Fun Friday – How do you build fitness into your lifestyle?

Include routine tasks as part of your fitness plan

Florine Mark, the Weight Watchers spokeswoman said, “let us help you change your relationship with food.” When I heard this commercial, my first though was, I need to call and find out how to end my relationship with the chocolate muffin. As a lifetime member of Weight Watchers, I know I have to build fitness into my routine, in addition to a healthy relationship with food.

How do you build fitness into your lifestyle? Whenever and wherever you can fit it in. Fitness can be disguised as routine within your routine tasks. Here are a few examples –

·         sweeping the floor

·         take the stairs instead of the elevator

·         park a distance away from the entrance at work, a store, etc.

·         Get and so something active during commercials while watching TV

Just the other morning I found a new way of adding fitness to my day while preparing to leave home for work.  My laptop bag was packed, lunch sack was ready, all I needed to do was get out the door. Simple enough? Hmmm.

I decided I had enough time to make a quick breakfast. It wouldn’t take long to toast a bagel, put bacon on the griddle and make a cup of coffee. As the tea kettle warmed and the bacon sizzled, I started the car since the windows were covered with frost.

When I looked at the clock again, I had only five minutes to gather everything and get out the door. I couldn’t carry everything in one load, so I took the laptop bag and the lunch bag to the car and came back for the bagel and coffee. After setting those things in the car, I realized I didn’t have my phone.

It was only 15 degrees outside, but I was beginning to sweat underneath my winter coat with the fur lined hood. I sprinted up the 13 stairs to my bedroom and retrieved my phone from the dresser, then back to the car. The heat was blasting inside the car, but it wasn’t comforting. It felt like a sauna.

I unzipped my coat, turned the heat off and backed out of the driveway. On the drive to work, my heart rate returned to normal. In my mind that journey back and forth to the car counted as points toward my workout for the day. What do you think, does this situation count toward fitness?

 

What suggestions do you have for adding fitness to you lifestyle?