I think it’s safe to say a lot of people are pretty lazy these days. And I don’t mean in every thing. We live in a busy world and have a million obligations and by the time the day is done (family fed and bathed included)… we instantly become lazy.
All we want to do is kick back and relax. Or even just go to bed early because tomorrow is right around the corner. I get it. Trust me. But honestly, it all boils down to excuses. And the biggest excuse of them all is “I don’t have time”. We’ve all said it. But with so many busy moms, dads, students with jobs, etc. shedding pounds, we can’t deny the fact that it can be done. We all only have 24 hours in a day.
The key is to make small changes so you don’t get overwhelmed with trying to do it all. That’s why I love lazy girl hacks! Lazy girl hacks are just habits that you can develop by doing them every day and they are simple enough they won’t overwhelm you. So here are some of my favorite lazy girl fitness hacks!
1. CREATE A PLAYLIST THAT IS THE SAME LENGTH AS YOUR WORKOUT
Are you the type of person that checks the clock a lot while you workout? The likelihood of stopping your workout early increases with every glance at the clock. A great remedy for this is to create multiple playlists for different workout lengths.
This will depend on where you are at physically. You are reading this post so I’m assuming you’re just starting out (or starting again). So start out with two playlists. One that’s 10 minutes long and also one that’s 20. The average song is 3-5 minutes long. You could start out with a song to get you motivated, a song to get you pumped up, and a song to wind you back down.
And when you’re more advanced, create a few more playlists. 30 minutes, 45, and an hour.
2. JUST 10 MINUTES
This goes with the hack mentioned above. You can always start out just working out for 10 minutes a day. This will still help you in so many ways. Lots of healthy benefits, but it also will help you build the habit of working out every day.
And when you do move up to more time working out every day and you have a bad day, tell yourself “just 10 minutes”. Give yourself permission to stop after that. But you might find that your motivation is back up and that you can go longer.
3. DRINK MORE WATER
Yea, yea… you know you need to drink more water. But did you know that drinking water suppresses your appetite and helps you burn more calories throughout the day? Drinking cold water can help you burn up to 2-3% more calories within the next 90 minutes. So if you’re drinking water throughout the day, you are burning more calories with very little effort.
To help you drink more water, here are a couple of tips. Keep water with you at all times, drink a bottle of water with each meal, add fruit to your water, and eat more soups and fruits/veggies since they have a high water content.
4. REWARD YOURSELF
Rewards work. With kids and pets, but also with us adults. But it’s got to be a short term reward. You have your weight loss goal and that will be an AMAZING reward when you hit it, but that could take a little bit. So give yourself some small rewards because it’s easy to lose sight of the end sometimes.
Be careful when rewarding yourself with food. It’s so easy to go overboard. You could do a piece of dove chocolate after a whole day of doing good and meeting your goals (that’s about 44 calories). Or if you have some more patience, wait till the weekend and get yourself a cheat meal and dessert.
A better reward would be something that’s not food related. Like buying workout clothes, taking a fitness class, getting a massage, fitness gear, etc. It’s all up to you.
5. WORK OUT WHILE WATCHING TV
Doing some simples exercises like lunges, squats, planks, push-ups, and sit-ups while watching TV is a great option for days when you missed your workout. You could also just workout during the commercials so you’re not distracted from your show!
