A few years ago, my husband surprised me with a Fitbit for my birthday. While the competitive spirit in our house escalated a tad (all in good fun, mind you!), it definitely made me aware of my movement every day. I don’t wear it now nearly as much as I used to, but the habits it helped me to create have stayed. I realized how active (or how inactive, really) I was and I want to stay healthy. Movement is part of that!

This year I decided to get back into being more active. When I was in school I was always quite active and involved in sports and always absolutely love running (and went faithfully every morning!). Since getting a full-time job, however, my movement decreased quite a bit. Inactivity has been proven to be unhealthy, some people even going as far to say that it’s the new smoking, so I figured I should get back to it.

Since the beginning of this year, I have successfully been more active in my everyday life besides the almost daily exercise I do. Since I have had quite a few people ask me about it, I thought I’d write up a post on some tips for leading a more active lifestyle. 

Just Start

Sometimes it’s best to just start when you feel the motivation in the moment. Oftentimes, when we say, “I’ll do it tomorrow,” tomorrow never comes. Even if you don’t completely know what you are doing, start! An easy place to start would be taking a walk, even if it’s just 10 minutes a day. 5 minutes even. Something is better than nothing.

Find Something You Love

Once you’ve started, don’t quit just because you might hate it. Sometimes it takes a while to find the exercise or activity you enjoy the most. I enjoy running, so it made it easier for me to want to get up and do it. Explore different mediums of exercise. If I hadn’t tried new things, I would have never known how much I enjoy spin classes or Pilates!

Take Note of How You Feel After Exercising

Do you feel great after exercising? Maybe you feel stronger and fitter just because you made some sweat get wiped off your brow? Do you feel energized after taking a walk? Hang onto these feelings and use them as motivation when you are dreading it. If you know you’re going to feel great afterward, you’ll want to get right to it!

Find Creative Ways to Stay Active

Doing fitness programs can be good for some people, but for others, the first step is to just be active in the first place. Once you start consciously thinking about ways to be active, it will come naturally. Some good ways to keep active aside from a workout routine could be:

• Go for walks

• Park farther away from the entrance

• Take the stairs

• Push the vacuum rather than using a robot vacuum

• Do some yard work

• Scrub the bathtub 

• Do laundry

• Add some treadmill time to your TV time

• Go on a hike

Get In Tune With Your Body

Appreciate your body and what it can do. If you start having a gratitude mindset, you’ll shift your focus on what you “have” to do, to what you are able to do! Be grateful you can walk. Be happy that you are able to see progress. Find small things and celebrate them! Along with being in tune with your body, know when you need to rest. Our bodies are very good at telling us what they want if we would just listen.

Make Goals

Create some goals so that you can CELEBRATE wins once you achieve them. It’s best if your goals can be seen. For example, if you want to exercise 3 times a week, schedule it and cross it out when you’re done. 

Create a Habit

It’s true, feeling motivated is not a reality sometimes. By creating habits, you set yourself up for better success (by the way, you should check out this awesome book on habits!). 

Don’t Forget to Rest

Your body needs rest and recovery as much as it needs movement and exercise! This is much overlooked. Don’t overdo it and your body will thank you!

Grace Over Guilt

Instead of focusing on changing alllllll the habits, start with one and add on as you go. If you mess up, it’s okay! Don’t let that hinder you from getting back up and trying again.

What kinds of active things do you enjoy doing? I have fallen in love with doing Pilates with Robin Long over at The Balanced Life. If you want to check it out, click here to use my referral code!