Get 10K Steps A Day (Even During Self-Isolation)

A few years ago, my husband  surprised me with a Fitbit for my birthday. While the competitive spirit in our house escalated a tad (all in good fun, mind you!), it definitely made me aware of my movement every day. I wore it to school every day, and it seemed that every time one of my students came to school after having a birthday, they were also sporting a Fitbit and we checked in on each other during the day to see where we were at. They sure motivated me, and I even started walking laps around them at recess! Such fun. 

Now, I don’t wear it nearly as much as I used to, but the habits it helped me to create have stayed. I realized how active (or how inactive, really) I was and I want to stay healthy. Movement is part of that!

I was always active and involved in sports and always absolutely love running (and went faithfully every morning!), but since getting a full-time job, my movement has decreased quite a bit. When I was in school, I’d be either playing sports, at the gym or running all the time, and got at least 5 days a week of activity. I do still try to exercise for myself at least 5 times a week but now I’m much more aware of how much time I spend unnecessarily sitting throughout the day. 

To be honest, this post has been sitting in my drafts for quite some time! Now that so many of you are working from home and maybe not getting as much movement as you are used to (or should be getting), I thought I would finally finish off this post. 

I’ve read that sitting and inactivity has been coined worse than smoking. Even the Mayo Clinic has quite a bit to say about it. 

I’m no step master, and a lot of my activity doesn’t even involve steps, but I decided to share some easy ideas for you to try and get closer to ten thousand steps a day.

Set a timer for every thirty minutes and get up and move!

Walk around the room while you’re reading, but maybe make sure it’s a clear space or look up once in a while, okay?

Walk around when on the phone. Kill two birds with one stone by calling up those you care about who are also stuck in their homes. Have a great, fulfilling conversation and check-in while wearing a track in your carpet! You can also do this outside.

Tidy your house. You’d be surprised how many steps you can get tidying your house or doing chores. I score large when I do laundry; going up and down the two flights of stairs really adds up when there are several loads to do!

Join a challenge. Fitbit is one easy way to do it if you’re using one to track your steps already, and there are so many apps out there that are social! Add some friends and set up a challenge! It’s easy AND fun! 

Walk or run in place during commercials if you’re watching TV. Just get up during commercials and get the blood flowing. Do a lap around the room or get some pushups in (not really steps, but movement!). 

Use a different bathroom. Maybe opt to use the powder room on the main floor if you’re working upstairs in your office or vice versa!

Perhaps you could even drink more water so that your trips to the bathroom are more frequent!

Speaking of the home office, think about a standing desk or even a treadmill desk! 

Park in the far end of the parking lot, if you need groceries, but don’t be unsafe. Make sure it’s well lit if it’s dark out and be vigilant as you are walking - even better if someone is with you. But practice social distancing!

Just go. Instead of asking someone to bring you something while you’re lounging, go and get it yourself!

Go for a Walk. Or a run. I left this for last since it’s so obvious! Get outside and get moving! Not only will your body thank you for it, your mind will as well.

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How have you been getting in your steps lately?

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Tips for Leading a More Active Lifestyle

A few years ago, my husband surprised me with a Fitbit for my birthday. While the competitive spirit in our house escalated a tad (all in good fun, mind you!), it definitely made me aware of my movement every day. I don’t wear it now nearly as much as I used to, but the habits it helped me to create have stayed. I realized how active (or how inactive, really) I was and I want to stay healthy. Movement is part of that!

This year I decided to get back into being more active. When I was in school I was always quite active and involved in sports and always absolutely love running (and went faithfully every morning!). Since getting a full-time job, however, my movement decreased quite a bit. Inactivity has been proven to be unhealthy, some people even going as far to say that it’s the new smoking, so I figured I should get back to it.

Since the beginning of this year, I have successfully been more active in my everyday life besides the almost daily exercise I do. Since I have had quite a few people ask me about it, I thought I’d write up a post on some tips for leading a more active lifestyle. 

Just Start

Sometimes it’s best to just start when you feel the motivation in the moment. Oftentimes, when we say, “I’ll do it tomorrow,” tomorrow never comes. Even if you don’t completely know what you are doing, start! An easy place to start would be taking a walk, even if it’s just 10 minutes a day. 5 minutes even. Something is better than nothing.

Find Something You Love

Once you’ve started, don’t quit just because you might hate it. Sometimes it takes a while to find the exercise or activity you enjoy the most. I enjoy running, so it made it easier for me to want to get up and do it. Explore different mediums of exercise. If I hadn’t tried new things, I would have never known how much I enjoy spin classes or Pilates!

Take Note of How You Feel After Exercising

Do you feel great after exercising? Maybe you feel stronger and fitter just because you made some sweat get wiped off your brow? Do you feel energized after taking a walk? Hang onto these feelings and use them as motivation when you are dreading it. If you know you’re going to feel great afterward, you’ll want to get right to it!

Find Creative Ways to Stay Active

Doing fitness programs can be good for some people, but for others, the first step is to just be active in the first place. Once you start consciously thinking about ways to be active, it will come naturally. Some good ways to keep active aside from a workout routine could be:

• Go for walks

• Park farther away from the entrance

• Take the stairs

• Push the vacuum rather than using a robot vacuum

• Do some yard work

• Scrub the bathtub 

• Do laundry

• Add some treadmill time to your TV time

• Go on a hike

Get In Tune With Your Body

Appreciate your body and what it can do. If you start having a gratitude mindset, you’ll shift your focus on what you “have” to do, to what you are able to do! Be grateful you can walk. Be happy that you are able to see progress. Find small things and celebrate them! Along with being in tune with your body, know when you need to rest. Our bodies are very good at telling us what they want if we would just listen.

Make Goals

Create some goals so that you can CELEBRATE wins once you achieve them. It’s best if your goals can be seen. For example, if you want to exercise 3 times a week, schedule it and cross it out when you’re done. 

Create a Habit

It’s true, feeling motivated is not a reality sometimes. By creating habits, you set yourself up for better success (by the way, you should check out this awesome book on habits!). 

Don’t Forget to Rest

Your body needs rest and recovery as much as it needs movement and exercise! This is much overlooked. Don’t overdo it and your body will thank you!

Grace Over Guilt

Instead of focusing on changing alllllll the habits, start with one and add on as you go. If you mess up, it’s okay! Don’t let that hinder you from getting back up and trying again.

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What kinds of active things do you enjoy doing? I have fallen in love with doing Pilates with Robin Long over at The Balanced Life. If you want to check it out, click here to use my referral code!

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How to Stay Healthy While Traveling

Traveling is an amazing thing. Seeing the world and experiencing different cultures and landscapes and places can be a good way to shake things up a little. Of course, when we shake things up a little too much, our body sometimes suffers as well. There is nothing worse for me than getting sick on a trip, or right after one. Here are a few things I do to keep myself as healthy as possible, even through the stress of traveling.

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Eat As Close to Your Normal Healthy Diet as Possible

Don’t go from eating smoothies and kale salads to cheese fondue for breakfast every day for a week. I mean, you could, but your body might try to rebel and the results may not be pretty. I may or may not be speaking from experience. ;-) It won’t always be possible to eat your exact normal diet, but try.

Get Enough Sleep

It is definitely hard to get enough sleep during the holiday season or traveling. Friends and family may be in town, and parties are happening left and right. Do your best to get as much sleep as you can. I find that even a weekend of too little sleep leaves me feeling pretty awful and makes for a very long week. If you are traveling to a different time zone, you can use a small amount melatonin to help get you out of jet lag quicker. Note that melatonin is not a long term fix for sleep problems.

Choose Healthy Alternatives

While packing your own snacks is a health and money saver, when traveling for longer periods of time, it is often necessary that you stop for sustenance. Try to plan ahead by creating a meal plan for your vacation. The best thing for your wallet is finding a local grocery store to stock up on healthy foods and even meals. Of course, not everyone stays in facilities that allow you to cook your own meals, so thankfully, many fast food places and restaurants (and even grocery stores!) have started offering healthy options on their menus that you can take advantage of as well.

Drink Water

Water is so important! Staying hydrated will help keep you healthy! I pack my own water bottle and fill it up whenever there is an opportunity to so that I don’t have to buy giant, heavy, and often expensive, packs of water. Seriously, having to pay $4+ for a bottle of water is not fun when you are thirsty. I have actually experienced not even getting free water on a 6+ hour plane ride, so don’t assume you’ll get some on flights sometimes. If you do take a water bottle on a flight in you carry on, be sure it’s empty before you go through security. Yikes. By the way, you will also want to keep your skin hydrated with all the stress of travel.

MOVE!

If you regularly exercise (which you should be!), don’t let your habits go completely out of the window when you travel. If you’re staying in a hotel, there is a chance they have a fitness area where you can set aside some time to exercise. If not, Youtube is full of at home workouts that require no equipment and that cane be done in 20 minutes or less! Phone apps too. Walking will also help keep you active - especially when you have to sit for hours during the traveling process in trains, planes, and other automobiles. Just make sure you pack some good sneakers and gear!

Be Prepared

Be prepared for whatever conditions you will be facing. If you’re going to be having fun in the sun, make sure you pack a water bottle and sunscreen and a hat! Pack warm clothing for chilly weather. Borrow from hosts if you need to, by the way. We went to Canada and couldn’t pack our snow gear in our suitcases, so we borrowed from some cousins! Bring some immunity boosting vitamins and stuff to keep you clean. Pack a small first aid kit with some basic needs. You get the idea. Being prepared will help you stay healthy - or help you when you aren’t as successful.

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What are some of the ways you stay healthy while traveling? Any other tips?

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Easy Ways to Cut Down on Refined Sugar

I have a definite sweet tooth. I didn’t always have one, and actually, as much of a sweet tooth I have, I prefer savory things. I do, however, go through periods where it seems I can’t get enough sweetness into my mouth. It’s a strange thing. Or is it? After reading up about refined sugar, I found the obvious: that too much can be really detrimental to our health!

I also found that sugar can be found in many of the products we buy in the grocery store. I had no idea about that until I took a no sugar challenge, where not even trace amounts of added sugar were allowed. I was reading every single label on every single product in the grocery store and found that there is a lot of unnecessary sugar out there!

Now, I’m not against a sugary treat every now and again, but I think it is important to limit how much sugar we put into our bodies! Your mother always told you that too much of a good thing is not good. And she was right.

Cut down on sugary drinks

This is pretty straight forward. Drink water instead of sugary drinks. Beware of bottled juices though - some hide large amounts of sugar that are not naturally occuring. Try some of the following if you think you absolutely cannot handle plain water:

Infused water

If you can’t stand the taste of water (I personally love it), feel free to infuse it with fresh fruit, vegetables, or herbs. Not only does it spice up your water, it makes it look extra pretty too! You can easily do this by adding them to your water pitcher or glass, or even buying a fancy one that is made to infuse (check this one out from Amazon).

Herbal Tea

I love having some herbal tea in the morning or before bed. It’s hot, so it’s more comforting to drink than water, but contains zero sugar when you don’t sweeten it!

Make your own food staples

There is a lot of refined sugar hidden in a lot of staples you buy in the store, like bread and granola and even sauces in a jar. You can even find extra amounts of sugar in canned foods (like canned fruit) that are unnecessary. By making your own, or cutting your own, you can avoid these ingredients and choose exactly what goes into your food.

Cut Out Sugary Desserts

Many desserts are just calorie dense and provide few nutrients. If you need something sweet after you eat, try to have a bit of fruit or splurge and have a small piece of dark chocolate.

Eat full, whole-food meals

By eating full, whole-food meals, you can generally reduce the temptation to snack in between. Especially the sweet kind. Personally, my parents never really allowed me to eat between meals growing up, so this isn’t hard for me, but I know it can be a challenge.

Replace Sugary Condiments

Many condiments such as ketchup and BBQ sauce are filled with sugar. One tablespoon of ketchup, for example, may have up to 4 grams of sugar in it! Use some low sugar options to substitute for condiments. There are plenty of options, including different fresh or dried herbs and spices and homemade sauces.

Beware of Processed Snacks

Watch out for foods that are marketed as healthy. Things such as granola bars and protein bars and dried fruit can contain large amounts of sugar - sometimes even more than a chocolate bar. You can make your own trail mixes that don’t contain extra sugar, or make your own crackers to add to soups!

Read Labels

Did you know there are at least 56 names for sugar?! Check your labels for sneaky sugars hiding out in the ingredients list. Watch for anything ending in “-ose.” Here are some common names you should look out for: High-fructose corn syrup, Cane sugar or juice, Maltose, Dextrose, Invert sugar, Rice syrup, and Molasses Caramel.

Eating Cleaner on a Budget

One of the things I hear most from people when we talk about eating clean or healthy is, “but I can’t afford to eat healthily!”

I honestly used to think the same way, but now I know that everything is doable on a budget - you just have to prioritize and do a little research! Below are a few of my favourite ways to eat clean on a budget. 

Use Your Freezer

There are so many great foods that freeze so well! When I stock up on our favourite staples, I always consider how well it keeps. Since there are only two of us, our freezer gets a lot of use. Some favourites to stock in there are spinach, kale, tofu, beans, nuts(!), and tomatoes.

Plan Ahead

Make a meal plan to most effectively use your groceries.

Eat less meat/Be a vegetarian

We choose to not eat any meat at all and it has cut down on our grocery bill. Yes, while there are meat substitutes out there that are wildly expensive, we choose to greatly limit these as well and opt for making it from scratch or only having it once in a blue moon (a.k.a. When there is a crazy sale). Most meat substitutes found in stores are highly processed and full of sodium anyway, and aren’t the best for you!

Consider a Homemade Pantry

Pancake mixes, cake mixes, canned beans….all of these things and more you can do yourself! It’s actually simple, takes the same amount of time as it would to go to the store and buy them, and is much better for both your wallet and your body! One cookbook I use that helps me greatly is The Homemade Vegan Pantry. I love all of the ideas in it and adapt them for my own use.

Save Your Scraps 

Don’t waste those onion skins and celery and carrot ends! Collect them and store them in your freezer and make a simple vegetable broth (that can also be frozen, by the way!). That saves on having to buy veggie stock.

Reusable Water Bottles

If drinking more water is in your cleaner eating plan, skip buying the bottled water and the extra sugar and calories from bottled juices and invest in a good quality reusable water bottle. Pay next to nothing and stay hydrated - it’s a no-brainer and a win-win.

Shop in Season and Locally

Start paying attention to what is in season for cheaper produce. Shopping locally will not only give you a great deal but also help your local farms and community! Your freezer comes in handy for this as well - so much produce, depending on what you want to do with it later - can be frozen until you're ready for it. That way, it doesn't go to waste.

Skip Organic Produce in Some Cases

If you've ever heard of the dirty dozen then you'll know that there are some foods that you can skip in the organic section, and some you probably shouldn't. Your decision!

Try Store Brands

So many grocery stores offer high-quality organic food for less [enter applause]! 

Don't Forget Apps!

Using apps to save me money has really paid off over the last few years - no pun intended! One of my favourite rebate apps for grocery shopping is Ibotta and I love it! By the way: Use my referral link to download Ibotta and get a $10 welcome bonus!

Eating clean doesn't have to make you go broke by any means! With a little extra effort, you can make your dollars stretch!

“Eating clean on a budget is easier than you thought!”

TWEET IT!!

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How do you eat clean on a budget?

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