Lifestyle Plan: Part 2 – Daily Fitness

Yesterday, I shared Part 1 of my anti-diet lifestyle plan, Eat the Rainbow.  I’m so glad y’all have pinned so many of those great recipes.  I think you’ll love them.  Today, I’m sharing Part 2.  It’s really quite simple: Exercise.  No excuses., especially with the seven daily fitness ideas I’ve come up with.

Before 2009, I NEVER exercised.  And by NEVER, I mean never consistently exercised.  Sure, I went in spats of “I’m gonna drop five pounds, and I wanna fit into my going-out pants,” but I never took to a fitness plan for more than a month or two, and I can honestly say I never enjoyed it.  At all.

And then I changed.  It was late June 2009, and I just decided I was done seeing the weight go up on the scale.  I committed to a drastic exercise plan at first, and then backed off.  After about three months of exercising twice and sometimes three times a day, I backed down to once a day.  Every day.  I know a lot of people are gonna say it’s ridiculous to workout multiple times a day.  And it may be, but it worked for me.  I’d do a fast paced walk for 45 minutes in the morning, and I’d elliptical for 45 minutes in the afternoon.  I’d do a light jog in the morning, go for a fast stroller walk with the kids in the afternoon, and hit a strength training class in the evening.  I lost my extra weight quite quickly.

It was intense, but my body got used to moving.  And then when I backed down to a normal fitness routine, it didn’t seem that bad.  In fact, once I started running regularly I began to love it.  It went from being stressful on my body to being a stress-release.  I always used to get annoyed when people said they worked out to relieve stress, but now I get it.

I started getting a little lazy towards the end of last year.  I started getting in the mindset of “I’m busy today… I’ll just workout tomorrow.”  There is NO TOMORROW.  There is only today.  So workout today.  I commit to working out six times a week for a minimum of 30 minutes or if I’m running, a minimum of 3.25 miles.  It really leaves room for no excuses.  “I don’t feel like it, and it’s cold outside,” doesn’t work when you have to work out everyday.  And when you know you’re working out hard on Saturday morning, there’s less drinking on Friday night (another healthy win for the body).  I’m a runner, so I’ve got an easy place to workout: the road.  But, I totally get that not everyone can or wants to run.  No biggie.  Here are SEVEN other things you can do:

There are a lot of great fitness activities that you can do.  If you’re not a runner or don’t have a gym membership, don’t fret! Consider these alternatives:

1. Go on a walk with the kids on the greenway or in the neighborhood.
2. Ride a bike.  Layer up if it’s cold.  Don’t break your wrist.
3. Workout in front of the TV.  Jillian Michael’s DVD’s are totally bad-ass.
4. Find a community pool and swim some laps.
5. Circuit train in your house.  Here are some great ideas for daily fitness routines.
6. There’s an app for that.  Turn your iPad into a fitness instructor with a great yoga practice or core workout.
7. Get a machine.  It’s an investment, but it beats wasting money at the gym if you don’t go.  Plus you’ll save on workout clothes if you don’t need to “dress to impress” when you workout.   But here’s my advice on that… if you buy a machine, get a great one.  If it’s wobbly or wonky, you won’t use it.