my top three tricks for staying healthy as a #girlboss
Side-hustler, weekend warrior, momboss – whatever we choose to call ourselves, we’re freakin’ busy making our dreams come true! For me, working full-time as a nanny to some adorable, but picky, littles makes it really hard for me to eat healthy sometimes – when I’m already whipping up plates of macaroni and cheese with a side of pizza, where do I find the time to make myself a good lunch, too? On top of being surrounded by delicious, unhealthy snacks all day, add starting my own business and blog by night – I spend a lot of time at coffee shops, neglecting my water intake and choosing between various muffins and pastries to get me by while I work. I’ve definitely neglected my body in the last few months – skimping on workouts, eating whatever’s easiest rather than what is actually good for me, and slacking on water. Which has led me to feeling lethargic, gross, and greasy! Personally, I don’t care if I’m carrying around a few extra pounds, as long as I’m healthy – but what I hate is struggling to get out of bed in the morning, feeling like I need to nap every day after lunch, and having greasy, not-glowy skin. I’ve definitely had some days like this in the past few months, and let me tell you – I don’t like it!
Enter August – the boy and I just moved into our new apartment, I’m going home to Michigan in a few weeks, and things with this small business o’ mine are starting to pick up. Yay! Exciting! With the momentum of all that’s happening, I’m feeling recommitted to my health, and with that, I’d love to share with y’all a few things that have either a) been a saving grace the last few months (superfood shakes save lives, y’all), or b) been something I’ve slacked on while we were in the process of moving and that I want to get back into (meal prepping and water, to name two!).
If YOU have struggled with staying healthy while living the #bossbabe life, here’s a few tips that have helped me in the past – they’re all simple and none of them require completely changing up your life. Because seriously, life isn’t always convenient, right? Sometimes muffins are the only option (or they’re just the best option). I’d love to hear what y’all do to stay healthy, too – share with me in the comments or start up a chat on Instagram! Supporting each other in self-care is only going to benefit the girlboss community, so I’d love to hear from you with any tips and tricks! Meanwhile, here goes: three things that I love for staying healthy as a bossbabe!
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Meal-prepping #likeaboss
Yes, every other pin on Pinterest is about how to make eighty-seven meals in one afternoon so you’re set for the rest of your life. But there’s a reason so many people subscribe to this idea! I really do find that if I have a delicious (and more importantly, already prepared) meal waiting for me when I get home from work, I’m more likely to eat an appropriate amount and less likely to go out to dinner or grab that pizza that’s in the freezer.
I don’t get too fancy with my meal prep – I don’t need to prep a month at a time, although I know that works for some people. I prefer to choose two or three meals that I know Judge and I will both enjoy, get the ingredients on Saturday or Sunday, and put everything together on Sunday evening. Some of my staples include chicken pot pie, roasted vegetables with chicken sausage, twice-baked sweet potatoes, and crockpot pork carnitas. I almost always have some kind of salad fixings in the fridge, too, and I’ll put everything together for a spring salad at the beginning of the week so that it’s easy to grab a handful before dinner and not let any of those fresh ingredients go bad! PS: I found all those recipes on Pinterest, and they're all so easy!
A lot of people love to prep their breakfasts – egg muffins, baked oatmeal, and smoothie bowls are some of the things I’ve seen circling Pinterest, and they all look awesome! I’m pretty good about getting up in the morning and making a big, healthy breakfast, but I want to get into prepping breakfast foods this fall because Judge is absolutely awful about eating breakfast! Man cannot survive on Pop-Tarts alone – plus, I think it would be nice to have some grab-and-go options in the mornings for when I’m heading to a coffee shop to side-hustle for a bit before my full-time job.
Superfood shakes that save time (and money!)
