Advisor, Andy Varney provides some helpful advice on how to find time and prioritise healthy eating and exercising.

“I want to eat healthier meals and be more physically active, but I don’t have the time.” 

Does this sound familiar? Is this really the case?

How much free time do you have actually have?

Create a table 8 columns across and 18 lines down (may need more or less). Put the days of the week across the top and the hours of the day down the left-hand side, starting from when you get up and finishing when you go to bed.  Download our example timetable.

Fill in the hours with the things you absolutely must do, for example go to work or take the children to school. Be totally honest with yourself.

Are there any spaces? Are there any things you could swap around to give you some extra time? Once you have identified what spare time you have, you can then think about what you need to do to change into the person you want to be.

Increase your physical activity – plan what you want to do and when you are going to do it. Book it if you need to and get everything you need ready before hand especially if its first thing in the morning. This removes the excuses of not being ready. It could be going out as a family and spending time together.

Nutrition – you could use this free time to batch prepare meals.  Check out this Batch-cooking-beginners page, so when you are busy all you have to do is reheat the meal base and add the extras like vegetables, ensuring you have a healthy meal even at the busiest of times.

Plan your meals a week in advance so you know what meals you are having and when. Make a shopping list of the ingredients you need and only buy them; this will save you money as well some calories.