I was recently given a 3 month garden leave after having had all the juice squeezed out of me by my last job. It wasn't something that I was going to take for granted since it's not something that comes by very often.
By the time that I officially left my day job, I found it difficult to do anything productive. I didn't have a set routine and my lifestyle compromised my health and it didn't seem to get any better. I knew that if I was to do anything productive, it would be to take the time to fix my health.
I took the opportunity of hitting the gym everyday and tried to have a balanced protein/plant base diet. Within only 4 short weeks the changes were dramatic. I dropped a size down, lost a few pounds and I even lowered my blood pressure. In some respects the lifestyle seemed easy to maintain, but at times I felt it was very time consuming; the idea that after spending an hour at gym and then spending another 20 mins of preparing my lunch wasn't time well spent.
Everything is about time as I had come to learn and it was time itself that I had to beat. I had to either find a way to improve my lifestyle or I would simply have to abandon it all together.
Coincidentally, I ran into blogs that focused on workouts which also covered dieting. What to eat and when to eat after a long workout - which I came to realise was within half an hour after exercising. So, the idea was that you prep your meal ahead of time so that by the time you finish your work out, food should be ready to consume.
The idea that you cook and make everything for the entire week really appealed to me though I found the food recommended on the blogs to be very bland and not so appealing. I put two and two together and started to look into Bento lunch boxes and was surprised in the way how Japanese families prep their weekly meals; rich in protein, low in carbs and more importantly it looked super appetising. I realised that if you were to make your meals once a week why wouldn't you spend the extra time into making something really special.
So I did and have since optimised it even more by cutting it down to fortnightly meal prepping. A three day lunch bento and a two day soup salad. In return I have not needed to think or care about what is on the lunch menu. I just take whatever that is assembled for me and with a high protein lunch I can opt for something very light for dinner and by doing so I save time and keep to my dietary plan. Ultimately this gives me more time and allows me to focus on other pressing matters, rather than what is my next meal.
You're always up against time and time is all there is. I needed to live again and I needed to break free from the day to day norms and I believe that I have something that works for me and therefore I will always maintain it.
Time, it either makes you or breaks you; take control.