What with work, family obligations, running the kids around after school and just plain tiredness, where do you have time in your life to incorporate more physical activity, nevermind a regular exercise program? Well, it's easier than you think. It only takes a few minutes at a time to accumulate 30 minutes of activity into your day. You can achieve the benefits of physical activity in short 5-10-15 minutes sessions throughout your day. Every little bit you do is good for you. The key is to start with small doses of activity and build from there. Soon you will feel great and look for more ways you can incorporate physical activities into your day that will leave you feeling great and improve the quality of your life!
What can you do to increase your activity level and improve your health and well-being? Start small. Here are a few small steps you can take to increase your activity level and start reaping the benefits of a healthier active lifestyle:
- Park farther away from the entrance to buildings. Walking a few dozen extra feet takes minutes of your time and gets you up and moving. This will also help improve your mood and get feel-good chemicals - known as endorphins - released from your brain to improve your mood and lower your stress levels.
- Use the stairs rather than the elevator. No one says you have to start by climbing all the way to your 10th floor office or apartment. Take the stairs for a floor or two and then get on the elevator. Every week, increase the number of floors you climb and soon you will be avoiding the crowded elevators completely and feeling full of energy and mental alertness by the time you get to your office or home every day!
- Take a walk after lunch. Rather than sitting at your desk for an hour eating lunch and reading a magazine, get up. Go for a walk. Take the stairs and get outside. Walking after a meal helps improve digestion and relieve the feeling of "fullness" that creates that mid-afternoon lethargic feeling that makes you want to go home and take a nap. It also burns a few extra calories and gives your mind and metabolism a boost to help you through the rest of your afternoon.
- Drink a glass of water. Drinking water also helps with digestion and alleviates the feeling of wanting to snack in the afternoon. Thirst is only the third symptom of dehydration, with tiredness being the first. Drinking a glass of water wakes you up, giving you more energy and helps increase your metabolism so that your body will burn more calories and feel more energetic throughout the day. Water also helps cleanse waste and toxins out of your body, which can make you feel sluggish and out-of-sorts.
- Walk around your yard. When you go outside to get your mail in, take a few minutes to walk around. Smell the sweet summer air, enjoy the warmth of the sun on your skin, walk around your yard and look for new flowers and plants that you may not have noticed before. Watch a couple of squirrels chasing each other around a tree. After a few minutes outside, you will feel refreshed and energized and ready to open that mail and deal with the next thing on your busy to-do list.
- Put on music and dance around your house. When you're washing the dishes or doing the laundry, put on some upbeat music that makes you want to move. You won't be able to resist the thumping beat of the music and your body will just want to move naturally. Dancing while going through your daily routine improves your mood, increases your metabolism and burns more calories than just sitting reading a magazine and drinking coffee waiting for the laundry to be done. Plus, dancing helps keep you feeling younger! Who doesn't want to feel younger and more energetic all day long?
- Take a class! Whether your preference is Yoga, Martial Arts, Spinning or Dance, you can probably find a class in your area that fits your schedule and will bring a new level of activity and excitement into your life. Plus, you will meet more people who are interested in exercise to help support your new active lifestyle as well!
Breaking up exercise and activity sessions into smaller increments helps keep you more active all day long and creates life-long habits that you will be more likely to stick with, rather than trying to incorporate a major workout plan into your life and finding that you don't stick with it.
There are many small things you can do to increase your activity levels throughout your day. And if you have a day where you're just not feeling it, take a break. Take the elevator and take that nap after work. You work hard and you deserve it! Your body and mind need rest and recovery as much as they need activity. So, listen to your body and never push yourself beyond your reasonable limits. Rest and relaxation is just as important as exercise, and when you're well rested, you will feel mentally and physically stronger and be ready to add that next flight of stairs on your way to work tomorrow!
