Many people ask me what I do for exercise and how I fit it in with my busy schedule. Between 2 small kids and running a business it can be VERY difficult to find the time to exercise. Not to mention caring for 3 large parrots! It is certainly tiring!
For many years exercise has been a huge chore for me. It's not something I enjoy all too well but it has to be done. When I lost my weight the first time 11 years ago I did the treadmill and exercise videos. Which was fine, but still always felt like a huge chore! One thing I did enjoy very much was walking to McDonalds and back when I lived in Burlington. My mom worked there so I would walk there, visit with her a minute or two and walk back home. During nice weather of course. I really enjoyed that and I enjoyed listening to music on the way.
But back then I wasn't married, had only one bird, didn't have kids and didn't have my own business. So it was easier to find the time to exercise. These days that can be challenging! When I started to try to lose weight again in 2012 I did a lot of exercise videos. Yes, it helped me lose the weight, but over time I would burn out from them. When I started again this year I tried just having work as my exercise, because I do move around quite a bit when I'm busy. But that was just not enough!
So I decided to order Zumba DVD's and loved it! I really enjoy the music and it makes me want to move! I used to really focus on how much time I spent on exercise. But then my friend Wendy was tracking her steps everyday and trying to reach a certain goal. Well my armband that tracks my calorie burn everyday also counts steps. So I started to track my steps rather then the amount of time I exercised each day.
One thing I realized is that your steps add up throughout the day. You can do a little here and a little there and before you know it, you reach your goal of 10,000 steps! I loved this idea as it is really hard for me to set aside 45 minutes each day to exercise. So my new goal was to hit 10,000 steps per day. And on days I needed to burn a few extra calories 15,000.
Using this as a way to gauge my exercise on a daily basis gave me more freedom to do exercise in small increments each day. So I began to get really creative to get my steps in! Here are some fun but effective ways I found to reach my step count.
Step or jog while brushing my teeth.
Step while dressing the kids and getting them ready for bed.
Step while cooking.
Walk while waiting to pick up my son from preschool.
Park as far as I can from stores so I have to walk farther to get to the store.
The bottom line is, if you are standing still doing something, step instead of just standing there! It works and you would be surprised how many steps you can accumulate in a short time!!
Music Was The Key - As I began to continue to do the Zumba DVD's December approached and I knew I wouldn't have time to do the DVD's on a regular basis. So I bought the Zumba music on CD (which I love, but get what you like) and put it on my phone. Now I could move and exercise when opportunity knocked. I never knew it would become a way to exercise that I absolutely love doing!
I absolutely LOVE music. Especially dance music! It is the urban city kid in me that loves a good beat! The Zumba music just makes me want to move and I love listening to the latin music as it reminds me of my latin roots! So when I began to listen to Zumba and other music and dance to get my steps in, I began to have lots of fun exercising. It didn't feel like a chore anymore, it didn't feel like exercise, it was just plane fun and uplifting! I love it!
Now this is how I fit in exercise when I listen to music:
Dance while I cook! I listen to music while I cook dinner and dance around the kitchen. I get a lot more steps in dancing then just marching in place!
Dance while I get the kids ready for bed and brush my teeth. If I need the extra steps at night I put on the headset and dance while I get the kids ready for bed and brush my teeth.
Dance at the shop during slow times. I had to stay 2 nights late here at work right before Christmas. So when it was really slow during the evening I danced to music while waiting for customers to come into the store! It was fun and kept me from getting bored! LOL!
I listen to music and walk in the storage area of our climate control storage building. I can get in over 2000 steps just walking for 15 minutes back there while listening to music.
Dance while I clean! When I clean the house, I move, but I move a lot more while listening to music!
I sit with each of my birds every night. Coqui likes to explore and very rarely stays in my lap. So now I bring her upstairs with me while I listen to music. Rather then just sitting in a chair watching her. Now I am moving!
When I need to get in a lot of steps, I go upstairs and just listen to music for 30 minutes or so and dance away.
The bottom line is, if I have an opportunity to move, I do it! Here are some great opportunities to move:
Waiting for someone - when my mom had a colonscopy I knew it would be a long wait so I walked back and forth in the halls of the hospital. People saw me several times and asked if I was ok, I just explained I was exercising!
Shopping - Just plain shopping is not enough. Park as far as you can from the entrance in the parking lot. This increases your steps a lot!
Lunch Break - When I went to an all day class, I took advantage of lunch break and took a nice walk inside. Even if it is just a hallway and it's too cold to walk outside, take advantage of it and just walk back and forth. It doesn't matter what people think. If they ask, just tell them you are getting some exercise in! I don't always take much of a lunch at work, but for those of you that have a lunch hour, walking at lunch is a great opportunity.
Walking Around The Store - I do laps in my store when I'm the only one here. Since I can't go back into the storage area when I'm alone, walking laps around the store gets in a few extra steps.
Avoid The Drive Thru - If you have the time park and go in to place a meal order or go to the bank.
Video Games - Many of todays video games allow you to be more active. I can get some fun time in with the kids but still get in some steps using the WII!
Move While Watching TV - When watching a favorite program, march in place. You don't have to have an expensive treadmill. It's an easy way to get in those last few steps you need at the end of the day to meet your goals!
Your Kids & Sports - When taking your kids to sports activities, park a distance away so you need to walk a bit to get there. And/or walk laps while they are at practice if you are staying. You can still watch them but walk while you do it. I take Morgan to swimming twice a week. I park a distance away from the building to get in extra steps. Then I walk back and forth in the building while I'm waiting for her to change and practice to start.
Make Multiple Trips - If you need to put things away, or put things in recycling, etc. Make multiple trips instead of being efficient and carrying everything all in one trip. Yes, it takes more time, but you get in a heck of a lot more steps! When I get Marcus and Morgan ready for bed, instead of going into Marcus's room grabbing him some pj's then going into Morgan's room for hers, I go to Marcus's room, grab his PJ's then bring them to him first. Then I go to Morgan's room and get hers. It's worth the few extra seconds to get a few extra steps in. These little things you do can to get those extra steps make a big difference by the end of the day!
Bringing In Shopping Bags - I used to try to bring in as many bags as I could carry into the house from the car. Now I only bring in two at a time so I have to make more trips! It's an easy way to get in more steps!
Take The Stairs - we try to take the stairs whenever possible these days and we all know that you burn lots of calories doing steps!
Avoid The Shortcuts - Many times when walking somewhere it is awful tempting to take a shortcut by walking over the lawn to get to your destination. Avoid doing this and get in a few extra steps!
One of the most positive things that has come out of all this moving is my kids now move with me. When I step they begin to step with me for fun. When I dance, they love to dance with me. So now I am getting them moving and staying active! And the best part is it's fun and the kids think it is fun! And yes, even my husband Brad is beginning to move with us, too. It's quite contagious!
You just have to think outside the box and figure out how you can get in the most steps each day. You should always be thinking about opportunities to step, dance, walk or run. Whatever it may be and whatever you enjoy most! You can do this and it doesn't have to be hard. You just have to take a moment and think about staying active and moving!
I hope these tips help and inspire you to use your daily routine to fit in exercise each and every day! Good luck!
No comments:
Post a Comment