Staying Active For Busy People

Working out and keeping active can sometimes be a challenge. Regardless of how demanding your occupation, family and friends are, you can always make time for yourself! Yep, I said it! ALWAYS! It’s not always gonna be a “perfect” or “ideal” workout. Sometimes your workout might just be taking 5-10 minutes to stretch after a long day. Or maybe you do a short ab workout from Youtube. My point is that it doesn’t matter what you do for your workout. All that matters is that you make physical activity a priority for you!

As a personal trainer, multi-business owner, and nursing student, life can get quite hectic! Exercise is what grounds me every day when life gets stressful. Exercise has been my way of coping with my busy lifestyle! On days when I'm not at the gym–I'm riding my bike, playing beach volleyball, or doing yoga. Every day, I make it a priority to get active in any way I can. I do this because It calms my nerves and feels so rewarding to put myself first!

Many of us are so busy taking care of others that we forget to do something for ourselves. When directed on how to use oxygen masks in a plane, they always tell you to put your mask on before you help others. To help others to your best ability, you must prioritize your health. Sure, you could get away with neglecting your health and putting others first–many of us do it. But how will that benefit your quality of life? How will having poor health benefit your friends and family around you?

Studies show that daily activity is associated with weight loss maintenance and continued weight loss. This means it is more effective to do 10-15 minutes of daily activity versus an hour workout once a week. Whether you're looking to gain, lose, or maintain your weight, daily activity is essential! I challenge you to take a couple of minutes to think about how exercise can benefit you.

Many of us think about numbers and looks when it comes to weight loss.“Once I lose 25 pounds I’ll feel so much better about myself”. Setting goals around numbers and looks will often lead to relapse and weight gain. This is because superficial goals are often not the true reason why we want to lose weight. Sometimes, clients won't know what their fitness goal is until they have lost some weight! It’s okay to not have a clear-cut goal when you're starting your health journey. I believe that once you feel the results of consistent exercise, it will motivate you to continue your journey. Once you begin to feel stronger, more flexible, faster, and more confident in the gym, you become unstoppable! I always tell my clients to focus more on how exercise makes them feel versus how it makes them look. The looks will come eventually so don’t worry about them right now!