Stay Healthy During Back-To-School

It’s an exciting, stressful, and busy time for many of us – back to school time! 

As the weather starts getting colder and the leaves start to fall, it also signals the start of busy mornings, lunch prep rushes, and increasingly busy schedules as the kids start heading back to school. It’s going to be an especially challenging one for many of us this year as well, since so many of our kids were doing distance learning up until now! 

So it’s a great time to refocus and reestablish some good morning routines to keep both ourselves and our kids happy, healthy, and on time. Here’s how to stay on track and focused on your goals during one of the most hectic times of the year. 

Have your breakfasts prepped ahead of time. 

The morning is undoubtedly one of the busiest and most stressful parts of the day. Between getting the kids ready for school, commuting around the city, and getting ourselves ready, it’s hard to find the time to make sure that everyone (including yourself) is fully nourished to take on the day!  

So to make your mornings a little easier, it’s a good idea to make sure your breakfast is situated and ready to go as soon as you have the time to eat by prepping them ahead of time. Using some meal prep concepts, you can be positive that everyone has a nutritious breakfast and doesn’t have to resort to a sugary energy bar in their rush to get out the door. 

Some good ideas for meal prep breakfasts include:

• Mixing up a couple of mason jars with oats, milk, and fruit for easy and nutritious overnight oats 
• Portioning out frozen fruits and yogurt that just need to be thrown in the blender for quick smoothies 
• Prepping and mixing the ingredients for healthy bran muffins that can be tossed into the oven to bake while you’re getting ready

Or better yet, you can buy ready-to-eat prepped breakfasts from a meal prep delivery service like My Healthy Penguin! This can streamline the morning rush even more so that you can spend more time getting everything else done and getting everyone out the door on schedule. 

Get everyone in the family on board with a solid routine. 

If you’re coming off of a relatively unstructured summer break, it’s more important now than ever to add some structure back into your day. 

Take a minute to establish bedtimes, set alarms for the morning, and carve out time in the day for all the necessities like gym time, activities, and chores. Then, go over your new routines with everyone else in your household. 

This will help everyone in the family get back into a good rhythm to better tackle the day. It will also make sure everyone is on the same page and knows what to expect throughout the day. Clear expectations and routines are good for the kids, good for yourself, and good for your goals! 

Reprioritize your physical activity. 

When you get caught up taking care of everyone else’s needs during back-to-school time, it can be easy to forget about your own. But staying healthy is all about how you manage your own priorities, even during the busiest times in your schedule, so finding ways to treat your health and your body right can make a big difference here. 

It might require you to change up your schedule a little bit, but find ways to stay active even in the midst of a packed schedule can do a world of good, both in helping you reach your goals and making you feel more energized and able to tackle the rest of the day. 

Take little walks if you can’t make it to the gym, do a round of air squats and jumping jacks during breaks at work, or switch your gym time to a different time of day if possible. It might be hard at first, but it’ll be worth it in the long run! 

Conclusion

No matter how busy or hectic your life can become during the fall, establishing a good routine and being prepared are great ways to stop on top of everything and take better care of yourself in the process. 

For even more ways to manage your health while dealing with a busy schedule, check out My Healthy Penguin! This Los Angeles-based meal prep delivery service can deliver fresh, delicious, and health-conscious meals straight to your door and take even more weight off of your shoulders, no matter how hectic your days get.