 Planning key to a fit lifestyle
One can sum up how to live a healthy lifestyle in one word – planning. You need to plan ahead to make time to exercise, to have healthy food available, to avoid over-indulging through the holidays and so on. After awhile it becomes second nature. For a typical day, we don’t have to think much about it, but when the routine changes, we have to put some time and energy into planning.
The holidays are a good example of a change in routine. This time of year there are as many suggestions for how to eat appropriately as there are recipes for pumpkin pie, so I won’t bore you with yet another one of those lists.
Aside from the large meals and goodies everywhere you look, this time of year typically brings with it a lot of travel. We all know that we are likely to eat a few more calories when traveling, despite our best efforts. .
We also know that one of the best ways to counter those extra calories is to get more exercise in. But how do we incorporate exercise into our holiday travel plans? Although it adds one more thing to plan for, in the end I think you will find it worth the effort.
First of all, do whatever you can to make it fun and different from your usual exercise routine. Remember, this time away is supposed to be a break from routine for you. Let it be that for your exercise routine as well.
Think about the area you will be visiting. Is it up in the mountains? Will it be pretty with snow? A nice brisk walk in the high altitude pine-scented air is a wonderful change of pace for us desert dwellers. Lakeside areas have many opportunities for activity. Desert areas can be good for hiking, biking or golf. Customize a plan based on your destination.
Who are you going to visit? What do they like to do for activity? If someone you’re visiting is a member at a local gym, you can probably go with them as a guest for a small fee. Their gym may offer different classes and different machines. Try something new. For example, on a recent trip the gym at our hotel had exercise bikes with screens that displayed bike trail videos on them - we could pedal along a country path or up among the stars around a space station.
Do you like to shop? Find the local shopping district or mall and scope it out with a nice brisk once-through, then you can go back through and do some actual shopping.
And don’t forget fun family activities. If you’re going somewhere with snow, take the kids sledding. Climbing hills in the snow is a great calorie burn. If you’re going to a warmer climate, rent bicycles and take the family for a ride.
With a little thought and planning, holiday travel won’t keep you from maintaining a healthy lifestyle; it will be a fun, welcome break from your everyday routine.
Until next time, stay healthy and be happy. |
