There is a lot to be said about having a regular schedule. In Lifestyle and Functional medicine, we preach the importance of regularity (daily schedule, not your bowels).
Having a set schedule allows exercise to be worked into your day on a regular basis. It allows food planning, preparation, and intake. Weight loss, or any health related goal for that matter, is much easier to attain when you plan ahead and stick to a regular schedule.
A recent study in The Journals of Gerontology showed that a daily, consistent routine may even be linked to better sleep. The study showed that young adults who went to work and ate dinner around the same time every day, fell asleep quicker, slept better and woke up fewer times during the night than those who did not have habitual patterns.
We all have schedules, be they waking up at a certain time to go to work or school, activity during the day – working, volunteering, cleaning, picking the kids up and taking them to soccer practice – the list goes on and you can probably find a regular pattern in your own life with very little effort or brain power.
Your current schedule can be accommodated or accommodating to achieve health related goals, if you take what you are already doing, purposely plan it out, remove obstacles that may throw you off track and then, and most important, stick to it! On those days you are not scheduled, such as a weekend day, take a break from your exercise and the healthy eating plan you developed for your scheduled days and enjoy life! When you’re scheduled – schedule! It will benefit every aspect of your health related goals.
