Rachel Johnson is here today to give us some super simple tips for staying healthy when you’re BUSY. Who isn’t these days?
After listening to this episode of The Skinny Confidential HIM & HER show, Rachel reached out because, she too, changed her life with SMALL, SIMPLE habits over time.
‘Getting healthy’ can seem really daunting and like we have to change every single aspect of our lives, but Rachel’s tips are so accessible, so doable, AND she’s been on the other side of health (tired, takeout every night, no energy). We loved her easy tips so we invited her on to share them with YOU.
With that, let’s welcome Rachel to the blog.
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Growing up, I didn’t know what I wanted to do, but I always knew I wanted independence. After a career in big law, I eventually co-founded my own law firm and today, have grown to a team of twenty.
And while being a founder and corporate lawyer meant I could create the life I wanted on my own terms, it also meant I was busy. Really busy. At the time, I thought living a healthy life was impossible between the hectic days of endless emails, Zoom calls, kids’ after-school activities—the list goes on.
But three years ago, after my second baby, I finally admitted that I was constantly exhausted and had -20% energy—and it wasn’t okay. I didn’t feel healthy in the life I’d built on my own terms, and I wanted to figure out what I needed to change to feel good for good.
I wasn’t the only busy woman I knew who wanted to get healthy. (Maybe you’re even nodding with me.) What happened next? Well, like the scene of any modern-day story, a group chat with my girlfriends changed everything. Because, wouldn’t you know, we were all busy AF, tired AF, and freakin’ over it.
We decided to get healthy together. For three months, we focused on three things that felt realistic (aka greens, water, and staying active). By using the group chat to hold ourselves accountable, we all felt and saw huge changes in those three months. Most of all, we didn’t want our magical group chat to end – we needed something to keep us in that healthy headspace. I thought, “Hey, I think we have something here!” The experience we created was so simple and could be easily replicated. And that’s how my second company, @ahmi.health, was born in 2019.
Now, let me reintroduce myself, my name is Rachel Johnson, and I’m the founder of ah.mi, a (chill) wellness company and online health club that makes getting healthy doable for the busy modern woman. I’m also the co-founder and managing partner of a law firm and a mom to three little ones (I recently welcomed a little girl, Isla, into the world). Today, while my plate is overflowing, I can actually say I feel good juggling it all.
I want you to feel good, too. So I’m here to share my top tips for how to get—and stay—healthy even when you’re busy. The following tips are based on my journey of getting healthy—and watching hundreds of other women do the same. I know you’re busy, so let’s get right into it.
Tips For Staying Healthy When You’re Busy AF
♡ Keep it simple.
If you’re like me adding anything additional to your everyday life is a hard no. You may have also avoided getting healthy because it felt like you’d have to overhaul your entire life. Who has time for that? Not us. But what if I told you the basics were enough?
You don’t have to be an extreme juicer or do hour-long workouts to be healthy. The basics I’ve found work best are GREENS. WATER. MOVE. REPEAT. If this sounds too basic, you may be surprised that most women I talk to aren’t eating greens, drinking enough water, and moving their bodies daily. Seriously.
Focusing on the basics makes remembering easy, especially when life is busy. Add greens where you can. Carry a water bottle with you wherever you go. Take walking meetings and hit your steps. Keep it simple to keep it going with the mantra: GREENS. WATER. MOVE. REPEAT.
And if you’re a fan of specifics, here’s a simple formula:
+ Eat 2-3 cups of greens per day
+ Drink 90 ounces of water per day
+ Move at least 3x per week to start—and then aim for daily movement
♡ Don’t give up on cooking.
The old me never cooked dinner. I always felt so blah and exhausted after getting home that I opted for delivery on weeknights and eating out on weekends. Oh, and while at work? I was always the coworker who ordered the unhealthy lunch instead of eating a meal I’d made. Chick-Fil-A spicy chicken sandwich was my go-to. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good spicy chicken sandwich, but I made every excuse under the sun of why I couldn’t bring lunch or why ordering was so much easier and more efficient.
