Hand up if you’ve promised yourself that you’re going to make 2018 the year you lose weight/tone up/get fit?
If your hand is up (even metaphorically) then you’d be in good company, especially as my hand is right up there with yours!
Getting fit and losing weight is one thing but I know countless people who have signed up for a gym during the super-motivated first stages of a New Years Resolution and regretted it within weeks so I wanted to share this post with you today in the hope that I save someone from potentially making a very expensive mistake.
You absolutely do NOT need a gym membership to get in shape, honestly. You just need a little bit of motivation and yes, I know that you might think having a gym membership will magically give you that motivation you’re after but there’s plenty of other ways too.
So, how can you get fit without spending a fortune? Well, here’s five ideas of ways that I’m planning on using to get in shape this year…
Download an app!
I love the free Couch to 5k app and really enjoyed starting to get into running – don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t amazing at it and did week one about three times in the end before moving on to week two and the same again before moving on again. I was a bit poorly though and stopped part way through and never got back into it which is a shame and something I intend to put right this year.
Other free apps like MyFitnessPal and Map My Walk or Map My Run are great to help you keep track of exercise.
Get yourself a fitness tracker in the sales
Fitness trackers are great motivational tools that help you keep track of how much exercise you’re doing and in some cases, prompt you to do more of it! I know that the most popular ones are Fitbits but I do love my Bellabeat which is a lot prettier than a Fitbit.
I wrote my review of my Bellabeat here after Mr Frugal bought me it last year for my Birthday and I still use it now. It monitors sleep, exercise and if you want it to, even helps you set aside meditation time aside.
You don’t need a tracker though as you can just use the fitness tracker on your phone if you have one.
Make your own mini-gym
We cleared out our garage last year and made a little space where we now have an exercise bike and a cross trainer along with some weights and a yoga mat – all of which came to less than £50 as we bought them from eBay and Facebook.
We put my Dad’s old TV in there with an Amazon firestick and I find it very easy to just pop out there for a quick go on the exercise bike and watch an episode of something while I’m out there.
Find something you love doing
If swimming is your thing then make some time to go swimming at least once a week… If you love dancing then get yourself on a dancercise class… If you love horses then start horseriding lessons…
Do you see where I’m going with this? Whatever you love doing, do it and if you don’t know what you love then experiment with different classes. Head to your local leisure centre, gym or even trampoline park and find out what classes or sessions they have available and then get yourself booked on a couple.
Don’t do it alone
Get together with some friends and go for a regular bike ride or run – even a walk together on a regular basis is better than nothing. Sign up for a class together or join a slimming club like Slimming World because the best chance you have of sticking to something is when you’re not going it alone.
PS – Stay tuned as I have a Slimming World post coming up next week that will help you to make sure it works for you.
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