Last year was busy! Between training for a half marathon and an ultra marathon, planning a wedding and starting a business it was go, go, go. And while I had a lot of fun and made some amazing memories, by the time December rolled around I was pretty tired. I am a big proponent of listening to my body and so I spent a lot of the winter months resting and taking it easy. It was nice not to have a packed schedule and long to-do list for a while. However, now that the sun is shining again and I am fully recharged, I am craving more structure! So here are 5 things that I am doing to get myself back into a routine this spring.

1. Walking every day

One thing that I am committing to is going on a daily walk. Even if it is just for 10 minutes, spending time outside and moving my body always improves my mood and leaves me feeling energized. Even on days when I REALLY don’t feel like going, I am always happy that I did afterwards.

2. Following a meal plan

I am a Registered Holistic Nutritionist, and yet just like the rest of us, my diet isn’t always perfect. Especially once things start to get busy it can be easy to fall into bad habits. One thing that helps me to stay on track is creating a weekly meal plan and grocery list, so that I don’t have to spend time thinking about what to eat each day. This makes it far less likely that I will reach for convenience foods or order take out.

If you want a done-for-you meal plan and grocery list, you can grab my 5-day meal plan that will help you to eat more plant foods here!

3. Planning movement into my schedule

In addition to walking, I have been incorporating other types of movement into my weekly schedule. By planning it into my schedule I am far more likely to actually commit to it. Rather than telling myself that I have to do a 60-minute workout each morning, I commit to a 20-minute workout Monday to Friday as this is much more realistic for me.

I also know that if I tell myself to do workouts that I don’t enjoy I probably won’t end up doing them at all. Instead, I have been focusing on types of movement that are fun and enjoyable! I have been doing a mixture of strength training, running, yoga and pilates and have been loving it! While these are the types of exercise that I enjoy, there is plenty out there to choose from, so I encourage you to experiment and find what works for you.

4. Prepping my lunches ahead of time

I don’t know about you, but I find that lunch can be tricky. If I have a busy day of meetings I often don’t have time to make a healthy lunch from scratch. In the past, this often lead to me grabbing an unhealthy but quick option or skipping lunch altogether and then being so hungry that I would overeat in the evening.

What I have been doing instead is making my lunch the evening before. Usually I will make an extra portion of whatever I am having for dinner so that I have something nutritious and ready to grab the next day. I also like to batch-cook soups (like this sweet potato and lentil soup) and keep them in the freezer as a quick, easy and nutritious option.

5. Keeping things balanced

While my goal is to do all of these things consistently, I know that it isn’t realistic to be too rigid about it. So I remind myself that it is ok to have some flexibility in my schedule and meal plan. If I am invited out to dinner or need some extra rest that’s ok! And if I do miss a workout or over-indulge, I come back to my healthy habits rather than giving up all together!

This flexibility makes these habits a lot easier to stick to in the long-term! Life will happen and I never want to be so strict with myself that I have to miss out on something I enjoy.

If you want to kickstart your health and wellness this spring, check out my free 5-day challenge:

This article is intended for information purposes on general wellbeing only.