Are you sick and tired of feeling sick and tired? Balancing a career with children, a partner and other social activities often leaves us with little to no time for exercise. After all, who has the time? And where would you fit it into your busy schedule? The truth is that when we sit down to look at things, we can ALWAYS find time for the things that matter-and if we can’t find the time, then we’ll make the time. So, here are some quick ways to get yourself in shape & hopefully stay that way!

10 Suggestions for Getting into Shape

1. Quit making excuses. Think hard as to why you didn’t exercise the other day. Was there any excuse? The sooner you stop justifying to yourself why you didn’t work out, the sooner you’ll realize that there really isn’t any excuse as to why you couldn’t have squeezed something into your busy schedule.
2. Park your vehice farther than normal when you go out to run errands. This will force you to walk a little longer than you normally would.
3. Eat healthier food choices. Ideally, you should aim to eat small, frequent meals throughout the day because this will aid in digestion as well as increase your metabolism (both good for keeping unwanted pounds off). Your meals should be colorful, and I’m not talking about skittles! You should have portions no bigger than your hand and the meal should include some sort of vegetable and protein source, etc.
4. Join a hiking group or some other group that meets regularly. There are tons of groups in your local area if you just look. Most are catered to the working adult and thus, are extremely flexible (remember; no excuses!) in allowing you time to meet up.
5. Phone a friend. Call up one of your friends that you maybe haven’t seen in a while. Instead of meeting for lunch, see if your friend wants to meet to go for a walk followed by a quick lunch back at your place. It’s a great way to catch up as well as fit your exercise in- a two for one deal!
6. Shop smart. If you’re going food shopping, make a grocery list in advance. Write down some healthy things that you can make meals out of as well as snack on. If you find that you’ve written down a bunch of junk food items, cross them off before you leave for the supermarket. This is a great way to screen what foods you will be bringing home. More importantly, make sure that you STICK TO THE LIST once you arrive at the supermarket.
7. Ditch the restaurants. You can still go out to restaurants, but try to save it for special occasions. By sticking to your “new grocery list” as mentioned above and cooking healthier items at home, you’ll actually be saving yourself a lot of money in the amount of gas it will take you to buy that new outfit, drive to the restaurant, pay for the food and drinks, tip the waiter/waitress and then drive back home. Think about it!
8. Get Up Early before work if you have to and go for a walk. Studies show that doing some form of light exercise in the morning for 30 minutes is a great and refreshing way to wake up moreso than that cup of coffee.
9. Pack your snacks for work- things that you can nibble on throughout the day. This will save you from having to make that trip to the vending machine. This will also prevent you from feeling starved by the time lunch rolls around, which is never a good thing because when we are really hungry, we tend to over eat to satiate that hunger.
10. Write down your personal goals for how you propose to get in shape. If you have to, pencil it into your day calendar as one more thing you need to do and stick to it. Rally as many people as you wish to join you, whether this means taking your kids with you when you go for your walks or making it a point to go to the park with your husband/wife to throw a frisbee; just do something fun and enjoy it!

For more information on individual health insurance in North Carolina, visit Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina today!

Tags: Health, Healthy Living //