If you’re a student, professional, parent, or someone with a stressful job, you know how easily the day can slip by without finishing everything you need to do. So if you’re like me, you have to get creative to stay fit.
There are many benefits of being fit. First is obviously your health. A fit body leads to a longer life, period. Second is energy. You will have increased stamina both physically and mentally while performing everyday tasks, be it homework or gardening.
Here are a few tricks I’ve learned for staying fit with a busy lifestyle:
Wake up 15-30 minutes early. Whatever time you have work or school I’m sure you know down to the very second what time you need to be out of your door to get there on time.
For me, it’s 9:00 am. If I sleep until 8:45, I can brush my teeth, pop on a shirt and rush to work at 9:00:59 am. I discovered a few years back that if I wake up the first time my alarm rings, I have 30 minutes extra! In that time I can walk at least a mile or run a couple. I now do that about 3 days a week and burn about 1500 calories total. That’s almost a pound of weight shed every two weeks!
So, the trick to staying fit is to wake up when your alarm sounds the first time and go out for an early morning walk before getting ready for work.
Skip the elevator to stay fit. There are hidden ways to exercise everywhere you go. Just by looking around, you can spot ways to burn 10 calories here, 5 calories there. These add up to a couple hundred every day which translates into fitness. The first ‘fit trick’ is to always take the stairs. If you work on the 5th floor and skip the elevator, you can burn a lot of extra calories as well as firm up your butt and legs.
Park far away. Why do we all drive around for 5 minutes looking for a parking spot 20 feet closer? You can skip this unnecessary hassle by parking at the end of the parking lot. If you go to a couple of stores every day, you can lose up to 50 extra calories a day this way! This is one of the easiest ways to stay fit.
Eat more often. This fit tip may seem a little contradictory, but it works. If you eat 3 meals a day, try splitting each meal in half and eat 6 meals per day. Make sure you don’t eat more calories, but more meals. This causes your metabolism to work all day. Instead of storing extra calories for fat, your body will be able to access nutrients all day long for energy.
Get a hobby that keeps you fit. Go fishing, hiking, biking, skating. Play basketball, football, tennis, golf! Anything that bumps your heart rate will help keep you fit. Also, your mind will be sharpened by learning something new! You can easily burn 500 calories a day playing a sport.
Going on active dates keeps you fit. Okay, if you’re busy, you probably wouldn’t be able to fit in another time-consuming event like a date. But if you are already dating someone, change up your dates to include physical activities. Go ice-skating or swimming. Teach her (or him) how to surf. Go for a walk on the beach. Whatever gets your heart beating faster!
Drinking water keeps you fit. 8 glasses a day, if you can, will help your body digest food and expel waste. Water is your body’s solvent. All food is broken down and absorbed by water which is transported to your muscles, bones, blood, and fat. By drinking water, you actually reduce water retention by expelling excess sodium (water weight), and lowering your fat density. Beyond helping you get fit, drinking water has many other benefits, including healthy kidney function.
Floss keeps you fit. No, I’m not lying. Did you know flossing increases your life expectancy dramatically? Here’s how: blood vessels reach very close to the surface of your gums. Your mouth has an incredible amount of bacteria and other bad stuff which goes into your blood, for instance, the blood goes to your heart where it’s pumped to the rest of your body. Healthy gums = healthy blood = healthy heart = fit body. Hopefully, you’re not so busy that you can’t floss!
Keep in mind, getting fit takes time. It’s best to integrate these steps slowly into your life so that they become enjoyable habits. You don’t want to overwhelm yourself and get frustrated by doing all these new things at once. Have fun, and slowly you will see a change in your energy and body.
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