It’s common knowledge that environment is a crucial part of any health and fitness journey. A healthy household environment will give you a solid foundation for good nutrition, regular exercise, and long term health.
How many hours a week do you spend at home? Home is where we relax, sleep, eat, bring up the family and – for many – even work.
The past year has changed how we live, and made the home even more of a hub for our routines and habits.
Here’s how to raise a healthy household – whether it’s for one person or 10!
Curate a healthier kitchen
A healthy diet is where any weight loss or body transformation journey starts. Make success easy (and slip ups less likely) by getting the kitchen organised.
Move high-calorie foods off surfaces and out of sight. Secure large bags of snack foods with a clip so it’s more difficult to “grab a handful”. Have healthy foods within quick-grab distance. Have healthy snacks in the fridge so hungry mouths always have a nutritious option.
Set a daily routine
As you know, simple routines make everything run more smoothly. Help everyone in your household have a daily routine that makes activity, exercise, healthy eating, and sleep easier. Yourself included!
Stock up on healthy products
Healthy eating is much easier when you have a kitchen full of options. Bulk buy canned goods, dried pulses and beans, and rice. Keep the freezer full of meat, fish, vegetables and berries.
This extends to household cleaning products and personal care, too. Find eco friendly products that support your household’s health and keep them stocked up.
Plan meals – together
Get everyone involved in planning main meals and snack options. Your children (and partner) are more likely to support your healthy eating drive if they’ve had a say. Healthy eating doesn’t have to be strict. It should include a variety of proteins, vegetables, carbohydrate and healthy fat sources – plenty of choice for all palates!
Make activity a family hobby
One of the best things you can do for your family is to normalise being active. There are dozens of ways to make activity a favourite family past-time. Team sports, exercise, games, walking, gardening, exploring the great outdoors… Find a few things you all enjoy and go make happy memories together!
Walk to talk
Use daily walks as a way to connect with your partner, children, or both. Walking can be a fantastic way to disperse stress, to talk about difficult feelings, explore nature, and to build a sense of gratitude together. Embed the habit now during Summer weather.
Keep rooms tidy
You know what they say about tidy environment and a tidy mind. The same goes for your entire house. I’m not suggesting you live in a show home, but keeping rooms and surfaces relatively free from clutter really will help you feel calmer and make healthier decisions. There’s a lot of research into the impact of a tidy home on eating habits and health (here’s just one of them 1). Marie Kondo is onto something!
Have a space for exercise
Finally, I advise all my body transformation clients to create an area for exercise at home. You certainly don’t have to have a dedicated home gym or a converted garage. All you need for the type of HIIT workouts on my YouTube channel is enough room for a mat.
Can you earmark one area in the living room, conservatory, or a spare bedroom for an exercise mat and a little bit of home workout kit (dumbbells, a kettlebell)? It will make workouts more accessible – and we know that the “best” workout is one you can get done!
I love helping clients set up healthy habits, environments and routines. Email me to talk about how to make your home a place where healthy eating and exercise are the norm.
Coach Joseph Webb.
‘The number one rated Personal Trainer In Henley and Oxfordshire’
References used in todays blog:
(1) https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0956797613480186
