Get in the Mood

No, no—not that kind mood. We're talking health and fitness here, people.

It's tough—to say the least—to always feel amped and ready to go about a sweat session or to munch on a jumbo salad. Work, kids, not enough hours in the day, 1,000 excuses... they all get in the way of our best intentions.

Of course, when our schedules leave us some wiggle room and we're feeling great about exercise or eating healthy, it's easy to say, "Why would I ever skip out on this?" But the truth is, life often does get in the way. And if real stresses are not the culprit, then we sometimes have our absolute lack of motivation to blame.

I have just had the wonderful opportunity to welcome new work into my already jam-packed schedule. And I am not complaining—this is a very good "problem" to have, specifically, in this tricky recession.

Still, I have noticed how easy it is for some of my healthiest habits to take a back seat. For example, time to make green juices becomes tougher to come by; I am tired and fitness feels like oh-so-NOT a possibility; and my good nutrition (and energy) are sorely lacking. Proper meals have been swapped for energy bars and time spent enjoying my food is cut in half, replaced by a quick scarf-it-down session.

And all of these things are related. I know this because I am well-attuned to my body and recognize this very simple equation:

Lack of sleep+not-so-great food+little fitness = ZERO energy

Rather than relinquishing all hope of ever seeing a healthy lifestyle again, I decided to come up with simple solutions to nix this problem and nix it good. So, here are some thoughts I have drummed up:

Prepare food the night before

Cut up veggies and fruit, prepare a salad in a container, put together a sandwich for lunch... you get the idea. You can even get all of the ingredients for a smoothie ready and toss them in the blender and then store it in the refrigerator overnight. Having these things ready will make it much easier to eat well on the fly.

Don't take an all-or-nothing approach to fitness

I have a habit of thinking if I can't fit in an hour, then it's just not worth it. But I am learning to squeeze in 10-minute bouts on crazy days. Hey, it's better than nothing, right?

Shut down

Turn off the TV and get off the computer at a reasonable time. Studies have shown these wonderful technologies can disrupt sleep and we just don't have time for that,  nowdo we?