Staying Healthy Against the Clock

I’ve been a relatively healthy individual my whole life. Like most people, some periods have been healthier than others. I didn’t eat well in college. I didn’t sleep enough when piecing together five jobs to pay the rent when I moved to Portland. I might have developed tinnitus from playing drums and watching bands too close to the stage, but it made me happy. Would I do some things differently if I could? Of course. Did I need those experiences to learn and grow into who I am today? Absolutely.

I’m now in a new phase of my health journey, and it’s governed by time. How do I stay healthy with less time to focus on myself?

As a new dad, I’m trying to balance a new routine with my need to stay healthy. What follows are some strategies I’ve adopted to stay on track with less and less time to stay physically and mentally fit. Use one or more of these ideas to kickstart your journey, whether you’re spending more time in a demanding job, your new work-from-home routine has kept you from coming to MAC, or you have to squeeze in a workout while making sure your kid’s don’t drift from virtual school into YouTube land. • Get in short workouts. When I know I have a short window for a workout, but I know it won’t suffice for my needs, I will do multiple short workouts each day. I’ll do a 30-minute HIIT circuit before helping with diaper duty, go about my day, and when I have another window, I’ll do one more later in the day. • Use Instacart or grocery delivery. It’s great to mix things up in the kitchen, but if you’re tight on time, make your family’s favorite dinners from familiar recipes, or order a pre-made MAC meal. Ordering food online to pick-up or be delivered also cuts down on random sweets and treats that are easy to impulsively grab in-store. • Accept help. When someone lends a hand, grab on, thank them for the help, and remember their contribution down the line.

• Prioritize. I recently watched a conversation between authors Jennifer Lynn Barnes and Nora Roberts. When asked about priorities, Roberts explained that “The key is knowing that some of the balls you have in the air are made of plastic and some are made of glass.” Barnes followed up by noting Roberts wasn’t talking about two balls (family or work), but more like 50, representing all one’s obligations in everyday life. It’s important to distinguish between the glass balls: “picking the kids up from daycare, making sure dinner’s on

the table, or meeting a deadline on a project,” and the plastic ones: “crazy hair day at school, staying caught up on your email inbox.” We are inevitably going to drop a ball from time to time, and that’s OK. She summarized by saying (to a room full of women, I will note) that the point is not to “prioritize kids over work.” It is that “some kid stuff is glass and some is plastic, and sometimes, to catch a glass work ball, you have to drop a plastic family one, and that is okay.” I never thought I would relate so much with Nora Roberts, but here we are.

In closing, I want to recognize the inherent privilege of self-care. It can be difficult to take a step back and look at the positives when our focus remains on a year that continues to bring unprecedented difficulty. Some see 2020 as a year to forget, but it’s important to reflect on the struggles we go through so we can improve. The fact that we have time and resources to dedicate to our health, whether it’s a workout, a moment alone to reflect, a weekend away in nature, time with family, a massage, or a delicious and nourishing meal, puts us in a space that should be recognized as fortunate. It allows us to live happier, healthier and longer, and pass love and respect to others in a time when it’s needed most. It’s OK to acknowledge that advantage. What you do with that appreciation makes a difference, so use it wisely.