Five Tips to Become More Active

Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow; but that doesn’t mean that it’s time to crawl into your Snuggie and hibernate. Get a jump start on your spring by getting moving! Below are 5 tips to help you become more active.

1. Make time for yourself – Block out fitness time like you would a meeting on your calendar. If you don’t make time for yourself, who will? Make yourself and your goals a priority.
2. Set SMART (specific, measurable, acceptable, realistic, set to a timeframe) goals – In other words, You are going to achieve HOW much of WHAT by WHEN? Rather than being vague and saying, “I want to tone up.” Put some detail into your description. For example, I want to become toned by walking three times a week (M, W, F 6-7 am) and doing kickboxing once a week (Thursdays at 6 pm) for the month of February. Or, by March 1, I want to be able to walk/jog a mile under 15 minutes; and I’m going to practice doing that 3 days a week.
3. Find an accountability partner. Tell someone else about your goals – don’t be afraid to share. You’ll be more likely to stick with your goal if you know you have to report back. AND, you’re likely to have someone who will join you on your journey. In fact, just don’t tell one person, tell a couple of people about what you plan to achieve.
4. Plan ahead – meal planning, packing clothes for workouts, how you’ll handle challenges, and how you’ll reward yourself. “Failing to plan is planning to fail.” If you have healthy snacks on hand, you’re more likely to eat them and resist the temptation of going to the drive-thru and skipping your workout. If you have your clothes ready to go for, you’re more likely to not let other errands or the couch jump ahead in the priority line on your way home from work to the gym. And, a step that we often forget is planning to REWARD ourselves for making positive steps for meeting our goals. Reward yourself (not with food) frequently. Don’t wait to reward yourself until you reach your goal, saying that attaining your goal will be reward enough. Arrange to give yourself a pat on the back for sticking to something for 3 weeks; or after you’ve logged X number of minutes on the elliptical. Getting into shape is a fitness journey, you might as well enjoy it along the way! Think creatively - what gets you excited? Movies with friends, a book, new music to download, some quiet time? What feel good thing/feeling don't you give yourself often enough?
5. Invest in a good pair of workout shoes – they’re your foundation; and are the most versatile pieces of fitness equipment you’ll ever own. Many specialty shoe stores will do a complimentary gait analysis for you, meaning they’ll look at the way your feet and legs move while you walk and recommend shoes that would work best for your feet and the way you move. Don’t be tempted by new “fitness” shoes. Buy a solid pair that’s suitable for your feet; and get up and get moving!

WBJ Challenge - Week 5: Rewards

Hi Team WBJ!

We're starting out week # 5 of the Challenge!!! Congratulations to you all for making a commitment to physical activity and for sticking with it!!!

This week's blog topic is about rewards -- how are you rewarding yourself for sticking with healthier behaviors?

Have you gone out and bought new workout clothes? New song downloads? A trip to the salon? Have you set aside some "Me" time? Or, engaged in some other activity that you consider to be a special treat?

Please share on the blog comment space some of the ways that you've rewarded yourself over the past 4 weeks, and on ways that you plan to reward yourself for completing the 8 weeks of the Challenge!

Keep up the great work! And, keep on adjusting your goals! You've progressed a lot over the past four weeks, and I'd like to acknowledge that you've:

1. Signed up for a team challenge
2. Committed to an 8-week endeavor
   
3. Set daily and weekly goals for being more physically active
4. Become more accountable for being physically active
5. Engaged in "bonus" challenges that are about overall health

That's a pretty significant list when you think about it!

Think about when you first started the Challenge and the level of physical activity you were at during that point, and where you're at now. Or, even to reflect on how much you may have thought about physical activity as part of your daily life back at the beginning of May and how much it's a part of your everyday thoughts now.

So, I encourage you to acknowledge and reward yourself for your accomplishments. Do something special for you and plan out something for the next four weeks and how you're going to celebrate weekly and/or at the completion of the Challenge!

For example, this coming week after achieving my daily goal, I'm planning on spending some of my time lesiure reading. It's something that I love doing, and now have more time to do, because, with setting my goals for the Challenge, I'm outside moving instead of inside watching tv, and have kind of lost interest in the tv shows I used to watch...so, instead of coming back from a bike ride and plopping down on the couch, I'm going to pick up a book, relax and enjoy reading. I need to spend some time thinking about what my reward for finishing the Challenge is going to be and I'll keep ya posted!

I'm looking forward to hearing about your rewards!!!