After watching many of my friends (who also had full plates and some fuller than mine) toss together simple healthy meals, I was motivated to do the same. Eventually, I changed my mentality and realized that cooking is crucial to staying fit and feeling good. Now, with ah.mi, we’ve amassed a collection of 100+ super simple recipes created by our community—with six main ingredients or less.
A typical weeknight now involves me coming home from a busy day, putting on sweatpants, pouring a glass of sparkling water (or rosé), and putting a meal together in 15 minutes or less. Lately, I’ve loved listening to a mix of Eric Church or Chris Stapleton while cooking (usually with screaming children for added acoustics).
From one recovering takeout user to another, this is proof that you can change your ways too. And if you need a recipe to get you started, one of my favorite go-to’s is Stuffed Cauli Peppers:
INGREDIENTS:
1 Tbsp EVOO
1 lb ground turkey
1/2 large diced onion
2 minced garlic cloves
1 pkg cauliflower rice
1 cup marinara
1 cup shredded pepper jack
Salt; pepper
4 bell peppers, tops removed
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 375
Cook turkey with EVOO until starting to brown
Add onion and garlic until cooked through;
Cook cauliflower rice separately
Combine browned turkey, rice, marinara, and 1/4 cup shredded pepper jack
Season with salt and pepper
Spoon into hollowed bell peppers
Top with a sprinkle of cheese
Bake for 25-30 min
♡ Weekends are not a free-for-all.
A while back, a member of our ah.mi community shared a major revelation that she was sabotaging her healthy habits on the weekend. On the weekends, it was eating out, drinking too much, and a litany of excuses not to move her body. I felt like I was doing the same—and that’s when I started seeing weekends differently.
I then reframed my mindset and saw weekends as a period where I had MORE time to take care of myself. I could go on longer walks, maybe even make that in-person class I never can make during the week (love the Montana Method for my South Florida people), and perhaps attempt a big, healthy Sunday night dinner.
So, no, weekends are not when you ditch your healthy habits; they’re when you embrace them. When in doubt, I always return to the simple mantra #greenswatermoverepeat—even on the weekends.
♡ You don’t have to do it alone.
I used to get into funks where I did NOTHING for weeks or sometimes even months. It was not healthy. After being part of a motivating group chat, I realized there’s nothing like an accountability buddy to keep you in that healthy headspace.
Not only does having someone to hold you accountable keep you going, but that mutual support also makes the experience way more fun.
So, your challenge is to find a friend, coworker, or a community like ah.mi, to help you get—and stay—healthy to experience the difference of accountability. You really don’t have to do this alone, and even just seeing other people doing healthy things is crucial to get you back in the right headspace.
Plus, with accountability comes celebration. Make sure that, together, you celebrate the little wins along the way too.
One final note.
Getting and staying healthy is not all or nothing. Once I realized that, feeling good became much easier. I hope these simple tips make feeling good easier for you and help you fit wellness into your busy lifestyle. If you need added support, there’s always ah.mi.
As for me, I recently had my third little one, so you can find me in hibernation mode. Even during this time, I recognize feeling good affects everything, and moving my body and eating greens helps with all the feelings that creep up being postpartum. I’m so thankful I have my ah.mi habits and community to tap into when I feel ready to get back into the groove (whenever that may be).
As a final note, I want you to know that change is possible no matter your life stage, and you have to be patient and find what works for you. If realistic and doable healthy living sounds like it’d work for you, you can visit www.ahmihealth.com and check out ah.mi on Instagram (@ahmi.health) for more inspiration.
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We hope you found these easy tips that you can start today inspiring. You don’t have to overhaul your entire life. Start with drinking a glass of water, going on a 10 minute walk and cooking dinner tonight – you’re already on your way.
x, The Skinny Confidential team
+ stalk these easy recipes if you ‘don’t’ cook.
++ check out this post to change your mindset when it comes to calories.
HEALTHY STUFF:
