Jenny Day
We all know by now that being active and having a balanced diet is the key to being as healthy and living independently for as long as possible. However we are creatures of comfort, and for many of us being active brings about negative memories of school PE being out on the Football/ hockey pitch in our shorts and t-shirt in the sleet and being shouted at or even ridiculed because we were ‘no good’ at sport.
If this is something that you relate to, and have never liked the feeling of being out of breath, scared of being no good at it, or making a fool of yourself, then the good news is that exercise does not have to be like this! Being fit and healthy does not mean that you have to do a sport or compete to be the best.
We recommend to anyone we have chance to talk to that the key is actually trying just to move as frequently as possible during the day. Many of us spend hours sitting with our jobs, which a once weekly effort to exercise just will not correct! Walking more, taking the stairs instead of the lift, gardening, dancing, or even getting up to walk round the office every hour is all activity.
Yes the guidelines for improving fitness are 150minutes each week, with 2 sessions of weight bearing/ resistance training sessions included, but if we are more active in general something is always better than nothing, and you are never too old to try.
Our top tips are :
1Find an activity you enjoy, or would like to try out
2 Be realistic with how often you can do the activity. Don’t put pressure on yourself to complete something 7 days a week, when you know that twice a week is all you have time for. Start with a goal of twice per week and build from there.
3 Be kind to yourself. Once you have set your goal, everyone has a slip up. It’s how you react to this that will help you move forward. Don’t beat yourself up, just acknowledge that it happened, and move forward. Remember that something is better than nothing!
4 Buddy Up! It is a great way to start being more active if you have a friend or family member on the journey with you. You can pick each other up when some days one of you just can’t be bothered, you have someone to celebrate the small wins with, and …..
5 Ask for help! If for whatever reason you are at a complete loss as to where to start contact us at Body Happy and we will be delighted to sit down with you and come up with a plan that will work for you!
