First, let me say that I am not an exercise expert. In fact, I am far from it. My body has somehow morphed itself from a svelte teenager to a gelatinous blob of a housewife over the past 20+ years. This changed when I added simple exercises. 5 FUN EXERCISES FOR FLAT, TONED ABS.
This was confirmed for me as I was going through old photographs of myself as I was moving them from one storage bin to another a few weeks ago. The tips that I am going to list here are tips that I have just started using, but they seem to be working for me. Will they work for you? I don’t know. But they’re worth a shot!
Table of Contents
Buy A Pedometer
These nifty little gadgets can be quite motivating in and of themselves. I found mine for less than $5 at a local store. I clip it to my waistband in the morning and wear it all day. I find myself constantly pushing to stay active rather than sitting on my ever-expanding backside in an effort to “top” yesterday’s number of steps. Be forewarned, though – pedometers are not always accurate, they can at least give you a ballpark estimate of the number of steps that you are doing.
Drink Your Water
Although I understand that there are now debates about how much water a person should drink every day, I still go by the 64-ounce guideline. But let me be honest with you – I hate water. I can’t stand it. I can suck down 6-8 cans of diet soda every day, but I just can’t do water. I bought some bottled water, and some of those drink mixes that are specially made for 16-ounce bottles of water, and that made the water go down much easier. 12 WEEK BEGINNER’S EXERCISE PROGRAM.
But, be careful with those – not only can they be expensive, but they can also be loaded with sugar. My other trick when the drink mix packets run out is to use my husband’s gigantic 64-ounce travel mug that he received from his office – I fill that up with ice and water and suck on it throughout the day. I challenge myself to finish that because I know that once that thing is empty, I’ve met my goal for the day. Drinking water also helps to make you feel full, so you tend to snack less.
Find A Job That Makes You Exercise
Being a stay-at-home-mother of 5 young children, finding a job was not generally in my plans. However, since there are bills to be paid, I had to find something. Our local newspaper was looking for people to deliver the paper daily, so I signed on for several routes. HOW I STAY MOTIVATED TO EXERCISE. The routes are a combination of driving and walking – but I try to find a central place to park the Mom-Mobile, and then I walk to as many houses as I can while still keeping the vehicle in sight. This is an ideal job – it forces me to get out and walk six days per week, and I can take my three youngest children with me. Get paid, no daycare expenses, and exercise!
Don’t Be So Efficient At Home
I used to pile everything that needed to go upstairs at the bottom of the steps and make one trip up to put it all away. Now, I break that down into several trips throughout the day. And when I go up the steps with my armload of treasures, I go as fast as I can. Sadly, that’s not as fast as I would like, thanks to the less than 3-month old hip replacement, but I’m getting there! I now actually find myself making excuses to go up and down the steps. It might take a bit longer to get everything put away, but it does get done eventually.
Hang Your Clothes Out To Dry
Not only is it better for your clothes, your electric bill, and the environment, but it also helps with the exercise factor. Bending over to pick up the clothes and stretching up to hang them keeps you moving and gives you an excuse to get just a bit more fresh air throughout the day. Of course, this is possible only in good weather, but with spring approaching, it can happen more and more often.
Turn Cooking Into A Workout
Anytime I am standing at the stove, I am clenching various muscles. Clench, hold, relax, clench, hold, relax. Stomach, butt, thighs, even arms can benefit from this. It also works great when washing dishes or stuck on a long-winded phone call.
Find A Way To Track Your Efforts
This can be done so many different ways – pen and paper, photographs, keeping a journal, or even online tracking. There are websites that will analyze your food intake, your activity level, your weight, your measurements, everything. Find the one that works the best for you and stick with it.
Don’t get discouraged: I’m an “instant gratification girl” – when I do something, anything, I expect to see results that moment.
That doesn’t work with diet and exercise. I have to remind myself constantly that it took me 20 years to get this far out of shape, and so it’s going to take some time to reverse it. I have good days and bad days, but the good days have been outnumbering the bad ones.
When I have a setback (which usually involves a gigantic bowl of ice cream in the evening), I don’t focus on it, but instead, work just a bit harder. I refuse to starve myself or deny myself the things that I love – I just have to remember that moderation is key.
With all that being said, it is now time to get moving. I hear multiple loads of laundry calling my name. WEIGHT LOSS AND FITNESS TRANSFORMATION- *FASCINATING STORY*.