How To Stay Healthy with Back to School

It’s a crazy season of Back to School, Back to Work, baseball, jujitsu, camper activities, etc.!  Make sure your health and your family’s doesn’t take a back seat by implementing some of the following tips!

1. SET BEDTIMES  Strict bedtime schedules fall to the wayside during summer holidays, but I find that the quicker my family and I both get on a set schedule, the better we function.  It is essential for kids (and us parents as well!) to get a healthy amount of sleep each night to stay focused throughout the day. Although sleep requirements vary somewhat among individuals, most adults need about eight hours of sleep each night, and children and adolescents typically need more than eight hours. To get your kids ready to wake up earlier for school, consider making their bedtimes a little earlier each night for a week or two before school starts. Sticking to a routine is important too, so don’t let weekends become late-night free-for-alls.  The boys’ bedtime is 8:00 pm. And we stick pretty closely to that.
2. PACK LUNCHES THE NIGHT BEFORE It’s so easy to just say, “I’ll do that in the morning.” But it pays off in time and a lot of times…temper… to pack lunches the night before.  At our house, when I do my meal prep on Sundays, I make bags of veggies and fruit for the boys lunches.  I purchase individual servings of many foods so we can grab and pack. Foods like string cheese, yogurt, packs of chips, granola bars, almond butter, etc.  Stocking up on healthy foods and having them ready keep not only me but also my family on track!
   

   Plan and Eat like you Love yourself!

3. CREATE A WEEKLY DINNER MEAL PLAN I plan ALL of my meals for the week for myself.  But for my family, I make sure that I know what we are eating for dinner and have grocery shopped and prepped as much in advance as I can. This ensures that we are not hitting the drive thru on our way to baseball or church or whatever activity we are busy with. Some of our favorite and easiest weeknight meals include:
   1. Shrimp Tacos
   2.  Turkey Chili
   3. Slow Cooker Pulled Pork
   4. Spaghetti and Meatballs
   5. Stuffed Bell Peppers
4. COMMIT TO MAKE YOUR WORKOUTS A PRIORITY It’s easy to SAY you’re going to get up early to workout before the house awakes and the business of getting the kids out the door and yourself off to work or ready for the day. But if you don’t have a plan of action, it will never happen.  Two of my favorite tips for ensuring I get out of bed in time to get my workout in are
   1. Set your alarm and place your phone in the bathroom. The simple act of movement will rouse you from your sleep more than reaching over to silence your alarm!
   2. Lay out your workout clothes the night before or sleep in them!  Saves an extra step!Happy Back To School all you moms and dads and kiddos!  It’s an exciting time of the year.  I hope it is a wonderful school year for you and your babes!

xxx