When most of us think about staying in shape, we picture a lot of hard work and exercise. We may picture an hour or more at the gym or a long sweaty jog. Guess what, it doesn’t have to be this way. These ideas will help you to stay in shape both mentally and physically. After all, part of our physical exercise is staying mentally fit as well.
You’ll find that when you’re physically fit, the rest of your fitness falls readily into place. From your mental outlook on life to your finances, if you are staying in shape, you’re going to feel great all the way around. These 7 tips will help you to streamline your morning with ease.
1. Get Your Sleep Number
No, we’re not talking about your mattress; we’re talking about getting the right number of hours of sleep. In order to start your morning off right you’re going to have to determine how many of hours of sleep your body requires. To do this you’ll need to take a few measures.
Start by planning out 8 hours of sleep. Go to bed at a reasonable time, let’s say 11:00 pm for example. This would mean that you get up at 7:00 am. Try this for a few days and see if you wake up feeling refreshed. Some of us may need up to 9 hours of sleep and others may be able to sneak by on only 5 hours of sleep. You may have to play with this for a week or so to determine what works best for you.
Once you get it all figured out start aiming for that amount of sleep on a nightly basis. You can’t stay in shape if you’re not getting the rest you need. Your body heals and recovers at night so be sure that you’re taking good care of your body by giving it plenty of rest.
Another trick to help you get to sleep is to cut out all electronics at least a half an hour before bedtime. This will help your body to wind down and start to relax. If getting up to use the bathroom at night is an issue you may also need to cut back on liquids after about 4:00 or 5:00 pm.
2. Stretch It Out
When your alarm goes off, slowly move to a sitting position at the side of your bed. This is your first mini workout. You’re going to take a few minutes and slowly start stretching. Begin with your toes and curl them up and slowly release them. Now move to your ankles. Twist your torso slowly to one side and then the other. Now stretch those arms up over your head and work your way up your body until you reach your neck. Do a few neck rolls and slowly stand.
Some people prefer to reverse the order of this and start with their head and arms and work their way down. Either way is fine just be sure to do it. By stretching you’re giving your muscles a few minutes to wake up and you’re getting the blood flow going again.
If you do this right you’ve just spent about 5 to 7 minutes getting your body stretched and the blood circulating. You’re now on your way to a great morning routine and staying in better shape.
3. Eat A Healthy Breakfast
It’s long been said that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. This is so very true. If you’re like many of us, you don’t bother to eat you just throw on your clothes and race right out the door. This isn’t healthy and you’re going to find yourself crashing within a very short time if you get into this habit. You’ll also be much more likely to overeat.
Start your day with a healthy breakfast that has some carbohydrates and protein in it. You don’t have to eat a lot, but do try to eat a little bit to fuel your body up for the day. If you simply cannot eat try a breakfast smoothie or shake. There are many to choose from on the market today or you could even create your own with your favorite fruits and veggies.
4. Your Work Out
Now that you’re all fueled up it’s time to consider your workout. You’ll want to create a workout routine that you can enjoy. For many of us this means something that will rotate. If you’re like many of us you get bored with the same old thing day after day so step it up and change things around. Here are some great workout ideas to get you started. Mix and match them or choose one per day for best results.
Go for a walk with a friend or friends.- Take the dog for a walk.
- Run your errands but park farther away and walk the distance.
- Walk to the grocery store or for the errands.
- Do some aerobics with either a class, a friend or by using a video to keep you going.
- Plan out a routine that has repetitive steps such as sit ups, pushups, jumping jacks etc. Do this for about 30 minutes per day.
- Go for a bike ride.
- Go swimming or do water aerobics.
- Do some Yoga.
Remember, your exercise routine doesn’t have to be boring. It can easily be vamped up or down to accommodate you with your daily needs. Remember that if a routine gets boring it’s time to change it up. Your routine should be something fun and enjoyable that you look forward to.
5. Meditate
Schedule some time in to simply meditate and breathe in your day. We’ve found that when we do this we are rejuvenating and reenergizing ourselves. While it may seem counterproductive it actually is healthier and can help to lower blood pressure and ease stress.
Don’t focus on anything but your most serene picture in your mind and let your body relax. It is amazing how putting some meditation into your routine can become of your daily routine and help you to stay in shape physically, mentally and financially. When you take time to focus on nothing but relaxing you allow your body to reduce stress and you can realign your body with your world.
Staying in shape requires many steps and learning how to relax is just one of the many steps that we use to stay in shape.
6. Do The Most Challenging Things First
As you begin the rest of your day decide which tasks are most challenging and get those done while you still have the energy to do them. This is also a great way to stay in shape as it will help you to mentally get them out of the way. You won’t be stressing about them or worrying about any of the small details.
By channeling your energy first thing you can often get more done and save the less intensive tasks for last. If you do something challenging at the end of the day you’ll stress about it all day long. This is very counterproductive to staying in shape.
7. Pre Plan
The last step for easy morning routines to stay in shape is to pre plan tomorrow. Take a few minutes each evening to pre plan your next day. You may wish to set out your clothes for the next day. You might want to write out a list of things to do and organize the list into what is priority and what is simply something that you can do whenever you desire.
When you pre plan you can focus more on your day and enjoying it rather than worrying about what you might need to do next or may have forgotten. As all of these steps become habit in your life you’ll likely find that you actually have more time on your hands.
When you take the time to focus on more challenging tasks earlier in the day when you have the energy you’ll find that they take less time. When you make out your list the night before you’ll find that you have more time in your day. After all of this becomes routine you’ll realize how much time you’ve been wasting on things that you didn’t need to.
Staying in shape is easier when you use these tips and focus more on what life is all about. You’ll find that your body, mind and finances are all in better shape when you adopt a routine like this. It took most of us about six to eight weeks to fully adapt to this new routine but once we did we found that we had more energy than ever before.