How fit and active was your summer?
It is the last day of August and next week the children will be back at school.
September has been called the new, New Years day.
For me, I teach less classes and it gives me time to catch up on jobs around the house and admin.
I was lucky enough to be asked to teach Zumba on the Lake Stage at the Valley Fest at the beginning of August which was very exciting! The weather was beautiful, mixed together with great music and food in the setting of Chew Valley Lake, it was a great event. There was even a guest appearance at the Lake by a crocodile.
Steps
That weekend I completed 30 000 steps per day which was a mixture of walking around the festival site, dancing to the bands in addition to Zumba. Dancing and walking are great ways to keep fit and active.
How Was Your Summer?
Was it like either of the pictures below?
Swimming, body boarding and surfing are also great ways to exercise and keep fit. Even when it is raining.
A lady in the village that I live in, walks everyday come rain or shine and aged at 70 plus, age is no excuse – she is fantastic motivation.
September Solutions
So what is your plan to get fit and healthy for this Indian Summer (hopefully) going into Autumn?
As the nights draw in and it gets colder, the temptation might be to stay in and snuggle into the sofa.
We have taken much of the drudgery out of our lives with increased use of the car, labour saving devices, convenience foods, the microwave so that we can save more time to spend in front of the TV? No wonder obesity is on the increase .
‘Last week health officials warned of an “inactivity epidemic” with four in 10 adults failing to do even one 10 minute brisk walk a month.
They are particularly concerned about adults aged between 40 and 60, where poor lifestyles can have the greatest impact.
It means more than six million are putting themselves at increased risk of illness.’
When I did my original nutrition course, it was advised that people should use a pedometer to measure their steps, now updated to gadgets like the Fitbit, Garmin or apps on smart phones.
Up to 5000 per day is considered sedentary, 10 000 is needed for health and 12 500 to be highly active.
If obese it is recommended to be active for at least 90 minutes per day – which can be built up in smaller chunks.
There are plenty of ways to record and monitor food intake including nutrition and fibre content using apps like Myfitnesspal where you can scan the barcode and create regular menus that repeat to save fiddly calorie counting.
Setting a SMART goal, writing it down and laying out enticing rewards is a sure way to success. Grab a friend to do it too is even better. You can achieve success using ‘old school’ paper and pen too!
20-30 minutes of vigorous activity like a brisk walk 3 – 5 times a week together with resistance work 1-3 times per week is the sure way to health and vitality.
No boring diets or strict regime that you are going to get fed up with – take up a new hobby or an old one that you will cheerfully embrace and look forward to and plan your menus and shopping trip with bright vibrant wholesome foods.
Fitness Ideas
- Take up a new sport
- Cutting the grass gets your steps up and so does golf!
- Flying a kite in the windy weather
- Skateboarding
- Play tag and other games with your children
- Please contact me with any crazy or whacky ideas you may have to get fit too! 07748 963297 or email lynne@thejoyners.co.uk so I can put it in next month’s blog
Standing up chopping vegetables burns more calories! Take every opportunity to take an active opportunity.
You are never too old to get strong as this diagram shows!
Contact me if you have any questions or need advice or tips on getting fit and healthy 🙂
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