Ran out of time to catch your spinning class at the gym? Worked too late to go for a walk? Overslept and missed your morning yoga class? It’s easy to get discouraged when your busy week seems to block every plan you have made to exercise. And it’s even easier to let one missed class lead to another missed walk and then end up giving up on exercise for the entire week, maybe even the month. That’s the perfect time to change your focus. Instead of stressing over what you haven’t done, look for the small opportunities to make exercise a part of your every day routine, not just a gym class on your weekly calendar. 

You can burn extra calories every single day by adding just a few small movements or changing a few simple behaviors. 

Try these: 
1) Use “standing in line” at the grocery store or gas station as a chance to tighten your abs or tighten your glutes.
2) Perform calf raises while talking on the telephone. Studies show that simply standing doing every day activities like talking on the telephone burns more calories than sitting behind a desk.                                                                                                                                                          3) If you have stairs at home, take them every time you do a load of laundry instead of accumulating all the loads into one before you make the trip.
4) Do crunches or push ups while watching TV – maybe not every time, but challenge yourself to see how many you can accomplish during the first ten minutes of your favorite sitcom You might be surprised how quickly the number increases.
5) Do jumping jacks during commercials. Your younger kids will love the new game, and your teenagers already expect odd behavior from you anyway!
6) Do upper-body stretches in the shower, like shoulder shrugs. 

Remember, wellness is a lifestyle, not just an aerobics class. The small steps matter in the big picture of health. A stressful week with limited time will not get the best of you when you put these new habits into play to keep you motivated and moving.

Tammy Beasley, RD, CSSD, LD, CEDRD
Rev It Up for Life
www.revitup4life.com