I’ve recorded this email as a video as well. You can find it on Facebook or Instagram.
It is all too easy to spend all day sitting these days, yet most of us want to maintain our health and fitness – and still be able to fit into our ‘nice clothes’ when this is all over!
General movement, which we largely used to achieve without a conscious plan, now needs to be intentionally added into our day – and the time needs to be strictly guarded!
Before we were stuck at home, regardless of what structured exercise we were doing, it was largely normal life that helped to break up long periods of inactivity. Simply wandering around town or walking to and from the car during various errands kept us moving.
Of course, this activity was never enough to create a calorie deficit and help you lose weight. But, a lot of people (even those who have been keeping up with structured exercise) have been noticing weight gain since life changed, and I feel a large part of this is due to losing a big percentage of their general activity. The calories used by just pottering around really do add up, and while you likely didn’t notice the calories being used before, now you’re not using them, you can see the effect!
Of course, you should be keeping going as much as you can with the structured exercise routines you had in place before – even if you have to change things a fair bit to account for a change in the options available to you.
But also, start to make a point of moving regularly throughout the day. One of the easiest ways to do this has to be to commit to moving for at least 10 minutes after every meal. If you’re having fun, maybe you’ll end up doing more than 10 minutes. Even an extra half an hour of movement spread over the whole day could well be enough to tip the balance back to where it was before.
Perhaps you’ll go for a walk once a day, and there are always jobs to do in the house or the garden which can get you moving. Do some cleaning, sweep the patio, change the beds, rake some leaves, throw a ball for the dog… Or you could pick an exercise and do a few reps of it a few times a day. You might do a few squats when you go to the loo, or a few press ups against the worktop while you’re waiting around in the kitchen. The key is to keep things as natural as possible – don’t try to turn general activity into a workout.
I hope this gives you some food for thought, I’d love to hear what you think!