8 Tips to Stay Active Throughout the Day ft. IdealFit

Living an active lifestyle is about more than just hitting the gym a certain number of times per week, it’s about making conscious decisions throughout the day to live a healthy life. Everyone’s heard the saying ‘always take the stairs’, and that’s a great place to start, but there are plenty of habits that you can incorporate into your day in order to increase your general level of activity, improve your metabolism and burn more calories so you always feel your best! 

1. Try a stand-up desk

One of the biggest barriers that people face when it comes to staying active throughout their day is their work-life and the habits that they’ve created around their work routine. Sitting down for 8/9 hours a day is bad enough, but that coupled with the poor posture that crouching over a laptop screen creates? Forget about it! We recommend working from a stand-up desk for at least part of your day, to help you to feel more alert, improve your posture, and feel more active! 

2. 15 Minute Workouts

Of course, workouts are the most obvious way to stay active each day, but we aren’t all afforded the luxury of time to spend an hour in the gym every day. A great way to combat this is a 15-minute workout slotted into the start of your lunch break, once you’ve finished your workday or even before you go to bed. There are some great 15-minute yoga and pilates workouts on YouTube to help you improve your core strength, flexibility and mental wellness! 

3. Always take the stairs

Worth a mention just so that you remember next time you’re faced with the choice, stairs or escalator! One will contribute to a faster metabolism, give you a rush of energy and endorphins, and improve your cardiovascular health. The other will save you 0.2 seconds and increase your screen time.  

4. Fuel your body right

Never underestimate the power of proper nutrition! Hitting the right amount of carbs, protein, and healthy fats is essential for your energy levels throughout the day. No energy equals no motivation to stay active! IdealFit has a great range of tasty protein to shake up, add to your morning smoothie, or level up your baking with, so that you’re always ready to go.

5. Make it Leisurely

The best step you can take to living a healthy lifestyle is to stop viewing exercise as a chore and start incorporating it into your leisure time. Instead of going for a drive-through coffee, why not treat yourself to a walk to your favorite coffee shop? Instead of getting stuck in commuter traffic, why not treat yourself to a lovely, post-work bike ride? 

6. Wear the right clothes

Being dressed for the occasion makes it so much easier! The last thing you’re going to want to do on your lunch break is go for a walk around the block if you’re wearing stilettoes, and equally, the last thing you’re going to want to do in a white shirt is get a little sweaty! Wearing comfortable, breathable clothes is the best way to quiet that voice in your head saying ‘no, don’t do it!’ throughout the day.  

7. Cleaning

Cleaning burns so many more calories than you would imagine. All that elbow grease, running up and down the stairs with the vacuum, and stretching to reach the corners of the ceiling with your duster, really adds up! In addition to keeping your mind clear and healthy, making time to clean up at some point every day is a sure-fire way to get those calories burning off.  

8. Track your progress

Tracking your activity throughout the day, especially your step count, is a great way to increase motivation. If you know that by 3 pm, you’ve only hit 2000 steps, you’ll naturally start thinking about your evening walk to fix it. Accountability is great because it’ll get those feel-good hormones going when you reach a goal! 

Following our top tips will not only delay or beat illnesses and conditions associated with aging, increase your metabolic rate and posture but also provide you with more energy and a better mood throughout the day. So next time you’re faced with a choice to sit or stand, use the stairs or escalators, sweep or switch on the RoboVac, you know what to do! 

Check out more on IdealFit here.