Long, tiring days of juggling work responsibilities and kids fighting bedtime led to me feeling completely drained of energy and wanting to snack at night before bed. We all have competing demands that take up our time. How do we make time for ourselves and prioritize our health? And what if we keep struggling to meet our health and fitness goals over long periods of time?

Earlier this year, I decided that I was ready to make some changes—and that I needed some help to accomplish my goals. That’s when I started working with Ana Alexandre, holistic nutritionist, personal trainer, and life coach. I recently interviewed Ana for my podcast, and wanted to highlight some of those nuggets of conversation here with you all.

Staying Resilient Through The Ups and Downs of Entrepreneurship

Originally from Toronto, Ana came to Barcelona as part of a desire to travel around Europe. Fast forward 12 years, and she’s still here! Not long after moving here, she started her own business, and over the years has experienced a lot of changes, including Covid which had a really big impact on the health and wellness industry.

” The online space was really fascinating because a lot of people in my industry were giving stuff for free at the beginning of Covid to motivate people, and then it kind of went from two months to this two-year thing! So a lot of people got really used to paying little or nothing for online fitness work. And so I did have to build up a lot of stuff again in the last year”

A lot has changed for Ana over the years, trends have come and gone, and she has had to learn to pivot her business with the changes. Sustaining herself over difficult times like the Spanish lockdown (which was really strict) was all about movement.

“Of course, I know that movement and what you eat is going to affect your mental health even more than your physical. But having that taken away a little bit during lockdown, I noticed just how important it was… It's so important for physical health, but we can never underestimate the importance of both of those things for your mental health.”

Why a Balanced Blood Sugar is Important

Having balanced blood sugar levels is something that is being talked about more and more in this wellness space; how blood sugar levels have an impact on weight loss, but also for energy and to reduce cravings. This has been something that has made a massive difference in my own life:

“ I almost always start with breakfast at first when I work with clients because if you set that up. Great. Then the rest of the day flows a lot easier, and most of us don't balance our blood sugar levels in the morning. And then it's really difficult. The rest of the day we're going to have crashes and energy and increased cravings. And also it leads to emotional hunger, which is oftentimes it happens at night because where we give you a gift, specially moms are constantly giving. And then at the end of the day, you're so tired. So if you have that emotional craving, which is up here, there's like hunger down here and emotional is up here.”

“Every breakfast needs protein to balance your blood sugar levels as well to fat. And don't all go over the top on carbs and choose carbs correctly.”

Making small changes to your breakfast could make a HUGE difference to your day.

Staying Consistent with New Habits

Often it’s the smallest changes that make the biggest difference, but how do we go about consistently making those new habit changes?

Ana shared how breakfast was actually one of the hardest habits for people to change and how she works on building new habits:

👉 Think about the language you use. ‘I'm deciding this is what I'm going to have for breakfast.’ That's already a massive shift in your mind, your conscious and your subconscious mind.

👉 Hook two habits together (this is a bit different for food because you have to eat but when it comes to fitness, I like to hook habits together - very similar to James Clear’s habit stacking)

👉 Small steps. Just start with one small change, like adding 30 grams of protein to your breakfast with some nuts.

“Take baby steps. That's what's going to make that habit actually stick. If we take small steps consistently over time then we will be a very different person in a year.”

👉 Stick with what works for you. “Yes, there are a million ways to eat, and some ways might be better than others, but maybe not. The most important thing is being consistent. So whatever way you're choosing to eat right now or move, just be consistent and just make it easier for you.”

Finding Time For Healthy Habits and When to Seek Help

When you’re already strapped for time (hello fellow mums with little ones 👋) it can be hard to make healthy habits a priority, but Ana shares how putting yourself first is key:

“The very first thing I do, is ask my client to explain the relationship that they have with taking care of themselves, and taking care of others.”

Putting yourself first is difficult, especially if you are a mother or a caregiver, but it’s so important to have that difficult conversation with yourself. And to make yourself accountable; put it in your calendar 📆

Accountability can be a game changer when it comes to habit formation, and so I asked Ana, at what point might it be a signal for people that like they run the course on the DIY front and it might be time to get some outside support?

And her reply was simple. If you’re struggling with energy - it’s time to bring someone else on the journey with you.

“If you are struggling with energy, no matter what you do, there's something that needs to be addressed. So that's a really good sign. If you've tried a whole bunch of things and it's not working, I would say that's a really good time to get some help.”

You can listen to the full podcast episode here, and if you’d like to know more about working with Ana then go to her website http://www.anaalexandre.com/