MANAGING A HEALTHY LIFESTYLE OUTSIDE THE GYM

So, you decided to focus on your health and fitness this year and made a commitment to getting in the best shape of your life. You even hired one of the elite trainers at Eclipse to gain that extra edge – which includes a heightened sense of accountability – that often makes the difference between reaching your fitness goals and coming up short.

Yet, when you’re away from the gym, maintaining the same level of motivation is difficult. If you feel this way, you’re not alone, but if you make minor changes to your daily routine, you can maintain a healthy lifestyle that allows you to balance what you do in the gym with what you when you’re away from it.

Add Cardio to Your Daily Routine

If possible, walking or biking to and from work is a wonderful way to add cardio to your day. If walking or biking isn’t feasible for your commute, then take small walks throughout the day. Even a five-minute walk every couple of hours has healthy benefits – plus, it will get you away from your computer screen so that you can refresh your mind, too.

If you regularly ride elevators, switch to stairs. You can also take a walk after work or after dinner and park further away in parking lots than you normally do. If you really want to commit to extra cardio, then rescue a dog that will need a few walks every day.

Because fitness is not just a once- or twice-a-week thing, the trainers at Eclipse will help you design an away-from-the-gym cardio program that works with your schedule and lifestyle.

Take Exercise Breaks at Work

Whether you work from home or in an office, add regular exercise breaks to your daily schedule. While it may seem strange to do squats at your desk, incorporating small workouts into your workday is an efficient way to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

So, keep a small set of weights or kettlebells at your desk, get a yoga ball to sit on to strengthen your core, do squats on the way to a meeting, or do small sets of pushups or crunches every hour. Even just five minutes or of bicep curls combined with a walk break every hour will make a dramatic difference. Based on your fitness goals, Eclipse’s trainers can custom create mini-exercise breaks that complement your gym routine.

Host Healthy Dinner Parties

Now that we’re socializing again after two years of sensible precautions, dinner parties are back in style. If you’re a food connoisseur, but struggle to eat healthy, then now is a wonderful time to gather your friends for a healthy dinner party. This will give you an opportunity to try new cuisine, learn new recipes from your friends, and be introduced to new healthy foods. What’s more, you will get to spend time with others, which is good for your mental health.

Find an Active Hobby

A fantastic way to add exercise to those days when you’re not at the gym is to take up an activity that doesn’t feel like exercise. So, find something that interests you and get started. This could be a ballroom dance class, an adult soccer league, group bike rides – anything that gets your body moving. What’s more, you’ll meet some interesting people and make new friends along the way.

Staying Healthy While Traveling

If you’re traveling again, whether for pleasure or business, maintain a healthy lifestyle can be difficult. With a little planning, however, and with some help from the trainers at Eclipse, you will find that staying fit on the road is easy.

First, adhere to the above tips – walk wherever you can; take the stairs instead of the elevator; and park as far away from store fronts, beaches, airport entrances, and anywhere else you might be driving to as you can.

Second, ask the hotel staff about safe nearby routes for walking or running. Go and experience the great outdoors through the eyes of a local.

Third, work out in your room. The Eclipse website has an entire section of heart-pounding exercise routines called The Shred that need little, if any equipment. These five-minutes workouts are easy to incorporate into your travel schedule.

Fourth, be prepared to eat healthy. When traveling, know that you will get hungry – we all do – so plan your meals in advance. If you don’t, once your tummy starts grumbling and you’re feeling ravenous, there will be an exceedingly small chance that you’ll be able to resist the urge to eat something fatty, and your willpower will be thrown out the window.

To prevent this from happening to you, carry multiple healthy snacks with you so you always have a healthy option on hand throughout the day. This will hold you over until your blood sugar levels – and your willpower – return.