Happy Tuesday (and one day closer to Blend!! eeeeee!!) I feel like I haven’t talked about fitness or health recently and I decided to change that today. Here’s another “Back To Basics” post geared towards women and our need for a speedy day!
If there’s one thing that most of us have in common, it’s a LACK OF TIME! It seems as though we’re constantly sprinting from one thing to the other, maintaining our family and it’s needs, our job, our chores, all while overlooking our own need to SLOW DOWN. The days that we have little to do seem like Christmas and we cherish that quiet time. In all honesty, those days are few and far between.
So how does a busy woman make time for her health and fitness, you ask?
By multitasking and using those little windows of time throughout the day to make ourselves better. Here’s how to fit healthy living into your already busy life, in just minutes a day!
Got a minute?
Perform deep squats at your coffee table!
With weight in your heels, take your bottom all the way down to your coffee table slowly, then stand back up quickly. You’ll target your quadriceps, glutes and calves and is the answer for how to look younger naturally. Kids around? Encourage them to join you! Children love to mimic healthy (and sometimes unhealthy) behavior!
Got 3 minutes?
Make your own Vitamin Water!
The average woman gets about HALF of the water she needs in a day (which is 96 ounces!). The biggest complaint? Water is boring and hard to chug down! The solution? Make your own flavored water! With little calories and nutrition to boot, you’ll be well on your way to downing those 96 ounces! Experts at The Memorial Hospital have some tips to stay healthy.
Here’s how to make it:
- Add fruits instead of sugar for a natural sweetener for your H2O
- Cut the fruit into paper-thin slices or small chunks.
- Combine ingredients with water
- Refrigerate 4-6 hours.
Another tip – Invest in a good water bottle! I carry my Contigo around with me everywhere! It literally forces you to drink more water.
Got 4 minutes?
Time for TABATA!
Four minutes is all you need to TABATA!! If you’re unfamiliar with tabata training, go here where I’ve outlined the basic idea! In short, tabata training is a high intensity workout that pairs 20 seconds of all-out activity with 10 seconds of rest. You repeat this sequence 8 times for a total workout time of just 4 minutes! Try this tabata that I created for Mom365 out:
Got 10 minutes?
Cut up your fruits and veggies for the week!
By precutting your fruits and vegetables and storing them within eye level in your refrigerator, you’ll be more apt to choose those healthy options over something else. This goes for the rest of your family as well – precut some of their favorite veggies (or buy precut vegetables at the store) and always offer these first when someone asks for a snack.
Got 15 minutes?
Go outside!
That’s plenty of time for a walk with the family (Henry and Clara still LOVE hopping in the stroller)! Gear up with bikes or your stroller and get moving! It’s proven that just 15 minutes of outdoor activity can increase your Vitamin D and serotonin levels, which in turn, act as a force against depression and anxiety! Have a dog? Take him as well! Pets who get outside for daily fresh air have less body fat, shinier coats and a healthier digestive system (source)!
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More Back To Basics:
Best Strength Training Exercises for Women
WHY You Should Strength Training
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QUESTION: I could have given a million different tips. Your turn? Got ___ minutes? Do _____. Fill in the blanks!
splendid…lindsay
Your turn? Got 1 minute? Do a plank.
Whenever I get a second alone in my office I drop down for a quick plank and maybe 5 pushups. It’s not enough to get you sweaty but in my mind, doing that twice a day means an extra 10 minutes of plank and 50 pushups over the course of a week which is much more than zero.
What fabulous advice! I need to make my own flavored waters again. I was doing that for awhile and it is amazing how easy it is to get in all your water in the summer. [In the winter I can drink tea like a fiend, but as soon as spring hits, it’s like I can’t even stomach the thought of hot tea.] Also, I want to start doing some tabata workouts I think. A teacher at my school does them and says it kicks her butt. I need some butt kicking.
Such a simple but oh so true & great post!
This is so true! I used to use time as an excuse but now I prepare almost all meals and work out and have more time than ever and energy to boot. Great post!
I love your tips!! I am a fanatic about drinking water (and I drink even MORE since I moved!!). My favorite is CUCUMBER WATER. I throw a few slices in my water bottle and keep re-filling it all day.
I need to get me a Contigo…
Loved the vitamin water write up!
And if you ahve 1 min, hold a Plank…your blog is awesome ;)
This is a great post! Awesome tips and I’m not sure I really have any more to add…except one that I’m working on for my overall (spiritual, specifically) health: got 5 or 10 min? Pick up your Bible (Bonnie!) and read! Soak it in. That’s the hardest for me b/c I seem to fit everything else in!
Thanks for sharing these and see you SOON where maybe we can multitask together. ;)
Love these tips :)
This is such an awesome post!!! I love doing that water trick–my fave is lime or lemons in it!
You know I love this! I don’t have time – I MAKE time. It only takes a second to make some big changes!
Great post! Will post to FB soon!
When we have 15 minutes, we try to run through the p90x ab routing (without the dvd). We usually make time 3-4 times a week after work or before heading out for the weekend!
I love this..A lot of women I work with say they dont have TIME to do things…but it doesnt take all day to get a little sweat in or do some prepping :) I agree with all of this!
What I like about this post is that the underlying theme is to just develop a more active (less lazy) lifestyle. You don’t have to commit to a crazy workout routine or hit the gym for hours if you don’t want to. You can simply add some walking, movement, and healthy food prep to your day and reap the benefits.
If you have 2 minutes, prep your breakfast the night before (like overnight oats, for example), so it’s ready to grab and go in the morning. No excuse for not having time for a healthy breakfast. :)
That vitamin water looks so tasty .. I think I am going to have to make some! :-)
ooooh i want to make my own vitamin water!! something that sounds so easy but i never do!!
These are great tips! My new piece of advice since I started running is “got 5 minutes, STRETCH”! I feel like so many people don’t stretch enough and you really need to balance all the hard work you do with some relaxing stretches…for some peace of mind and for the prevention of injury.
Ohhh, love the tip on the fruity water! I’ll have to try out some of those combos! I seem to go through phases with water and right now I’m in a “meh” phase so it would be good to (literally) mix things up a bit! ;)
As a woman who is almost always short on time, I’m a huge fan of multitasking to get my fitness in. If I have cleaning to do around the house, I’ll crank up the music and get to dancing between scrub downs, do lunges as I’m vacuuming, or just speed up the process of cleaning to keep my heart rate up! Sometimes I play little games with myself to see if I can clean an entire room in a set amount of time!