How To Live An Active Lifestyle: Tips and Tricks

Jan 12

Staying physically active is an essential part of a healthy lifestyle. It helps to improve your physical, mental, and emotional health, as well as help you maintain a healthy weight. Unfortunately, many people have difficulty staying motivated to stick to an active lifestyle.

Here are five tips for getting the most out of an active lifestyle and making it a regular part of your life.

1. Start Small

Don’t be too hard on yourself if you don’t think you can commit to long workouts every day of the week. Start small and work up from there. A 10-minute walk each morning or evening can make a big difference over time. Working out doesn’t need to be complicated or time-consuming; simple activities like bike riding or playing tag with your kids can be just as beneficial.

2. Make Time For Yourself

Taking some time out for yourself each day will help you stay motivated and energized throughout the day. This could mean taking a few minutes in the morning to meditate or setting aside some time at night to do something that relaxes you, such as reading or listening to music. Whatever it is that helps you relax, make sure you make time for it!

3. Find Your Motivation

Everyone has different motivations when it comes to living an active lifestyle. Maybe it’s feeling healthier, having more energy, being able to play with your kids better, or even losing weight; whatever your reason is, use that motivation as fuel to help keep pushing yourself forward when times get tough, or motivation starts waning.

4. Get Some Help

If you’re having trouble staying motivated on your own, consider enlisting help from friends or family members who are also trying to live an active lifestyle themselves! Having someone else there who can provide support and encouragement will help give you the push necessary in order to stick with it! You could also join clubs or find classes offered by local gyms, which will help keep the commitment level high while also providing additional advice and guidance from professionals in the fitness field!

5. Take Breaks

One of the biggest mistakes people make when trying to live an active lifestyle is not taking any breaks between workouts/activities! Doing too much at once without giving your body any rest days can lead to fatigue and burnout, which won’t do any favors for maintaining motivation levels! Make sure you take some days off from exercising for your body (and mind) time to catch up so that when it’s time for another workout session; you’ll still have plenty of energy left!

Activities You can Do all day

Walk, Walk, Walk!

When it comes to staying active without the gym, walking is one of the easiest, most convenient activities you can do. To burn calories, you must walk faster and devote more time to each walk. For the most benefit, use a pedometer to keep track of how much you’re walking, and slowly work up to 10,000 steps a day. Walking more does have added value, especially when you walk briskly for a longer duration, up hills, or use your arms for more than just a comfortable gait and swing them with your body. It might not just be more that’s better, but the intensity and variety of your walking. If you can’t walk outside where you live, try indoor walking at a nearby mall or using a step-exercise video at home. Brisk walking can burn more than 200 calories in 30 minutes, depending on your weight and the intensity of your workout.

Work while Standing

Work is where many of us are sedentary for hours, resulting in a lost opportunity to burn hundreds (if not thousands) of calories every day. A stand-up desk could help change that. Standing obviously puts more stress on the body than sitting; thus, it will burn more calories. If you stand for an entire workday, it can help increase leg strength and endurance. A little change, like standing instead of sitting, can go a long way. If your workplace isn’t a stand-up kind of environment, take a five-minute break at least once an hour to engage in some activity.

Experts estimate that standing burns 50 percent more calories than sitting, so a 155-pound person could burn an extra 50 calories an hour just by getting on their feet.

Fidget works

If a stand-up desk isn’t practical at your workplace, there are other ways to incorporate more activity into your workday. At the office, replace your chair with an exercise ball. Sitting on it forces you to stabilize your abs. Or take a break every couple of hours and walk a few flights of stairs — it will help you energize and refocus. When you’re talking on the phone, don’t just sit there. Stand up, and pace around your room or office.

These little changes add up: Even small amounts of movement, such as drumming your legs, increase your calorie burn above resting levels by 20 to 40 percent.

Have a Dog Day

The arrival of a new pet, especially a dog, has been shown to increase the owner’s activity levels. Getting a pet, like a dog, will give you another reason to get out and get active. Pets need activity and actually can be your own accountability friend to get at least a short walk in daily. Even if the dog only forces you to get up and let it out without going for a walk, you will have burned more calories than if you sat in front of the television all day. Like walking by yourself, walking a dog can help burn around 200 calories for every half-hour of exercise.

Have a Clean House

Cleaning your home or apartment regularly is another way to ensure that you stay active during the week. Cleaning your house can incorporate a variety of muscle groups without you even realizing it. Dragging around a heavy vacuum isn’t easy, especially if you go up and down stairs. We recommend going a step further and trying to “squeeze your buns every time you take a step.” While you’re taking a break, try tightening your abdominal muscles for a period of time throughout each hour, he adds. A 150-pound person can burn 85 calories per half hour through light cleaning, while vigorous cleaning burns 102 calories in 30 minutes.

Cook at Home

Most people don’t think of cooking as exercise, but preparing food at home certainly burns more calories — and usually causes you to consume fewer calories — than eating out or ordering in. The best way to control what goes in your mouth is to plan ahead and have a home-cooked meal. This way, you know exactly what went into your meal, and I guarantee it can be prepared faster and less expensively than making that extra stop at a restaurant. Do your shopping and cooking on days when you have more time. That way, you’ll have the meal on hand and can resist the temptation of unhealthy choices. Plus, thanks to standing, light lifting, and chopping activities, a 150-pound person can blast 78 calories in 30 minutes of cooking.

Dance the night (and day!) away

A coffee shop or bar is often where friends catch up. Instead of a sedentary get-together, why not switch to an activity that burns calories, like walking, dancing, or a Zumba class with a gab-fest afterward? Rather than another night of drinks, which will pack on empty calories and likely lead to overeating later, suggest a walk outside with your girlfriends or opt for a yoga class and tea date.

Of these activities, dancing is the big calorie burner, zapping more than 200 calories for every half-hour on the floor.

Exercise in Between

Who says you have to sit idly on the couch during your favorite shows? Russell says you can make big strides by simply staying active. Try some jumping jacks, push-ups, or other fat-blasting moves during commercial breaks. Squeeze in exercise while watching TV or when the kids are napping. For example, aim to do two sets of push-ups and a round of abdominal exercises during commercials. If you want a bigger burn, keep up the light calisthenics for the whole 30-minute show, and blast 115 calories.

Conclusion

The key takeaway here is that living an active lifestyle doesn’t have to involve long hours at the gym every single day; instead, start small and build up from there in order to find activities that work best for YOU! With proper planning, dedication, and self-care, everyone can find ways to incorporate physical activity into their daily routines, no matter how busy they may be! So what are you waiting for? Get moving today and reap those benefits now!