Why I am prioritizing my health this year and making time for daily movement and fitness in 2020 with the help of at home workouts.
What Happened When I Stopped Moving
The last few months of 2019 I basically stopped working out because I was stressed, busy and had a lot going on both personally and professionally. I wasn’t making any type of daily movement or physical activity a consistent priority and I found the following happened –
- I became even more stressed
- sluggish
- constantly tired
- in a bad mood often
- had trouble sleeping at night
- my skin kept breaking out
- was sick more often than usual
- often felt down and didn’t want to make plans with friends
I knew that I needed to be better at making daily physical activity a priority in my life. So I evaluated my day and looked at my schedule and tried to find a dedicated time to work out every day.
Finding Time for Fitness Everyday
For me, I knew that if I left exercise until the end of the day that I just wouldn’t get around to it. If I’m being completely honest, I typically find that exercise is one of the first things that I put off until tomorrow when my day gets hectic.
So I started setting aside time everyday as soon as I dropped the kids off at school in the morning to work out. I’d take a walk outside while listening to a podcast or complete a quick workout video in my living room.
I would typically work as soon as I got back home from school drop off but I found that I was able to shift my work schedule a bit to accommodate the lost hour in the mornings. It did mean that I had to work a few hours later a couple nights during the week, but I knew it was important.
The first week was tough and I thought of a thousand excuses why I didn’t have time to take a walk or lift weights but I didn’t let myself put it off and tried to stay consistent. By week two, I started feeling better, had a better attitude, my skin started clearing up and I had more energy.
Trying Something New – Running
Since we are a single income family, it’s hard for us to justify spending money on a gym membership and it’s just not part of our personal budget. So I try to find things that I can do at home to exercise. For strength training, I absolutely love the at home videos and routines from Tone It Up.
The area I always lacked in was at-home cardio. I don’t own any exercise equipment like a treadmill, elliptical machine, bike, etc. One thing that I’ve always wanted to do was really give running a try. My husband loves to run and I’ve been interested in it for awhile because –
- it’s free
- no equipment is needed
- it’s a great way to get in physical exercise while spending time outdoors
- it’s great for mental clarity
- it’s quick and can be done almost anywhere (at home, while traveling, with friends)
When I tried getting in to running in the past, I always quit because I’m not good at motivating myself so I soon as I started getting tired or out of breath on a run, I’d just stop.
Read more about my past fitness related goals.
Charge Running App
For the last 3 weeks, I’ve been testing out an app on my phone called Charge Running. It’s an interactive app that provides live, trainer-led running classes for any level of fitness.
There are live classes that you can take where you are running with others from around the world or you can complete their on-demand classes that are available whenever you want and customize to your level of fitness, time restraint or run location (ie. indoor vs outdoor).
Every run is led by a coach that motivates you the whole time you are running and provides tips about form, heart rate, distance, etc.
There are also different programs depending on your experience/goals –
- 5k training program
- 10k training program
- Virtual races
- Light runs
- Moderate runs
- Hard runs
My Personal Experience with Charge
When I first started using the app, I did the on-demand classes and started with the very beginner, “light” runs. I completed the Walk to Run 5 Day Course and really enjoyed it!
My first class was the Day 1 – Walk to Run. As someone who could never really get into running, I was surprised how much I liked my first run. The trainer was upbeat, helpful and guided me through a 25 minute routine that started with 30 seconds of running and 2 minutes of walking intervals. There was upbeat music and the trainer would motivate you to keep going by letting you know how much time was left in each interval. The time passed quickly and just as the jogging portions started getting difficult, it was time to switch back to brisk walking.
The remaining Walk to Run days were similar but the intervals slowly increased and every day was a different trainer and different types of music. By the fifth day, I was up to 35 minutes of walking for 2 minutes, jogging for 4 minutes.
I’ve since kept it up with light tempo runs and aim for 2-3 days a week of running. I’m excited to continue and hopefully create an enjoyable habit that I look forward to and a part of my daily movement goals.
Daily Movement – A New Goal for 2020
Since I love trying to create new goals for myself throughout the year, I joined my friend Liz from Shaw’s Simple Swaps in her goal to walk 1000 miles in 2020. I have no idea if that is even possible at this point but it’s fun to try and she already has a great group of people trying to make it a reality.
Another friend of mine, EA from The Spicy RD recently started a 5 in 45 movement that challenges you to get up and move for 5 minutes everyday 45 minutes. It’s simple but an effective way to get in daily movement and shake it up and stop sitting for such long periods of time.