I’ve always been a huge fan of smoothies because of how refreshing and easy they are; they’re perfect for hot Charleston summers and there are infinite combinations that you can make! Right when I moved to Charleston two years ago, I was basically living on smoothies – grocery shopping is way easier when you’re just buying frozen fruit and almond milk, right? #adulting
But after a little while of doing this, I realized I was actually feeling pretty gross – turns out all the sugar in those fruit smoothies (plus the occasional large scoop of peanut butter I was adding) wasn’t that good for me. Cue my battle to find a supplemental powder that was a) good for me and b) actually tasted good. Almost a year later (and like, ten bottles of random powder from Trader Joe’s that had God-knows-what in them), my friend told me about Shakeology, this delicious, nutritious, no-added-bad-stuff shake, and now, I’m totally hooked! I swear, this stuff has been my saving grace during our move; it’s so easy to whip up a shake and most of the flavors taste good even just with water, which has saved me from trying to keep bananas, strawberries, and other fruits fresh while we were essentially homeless. Plus, chocolate milkshake in the middle of the day = yes, please.
If you’re not familiar with Shakeology, it’s a nutritional shake (not a protein shake, which is a common misconception – although it does have protein in it) that provides almost all the random nutrients your body needs in a day. The website states that one shake is the equivalent of five salads – which is great, but honestly, I really just love how convenient it is to grab the blender and whip up some chocolate-y deliciousness when I’m heading out the door to nanny or sitting at my desk writing or working on my website. I can feel good knowing I’m giving my body what it needs, instead of just packing myself with gross, empty sugars - and the other great thing is that when I sat down to figure out if I could fit it into my budget, I realized that one shake is only four dollars! I know I was spending more than that on smoothies, juices, and salads, both at home and at restaurants – it’s a win-win! And they deliver right to your door!
Psst: you can try a sample pack of Shakeology without any commitment -- seriously, I swear you'll feel a difference after a week. Three cheers for not feeling like I need an afternoon nap every day!
Drinking at least eighty ounces of water a day
I know I said that I’ve slacked on water over the last month, and that’s definitely true – but I’ve still done okay. My goal for water is typically between eighty and one hundred ounces of water, which is more than the recommended amount – so although I might not always get to my goal, I typically get to at least fifty or so ounces.
You guys don’t need me to lecture you on all the benefits of water, because we’ve all heard them – but honestly, what motivates me the most to drink water is that it keeps my skin looking really good and also increases metabolism so that I don’t feel as sluggish after I eat. Obviously I love when my skin looks good, and I want my metabolism to be as fast as possible so that I can eat more often – so drinking water is a win for me, despite my somewhat-questionable motivations.
Since committing myself to being a better water-drinker about a year ago, I’ve developed two steadfast rules for making sure I get enough hydration during the day. The first is this: I don’t drink any coffee after two pm. I used to drink coffee all day long, and then I’d look back at my day and realize I’d had almost no water because I was so busy sipping hot coffee, iced coffee, and lattes. Since making this rule for myself, I find it much easier to fall asleep at night, and I also have a good window of time to get my ounces in. If I really need a caffeine boost in the afternoon, I’ll make green tea with honey or lemon, which still gives me that pep that I need but doesn’t dehydrate like coffee does.
My second rule, which has helped arguably more than the first, is that I take a thirty-two ounce bottle of water with me everywhere I go (this is the actual water bottle I have, and I love how it has two different openings on top - plus, the colors are awesome!), and I have time limits for when I need to finish a bottle. So, because I want to drink around one hundred ounces a day, I have to finish one bottle before noon, another bottle before five o’clock, and another bottle before bedtime. This makes it seem much more achievable and doesn’t leave me chugging water in the evening! Besides, that’s wine time – and I feel much less guilty about a glass of rosé on the porch before bed if I’ve hit all my water goals.
One of my big goals for August is to be better about fitting in “me time,” whether that’s going to the gym, taking a bike ride, or heading to the beach. I read three books in July (one was Big Little Lies - um, hello, amazing), which was awesome for my mental health and provided such a nice break from the normal bustle of life. So I definitely want to take more time for myself this month! What do YOU want to do this month to make sure you’re taking care of yourself? Tell me – and share your tips for staying healthy, too!
Xoxo,
Randi