Sneaky Things That Help

[Dream Catcher]

I'm not a HUGE fan of hitting the gym (even if it's my little corner of the house that contains dumbbells, resistance bands, and an exercise ball). But I do it because I'm focused on my goal and know it's necessary.

To help myself out, I've decided to do some sneaky little things to make my mind and body get in sync when I'm not working out.

1. I allow myself to dance in the car when a good song comes on (forget what everyone around me thinks lol).

2. When my two dogs are on the floor playing and I'm sitting on the couch, I'll get up and go tussle around with them and even play fetch (and by that, I mean, I'm usually the one fetching the ball b/c my rottweiler loves to chase the ball, but once she gets to it, she just looks at me like I'm dumb for throwing it so far away haha).

3. I even bought a spare exercise ball and 8lb dumbbells for work. This way, when we get downtime (which is pretty often since after 9am, all I have to do is wait for the phone to ring) I can just do a few crunches on the ball or a few curls or something similar as a boredom buster.

4. Another little trick that I just recently realized I do is watch athletic movies, and instinctively I find myself tensing muscles. I watched "Fired Up" the other night, and got a sudden burst of energy afterward! I wanted to run, jump, do cartwheels, lol.


So anyone else have tricks like these that either get you motivated, or even just get you moving without thinking of it as a workout? Share them. I'm always looking for sneaky ways to trick my mind into believing I'm having fun, not working!

 

[EagleRiverDee]

I like your sneaky tricks.

Let's see- I always keep my gym bag in my car. The gym is closer to my work than my house is, so I try and go to the gym 3 or 4 days a week.

I frequently have the office to myself so sometimes I will do planks or pushups or lunges in the office when no one else is here and it's slow with nothing else to do.

I bring 1.6 liters (two stainless bottles of .8 liter each) of water to work with me every day and have a "hot shot" on my desk to boil water. That way I can drink water or unsweetened tea throughout the day. I take .8 liter to the gym with me if I go, because I sweat a lot at the gym and will drink an entire liter when there.

I make a pot of rice and roast a chicken on Sundays so I've got some quick meals - particularly for lunch when I'm rushed. I go home each day for lunch but only have about a half hour to cook and eat so it's helpful for me to have stuff that just needs to be heated.

 

[Dream Catcher]

Oh! I love the idea of keeping a hot shot at your desk! I love some sweet tea, but that's one thing I've had to give up. I do, however, keep Coke Zeros in the fridge at work for my morning caffeine boost, while everyone else drinks coffee (never cared for it unless it had plenty o sweetener and cream).

I just found a new app for my Blackberry called Morsel, and it gives daily tips on simple ways to be healthier. I just downloaded it and I hope it will give me a little boost in motivation as well! I'll update about it in a few days and let ya'll know if it's been added to my cheat sheet of simple things I do to help me reach my goal.