Fitbit Coach app – Mindful Nutrition

What you Need to Know to Develop Your Own Exercise Plan

So you have decided to start an exercise plan or routine, but where do you begin? Use these tips below to develop an exercise plan that works for your lifestyle. You can always develop one plan, and then pick another plan if your original plan doesn’t workout (pun intended).

Develop your Exercise Plan

Consider these Basics When Developing an Exercise Routine

Remember to drink water before, during, and after workouts so that you won’t “hit the wall” or become dehydrated. Make sure you stay hydrated so that you can work out harder and burn more calories, and more importantly drinking water prevents dehydration which can be dangerous.
If you want to prevent plateauing, vary your activities. Changing up your exercises will cause muscle confusion so that your muscle are always having to work. Plus when you vary your activities you won’t get bored. Click here for 34 Creative Ways to Exercise.
Include strength training. Muscle burn more calories than fat, so try twenty minutes of strength straining two to three times a week. Strength training also reduces injury, improves balance, and helps maintain your bones.
When you do hit a plateau, increase either your exercise intensity or duration.

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Pick an Activity that Fits into Your Schedule

Are you a morning person? If you need to set your alarm an hour early so that you can workout before work, then do it! Many people find morning workouts ideal. Why? People often do better with their eating throughout the day when they have started the day off well. After you have had a hard exhilarating workout, you are motivated to keep going the rest of the day. The same goes for getting an early start during the week. If you do well on Monday with your exercise and eating habits, chances are you will stay motivated for the rest of the week; however, slipping up on Monday can slow down your motivation IF you let it.
What if working out in the morning just doesn’t fit in your schedule? Try working out after work. Some of my clients made a committment to workout right after work, before doing anything else. They even pack their shoes and workout clothes so that they don’t even have to go home first. Once you go home and begin relaxing, you might get too relaxed to jump up and exercise. Even if you exercise at home, you can still decide to exercise first- before you sit down.
Maybe you have to wait until the evening to get that workout in. Your kids need you until bedtime, but after bedtime you have free time to workout. This might be a little harder for some, but I know many who have made the committment to workout in the evening.
Okay, so you have read the three above tips, and your saying, “I hear you, Lacy, but I really don’t have 30 spare minutes in my day and I KNOW I’m not going to workout late at night OR get up earlier than I already have to! What do I do?” I have an idea you might enjoy. May I share it with you?…You can sneak in your exercise! To find out how, check out my post entitled, “How to Sneak in Exercise when you Don’t have Time to Exercise“
Perhaps your children are ALWAYS with you so you need to find a way to workout with them around. For exercise ideas you can do with your children check out “How to Exercise When Your Kids are ALWAYS Around” post.
Whether you workout in the morning or the evening, choose an activity that fits into your daily life and make sure you schedule your exercise into your week.

Pick an Activity that Fits your Personality

Choose activities you enjoy and you will be more likely to stick with them. Explore new physical activities or find a physical hobby. For more creative fun ideas, check out my post “Exercise Doesn’t Have to Be Boring” for ideas.
Ask yourself, several questions to determined what type of workout will work for you. Would you prefer working out in a group or alone. Do you want to go to a gym or workout at home? If you like working out in a group, perhaps you could join a walking group. Don’t know of a walking group? Create your own walking group! Do you want to workout with a friend? Ask a friend to workout with you. You can encourage and motivate each other! Do you prefer working out by yourself at home? You could try an exercise app like the Fitbit Coach app or the Beachbody on Demand 6 Month Membership for $9.84/month . These apps have a huge variety of workouts you can follow daily. These apps often even include calendars so you can either follow their schedule or pick which ever workout you feel like doing that day. You can find exercises in these apps that fit into any schedule, and you can watch these videos on your phone, ipad or stream it through compatable TVs. If you have the Fitbit Ionic Watch, you can even watch the Fitbit Coach app through your watch. You don’t even have to pull out your phone! Click on the link to check out the Fitbit Ionic watch: Fitbit Ionic Smartwatch, Blue-Gray/Silver, One Size (S & L Bands Included). On a personal note, I am currently doing Beachbody on Demand, and I love it! You can try it for free by clicking the link: Stream over 600 workouts and 100+ healthy cooking shows 14 Days FREE on Beachbody on Demand! I have used them for a long time so I know these workouts work! I also love having a set workout plan for an extended period of time, and I am currently doing an 80 day program. Beachbody on Demand even provides you an online coach. I love my Beacbody coach and friend. Her name is Heather Wilson and you can find her Beachbody link by clicking here.
Do you like variety? Pick a different activity to do each day. One day you could aerobics and another day you could wash your car. Or Pick exercise from the lists here, here, and here.

Plan for the Unplanned

So you have made your schedule. You have your routine down to a science and then…life happens. You can actually plan for the unexpected.

When you can’t get to your normal workout, you can try to sneak exercise into your day. Say you normally get up in the morning to exercise, but for some reason you couldn’t fall asleep last night and now you NEED to sleep in. Instead of doing an hour workout, try sneaking exercise in throughtout the day using the ideas in the “How to Sneak in Exercise” post.
If you normally walk or workout outside, but the weather is bag. Have a backup plan in place like “I will exercise with a video if the weather is bad.” Remember to find a way to stay active in the winter.

If you would like to evaluate your own diet and determine which tips work best for you, please take the free DIY Diet self assessment and evaluation developed by a registered dieititian.

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