Jump Start Your Fitness Routine

If exercise is almost non-existent in your life, it’s time to jump start your fitness routine. Half the battle is getting started. Once you get into the habit, you’ll find it gets easier and easier every day. The first thing you need to do is get moving. It doesn’t matter how or why. A sedentary lifestyle leads to weight gain and other health problems. These quick tips are easy ways to get started on the road to being fit and healthy.

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Don’t Drive When You Can Walk
Make it a rule in your household. Never drive when you can walk. If you need to go to the store right around the corner, put on your walking shoes and get going.

Pick a Bad Parking Spot
When the rest of shoppers are clamoring for a spot near the door, do the opposite. Pick the worst parking spot you can and make the trek.

Take the Stairs
Skip the elevator and escalator whenever you can and take the stairs. Even if you can only take the stairs down when you first start, that’s better than nothing. Soon, you will be skipping up flights of stairs with ease.

Make Dessert a Special Occasion
Sweets and other desserts are not something you should eat every day. Instead of making dessert an after-meal routine, reserve it for special occasions. This is an easy way to cut out empty calories.

Ditch the Soda and Beer
Stock up on water, unsweetened iced tea, diet soda and other light drinks. Sugared sodas and beer don’t offer anything but calories and unwanted carbs.

15 Minutes
If an hour long sprint on the treadmill seems impossible, that’s because it is (at first). But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t exercise at all. Start out with 15 minutes a day of aerobic exercise of some sort — walking, jogging, swimming, biking, whatever you can do. At the end of the week, add five minutes. For the following week, do 20 minutes a day, then add another five minutes. You’ll be up to 45-60 minutes a day in no time.