE!
Are you finding the pounds are gradually creeping on? Are you frustrated because the usual trick of ‘eat less, move more’ just isn’t working anymore?
In this guide, I explain why women often gain weight in perimenopause, and I give you 3 simple tips so you can start to turn that around right away!
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