The late, great Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “If you can’t fly then run. If you can’t run then walk. If you can’t walk then crawl; but whatever you do, you have to move.”
Ladies, this quote is a great lesson to live by. New year…new life! It’s a great time to make a lifestyle change that will make your life healthier, longer and more productive. A great starting point is to:
Eliminate the all-or-nothing mentality: Remember, it’s the little things that matter. Every step, small or large, that is taken toward a healthier lifestyle makes a difference. Just because you missed the gym on Monday doesn’t mean that you can’t hit the floor of your bedroom and complete a few sit ups.
Squeeze in more movement: The ideal workout would take 30 to 60 minutes; but you would be surprised how many calories you can burn in those situations that are not so ideal. One idea is breaking up your 150 recommended minutes of weekly low to moderate exercise into short bursts throughout your day. Just think, if you exercise 10 minutes in the morning before getting your day started, the first 10 minutes of your 30 minute lunch, and 10 minutes a couple of hours before turning in to bed. If you can do this for 5 days out of a 7 day week, you have a total weeks’ worth of fitness. Look at those little fitness bursts like clipping coupons, every little bit adds up to saving $$$$, just like those few steps and few sit ups burn calories. The key, though, is to be consistent.
Make family & friend time your active time: Your argument may be that you’d rather spend precious weekends with family and friends instead of turning what should be social time into fitness time. Well, maybe this can be a relief…you don’t have to go to the gym for your activity to be counted as exercise. Just grab the bat and balls and head outside for a game of baseball and square with your kids. Something great to do with friends is start a weekly walking club where you are killing 2 birds with one stone…socializing and working pounds off. The social support can help you change your behavior.
Change from a low to high-intensity workout: If you are one of those ladies who already have your workout regimen going, the best workout for fat loss doesn’t require hours and hours in the gym. In fact, you can shorten your workout by doing a high intensity interval workout. Try working out at a high pace on different pieces of equipment or performing a variety of your own exercises. For example, you can warm up for 5 to 10 minutes then find a move that you can move REALLY, REALLY HARD at for 30 seconds then find another move and change to an easier pace for 45 seconds. Repeat the 30 second/40 second intervals 5 or more times. Then cool down for about 5 minutes.
Ladies, for 2016…DO SOMETHING fit this year! What better time to start than now? Fortunately, fitness can encompass a variety of moves; so, if you can’t run then walk. Remember, if you want to live a long healthy life, you gotta move.