By Brian Foley from Activate Fitness  

School's starting again ..... so that means getting back into your "normal" routine!

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That's the tough part about the summer holidays, letting go of all the relaxed boundaries, schedules, and routines. There's no rhyme or reason to why anything does or doesn't get done. You fly by the seat of your pants day to day because your schedule just doesn't exist, and you're at the liberty of the kids.

But, this time of year - the new school year - sure brings a lot of comfort with it. The kids will go back to school and you've finally got that time to yourself again. You go back to eating meals at regular times and intervals. You'll fall back into a set sleep schedule - and most of all, you can put your fitness routine back into place. It sure sounds like a delight, doesn't it?

Now is the time to start gently easing into those routines so that when September rolls round you’re only a step or two away!

Here's some tips to get back into routine quickly:

Map out what helped you be successful before. Do things like laying your workout clothes out the night before, packing your lunch the day before, and getting yourself taken care of before the kids - the night before.

Meal prep for the week. You don't need 15 fancy, individual packed containers (although this helps!), but batch cooking the staples will help ease yourself back into the necessity of things.

Keep things super simple - cook one to two proteins to have on hand, cut up veggies so they're easy to grab, and have some starchy carbs of some sort ready to grab too. The easier you make this for yourself, the quicker you can get back to a balanced and sustainable diet.

Block off your workout times. The kids are not going to be crazy busy with activities just yet, so don't leave your fitness to "when you can fit it in". Just like their activities are prioritised, you need to prioritise your own and still look after yourself. You spent all summer being at liberty to their flexible summer schedule, that hour is for yourself now during the week. Book it in for the month, ahead of time!

These tips aren't anything complicated, but that's the point. Stick to the basics. Repeat the basics over and over again and your success will follow.

If you need help mapping it out and finding the easy spots to win, send us an email at hello@activate.ie or pop into the Facebook group (Fitness, Nutrition & Health in Killarney) we have set up to help the people of Killarney and further afield to help with their health and fitness. We’re more than happy to help where we can!