Fitness Friday...get motivated, get moving

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The last couple of weeks I have felt so unmotivated! I hadnt exercised much the week before last, then caught myself up and was feeling better, but then Sunday night I noticed my ankle was sore and it is sore exercising now. I am not sure what I did to it as I do not remember doing anything. So of course that has now been my excuse the last few days. I have been trying to think why am I so unmotivated lately. I think it is boredom! I think during the spring I had a lot of yard work and spring cleaning that needed to be done...So I was getting extra exercise doing daily work stuff, then would feel like doing the wii because I felt pumped up. Now the last couple weeks I havent had a lot to do around here, so I feel like a bum instead. My food choices have been terrible too...I will have a snack and then another snack, and all the while telling myself dont do it...but I do. I have been able to fight the crave the past couple of days, but now I have making up to do. I need to get the motivation to cut my calories more and get off my butt! So I guess my goal around here is to just do that...get off my butt, just find more things to do, and to smack myself when I want those terrible snacks!

http://www.foodfit.com/fitness/lifestyleActivity.asp

Lifestyle Activity AsHealthy As A Gym Workout

by Carol Krucoff

One woman started walking laps around the soccer field

instead of sitting during her child's practice.

One man stopped driving to restaurants for lunch and

started walking to lunch instead.
These were some of the small changes that added up to major health benefits
for participants in Project Active, a two-year study conducted at the Cooper
Institute for Aerobics Research in Dallas. Researchers randomly assigned 235
sedentary men and women into two groups: a lifestyle group that learned
behavioral skills to help them gradually fit more physical activity into their
daily routines, and a structured group that used a fitness center to do
traditional forms of vigorous exercise such as aerobics, swimming, stair
climbing and walking.
The results suggest that lifestyle activity is as
effective as a structured exercise program in improving health.
For example,
both groups decreased body fat by "about one clothing size. . .2.4 percent for
the lifestyle group and 1.9 percent for the structured group," notes the study's
lead author, exercise psychologist Andrea Dunn.
"This is good news for
people whose barriers to exercise may include lack of time, lack of access to
facilities or dislike of vigorous exercise," says Dunn. "Many people think
exercise is an 'either-or' phenomenon, where you either go to the gym and work
out for 30 minutes or you do nothing. This study helps demonstrate that every
step you take counts."
Many people don't realize how little physical
activity they actually get and how important it is for them to use every
opportunity they have to be active.
In fact, researchers estimate that
adults burn an estimated 800 fewer calories (about the equivalent of four glazed
donuts) per day than did previous generations, largely because technology has
engineered physical activity out of our lives.
For example, one 49-year-old
aerospace engineer was able to drop 10 pounds and lower his cholesterol from 210
to 195 simply by taking a few extra steps at the office whenever he needed to
use the restroom or get a bite to eat

25 Ways To Add Movement To Your Day

Here's a starter list of
25 life "activating" strategies:

Don't use the nearest
bathroom. Use one that requires you to walk a bit, preferably up or down some
stairs.

Balance on one foot while
brushing your teeth. Balance on the other foot while combing your hair.

Park in the furthest space.

Move with your kids.
Instead of just watching soccer practice, walk up and down the sidelines.

Join in your child's karate
class. At the playground, get off the bench and swing, climb, hang and slide.
Hide your TV remote, so you have to get up and walk across the room to push
the buttons.

Never take an elevator
fewer than three flights, take the stairs.

Get rid of your electric
can opener and use a manual one.

Turn your coffee break
into a walk break. Walk to a distant vending machine, cafeteria or coffee shop
to get your snack.

Stretch or walk while you're talking
on the (cordless) phone, preferably with a headset.

Set an "activity" timer or program
your computer to remind you to take periodic walking and/or stretching breaks.

Take a five-minute walk
before you sit down to eat.

Walk or bike to do
errands instead of driving.

Take a minute to stretch
your arms, legs, back, shoulders and neck whenever you get up from sitting or
lying down.

Sweep your floors, patio
and/or front walk every day.

During TV commercials,
get up and walk or get down and stretch.

Socialize actively.
Instead of sitting and talking, go for a walk with family and/or friends. Or go
bowling, play Ping-Pong, basketball, bocce ball or line dancing.

Put your favorite mug on
a very low shelf, so you'll have to squat down to get it out and put it back.

Take your dog for a walk
every day. If you don't have a dog, borrow your neighbor's, or just walk your
"inner dog."

Practice "aerobic
shopping" by taking a lap around the mall or grocery store before you go into a
store or put an item in your cart.

Avoid "drive-thrus." Park
your car and walk in.

Practice good posture
when you're forced to wait in line. Stand firmly on both feet and try to raise
the top of your head to touch an imaginary hand held a quarter-inch above you.
Let your spine extend, stomach lift, shoulders relax and arms fall at your
sides.

Don't automatically
drive. If the dry cleaner is across the parking lot from the bank, walk there.
(Wear decent walking shoes or keep a good pair in your car.)

Install a chin-up bar in
a convenient doorway, then use it often to chin-up, pull-up or simply hang.

Try musical housework.
Put on dancing music and sweep, vacuum or wash windows to the beat.
Every
time you hear a bell ring (phone bell, doorbell, church bell, etc.) take a deep
breath and smile. Think of it as "mouth yoga" that relaxes hundreds of muscles
in your face. And it's contagious, so pass it on.

For me...I think I am going to try the 5 minute walk before eating....I think this will be a good reminder that I dont need a snack, and if I walk anytime before eating, then some of those snacking times will end up forgotten. I also got an idea from watching tv about putting on some ankle weights while I am doing housework...that could help burn some calories. I need to get more involved in my kids playing outside instead of sitting and watching or reading. I need to be pushing them on the swings, jumping on the trampoline, crawling around in the sandbox, watering my flowers a couple times a day(seeing there isnt much other yard work to do as it is so dry all the lawn is dead)....I should do smaller loads of laundry at a time so I can go up and down the steps more to do the laundry...hmm I am trying to think of more ideas of things to do just around the house or while playing with the kids. Kennedys PT just got cut, so I need to be the therapist now...so I need to be moving doing that....Ok all these ideas are helping...Tomorrow I am getting up and getting motivated and getting moving!!!! Who's with me?!!! Lets get supporting one another!

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