http://www.cph.org/b-246-ten-tips-for-increasing-physical-activity-during-advent.aspx
Ten Tips for Increasing Physical Activity during Advent
There are a lot of extra distractions this time of year. As you jump into Advent, preparing to celebrate our Savior’s birth, incorporate these ideas to overcome some of those distractions and enjoy the benefits of exercise!- While Christmas shopping, take an extra lap or two around the mall or store.
- Try to get the most steps out of usual daily activities. For example, use stairs instead of elevators, and park as far away from the door as possible to get extra steps walking back and forth to your car each day. If your time for exercise is limited, increase your intensity. Instead of walking one mile in twenty minutes, power walk it in fifteen minutes, jog it in twelve minutes, or run it in eight minutes.
- Laugh and make memories with your family. Turn on Christmas music each evening and dance around your Christmas tree. This is one of my favorite Advent memories. Moving to the music with my four little boys each evening burned off some of their extra energy and my extra Christmas calories, in addition to restoring some sanity to my home.
- Make your exercise time your prayer time too. Pray for each family member. Pray for difficult relationships. Pray that God will give you a forgiving heart. Pray that the Christ Child will be at the center of your heart. Thank God for the blessings of each day, of the Advent season, of the fulfilled promises of our Savior.
- Instead of meeting with friends for a holiday lunch or dinner date, don walking shoes and pick a place filled with Christmas lights to explore on foot.
- Combine physical exercise and Bible listening time. Download a Bible app or devotional app on your mobile device. Go for a walk or run while listening to a book of the Bible such as Luke or Matthew as you prepare your heart for the celebration of Christ’s arrival. Or listen while exercising at a health club.
- Utilize your exercise time for stress management. Play your favorite Christmas music. Inhale fresh air as you enjoy some outside exercise minutes.
- Walk around your neighborhood with your family. As you walk, share Christmas joy with your neighbors by dropping off a small present (fresh fruit, a favorite book, a “coupon” to shovel the driveway, etc.). Invite your neighbors to Advent and Christmas worship services with you.
- Every Saturday or Sunday, examine your calendar for the following week and schedule an exercise time every day. Even if you can’t get forty-five minutes a day, schedule at least a few minutes each day. Download and print off a monthly exercise log (like this one: http://wheatridge.org/logs) and hang it on your bathroom mirror. Each day in December, record your exercise minutes.
- On Black Friday or Cyber Monday, buy yourself an Advent present: a Fitbit or other exercise step counter. Having a step counter increases motivation for exercise. Invite other people to be part of your Fitbit circle of friends.
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Don't forget on Black Friday or Cyber Monday, or anytime in December buy your fitbit pedometer or other step counter! My patients prefer a waist step counter to the wrist one.
What are your best ways to keep up with your physical activity and exercise during busy and cold months?
These are such great suggestions! We often have in our minds that the holiday season means overeating and feeling boated and awful, but it doesn't have to be that way. I like the idea of meeting a friend for physical activity. I have a friend that I meet several times a week for workouts, and we joke that it's our therapy time. It's a huge stress relief. Thanks for sharing these.
ReplyDeleteGreat post! Great ideas :) It's true, this doesn't have to be a month filled with overindulgence, feeling bad about overindulging, therefore overindulging yet again. Thanks for the tips and reminders!
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