Nutrition Fitness & Our Social Life: How Can We Make the Best of All 3?

I find that a lot of people tend to let loose on the weekend and come Monday, we feel like we have to start over. When it comes to nutrition, fitness and our social life, how can we make the best of all 3?

What if we didn't have to start over? What if the weekend was fluid. Ever wonder why we start off with "Monday Motivation" but by Thursday we're thinking "Thirsty Thursday"...?

I think first, it’s important to know why we are trying to reach our health goals. Motivating ourselves from within has to be part of making nutrition, fitness, and social life goals achievable. If deep down, making a change to nutrition, exercise habits, or how we spend our social time isn't deeply meaningful...will it even happen?

Nutrition:

I know my nutrition goals. I want to be healthy, happy, eat mostly plants, and never restrict myself. I enjoy my favorite foods often, have a treat here and there, and I drink tons of water. This is my formula, it works for me. Meal prepping helps because I know in my fridge there are lean proteins, tons of veggies already made, and a few extras like nuts, hemp seeds, yogurts. I batch cook my grains and rotate between overnight oats one week and regular oatmeal the next.

This doesn’t mean I don’t go out to eat though. Seeking out all that Denver food scene has to offer is one of my favorite pleasures in life. I scope out the menu ahead of time and check out if the restaurant has a good variety.

• Snooze

• True Food Kitchen

• Lala's Wine Bar & Pizzeria

• Tamayo

• Charcol

• Viewhouse

• Biju's Little Curry Shop

These restaurants' menus have healthy options that aren't just salads. My go to meal is salmon with some type of veggies, but I’m flexible. Mostly I like to choose salmon at every restaurant so I can learn some new flavor combos and to compare, like a food critic. Anyone ever see My Best Friend’s Wedding with Julia Roberts? She was a food critic and I thought that was the coolest job ever! Anyways, I digress…

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La La's Bistro and Tru Food Kitchen

My point is with nutrition, eating is a social activity and can be healthy. If you’re finding yourself unable to stay on track with your nutrition goals and going out to eat and enjoy a night out with friends, let’s chat about it one on one.

Fitness:

Personally, I love going group fitness classes. I guess I’m a self-identified “social butterfly” so getting a solid sweat sesh with a group of people is easy for me. I’m actually really motivated to go to the studio when I know the instructors are there to make sure I have a good time and get a kick ass workout. Signing up for a class ahead of time really makes me committed. There it is, in my calendar Power Hour at 5:00pm with Natalie. It’s right in front of my face and I know on the other end, the studio can see I signed up.

It helps with my routine too. Like clockwork, at 3:00pm I eat a pre-workout meal, 4:30 I start lacing up the sneakers, put on a pair of Athleta tights and throw my hair up in a pony tail (about 6 or 7 different times cause let’s be honest, almost all of us do that!). I even get butterflies still before a class. Maybe it’s performance anxiety but really, I’m just excited to go. I’m motivated from within. That’s what keeps me going.

It’s also really great for my social life! I’ve met so many cool people with similar interests as me. The gym I’ve been going to the last month gets a 100 for Team-Spirit. Sweaty hugs and high-fives are part of the workout. So knowing I get to meet great people, have a blast, and sweat is another way I get to make the best of my fitness goals and social life.

Social Life:

The key here is to surround yourself with people of the same interests. I get my social life through group fitness classes and going out to eat with friends. On the weekends it’s fun to hike. Or sometimes I’ll even call a friend when I’m on a walk just to catch up and still get my steps in. There are many ways to incorporate being social while still maintaining your nutrition and fitness goals.

A really unique way to be active and meet new people is by signing up for group classes. FitLo Denver’s Passport is a great way to try a new studio, get a little cross training in and meet some awesome people. I found my home gym through a FitLo Denver Passport class.

Let’s recap!

First, know your nutrition, fitness and social life goals. Make sure that what you set caters to both your mental and physical health. If you are stressing over food, exercising to the point of pyschhological exhaustion, maybe take a step in a different direction.

Second, write them down! Make it tangible. Notecards, planners, bullet journals, whiteboards are all great ways to make your goals tangible.

Third, make a commitment to each one of those goals. See where you can make them overlap (example: group fitness classes = fitness + social life).