By: Sherry Netherland, Director of Special Projects for Assisted Healthcare Services
More hours of daylight make spring the perfect time for lifestyle changes – particularly increasing your activity levels. When I was a kid, it meant being able to go outside and play after school. As an adult it means being able to go for a walk after dinner. Too often we overlook opportunities to be active – especially if our hours outside of work are busier than our workday. If you carpool kids, you know what I mean. However, even though we are the family chauffeur, the places we are going might have hidden fitness opportunities. For example:
- Sports Practice – Instead of sitting in the bleachers, walk up and down the stairs in the bleachers – several times.
- Grocery Shopping – After you grab your cart, before you start shopping, walk around all the aisles making a circumference of the store. Do that three times, then up and down each aisle. Do that at as brisk a pace as possible.
- Dropping Teens at the Mall – Wear your gym shoes and walk the interior circumference of the mall at a brisk pace. Do that for 20-30 minutes.
I recommend activity for those times when you might be stuck hanging around and waiting. Trying to move at these times will have the benefit of not only increasing your activity level but also making the time pass. It also might be the only chance during the day you can squeeze in some fitness, because we all know, when you finally get home, and the house is quiet, you are going to collapse. If that happens, there’s only one thing to do – put your feet up and relax.
©2013 Sherry Netherland is the Director of Special Projects for Assisted Healthcare Services, a Medicare certified, CHAP accredited home health agency with 7 branches in California and Arizona. She founded the Assisted Speakers Bureau and she speaks on a variety of healthcare related issues. To learn more about home health care and private duty nursing and how Assisted can help, www.assisted1.com/home_health_care.
Assisted Mail