My name is Ailís, and I am currently studying Public Health Nutrition at Technological University Dublin. As I’m in my final year, there have been many days where I’ve felt overwhelmed by the sheer amount of tasks and responsibilities I’ve had at a given time. When thinking of a blog to write for this month, I began reflecting on things that helped me to be more time-efficient, while still minding my mental health and physical wellbeing, over the years at university (especially when I was living away from home).
Between work, assignments, exams, lectures, socializing with friends, and making time for family, it’s incredibly difficult to look after our own physical and mental health! It’s so important to remember that, amongst all our commitments and responsibilities, we should be our own first priority.
The following are some tips on how to eat nutritious foods and exercise when you feel you don’t have enough time in the day:
1. Meal Planning & Prepping
Meal prepping can be extremely helpful to save the time spent cooking throughout the week. This could involve batch-making dishes for lunch and dinner or chopping and washing vegetables, and storing them in the fridge so they are ready to go. Planning out meals at the start of the week or before grocery shopping on Sunday evening saves time too.
2. Online Grocery Shopping
It can be difficult to find the time to be going to the shops. Ordering groceries online could help relieve that pressure of making time to get to the shops. However, it is likely to be a more expensive alternative so, depending on your own budget, this might be something you could only do every now and again when know you’ll be stuck for time.
3. Takeaways Don’t Mean “Unhealthy” Food
Nowadays, there are so many different types of foods available when ordering online, so from a health perspective, not all takeaways mean getting curry chips and a burger from your local chipper! There are several types of cuisines, such as Thai, Japanese, etc., that often have a number of dishes that are generally lower in saturated fat, salt, sugar, and calories compared to other types of takeaways. UberEATS, Deliveroo, and Just Eat all have a “Healthy” food category, which could also be helpful!
4. Make The Decision to Exercise Easier
When we think about exercising, such as working out at the gym, it’s not just the workout itself that determines whether or not we will do it. Firstly, there’s getting to the gym (whether that be walking, cycling, driving, or getting public transport), then having a good workout, getting home from the gym, and finally having a shower. Suddenly, what was to be an hour workout takes 2 hours out of your day. As a result, the easiest and most time-efficient choice is simply not to go to the gym at all. However, if we make the workout something that’s less intimidating and more accessible, such as a 15-minute jog or home workout, the decision doesn’t seem as daunting.
5. Smart Workout Scheduling & Planning
Make exercise as convenient and time efficient as possible. If you like to shower in the morning, why not pop a quick workout into your morning routine? Or if you’re somebody who has specific days of the week you like to wash your hair, schedule in a quick workout before your shower. Alternatively, you could try multitasking and scheduling a light workout when you typically would do another activity. For example, if you usually watch some TV in the evenings, you could spend the first 15 minutes of your favourite show doing some yoga/stretches. Similarly, if you have a call with a friend or family member, why not get some fresh air and be physically active while you catch up?
While these are all seemingly small tricks that we can make throughout the day, sometimes we all need to remember that the sum of smaller healthy choices can make bigger changes long-term, and health and wellbeing is all about the long game!