What's one small fitness habit that made a huge difference for you?

simpletreefit

When it comes to fitness, it’s not just about intense workouts or strict diets. Often, the small, consistent habits make the biggest difference over time, in both our bodies and minds.

Maybe it was drinking a bit more water, choosing the stairs, stretching each morning, or simply showing up even when your motivation was low.

We would absolutely love for you to share your game-changer! You never know who might feel inspired by your story!

ninerbuff

Just work on increasing your NEAT (non exercise activity thermogenisis). Like you said, stairs instead of elevator/escalator. Park further aways from destination. Whatever you can do manually instead of by machine or assistance.

One thing I personally do is when folding and putting away laundry, I do one piece at a time so I'm always walking back and forth.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer

IDEA Fitness member

Kickboxing Certified instructor

Been in fitness for 40+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

mkculs

Adopting a "something is better than nothing" attitude. With this, I could promise myself I could quit if I didn't feel like working out, as long as I gave it a shot. The reality has been, once I start, I am very unlikely to stop. As a runner, I know that if I don't feel better after the first mile, I should stop, b/c I need a day or two off. Time and time again, if I've ignored that and pushed on, I've ended up with an overuse injury. Usually a tendon, like my Achilles, and those things are hard as heck to heal. Never again.

I eschewed walking for a long time; found it too boring. But I read somewhere, "we're lapping everyone sitting on the couch," and I began to appreciate walking just for the sake of being outside when I couldn't run or hike. I love it now.

AnnPT77

Not strictly speaking a "small habit", but definitely a game changer for me: Keeping on trying things until I found a way to be active that I love so much I'd do it even if it weren't good for me . . . but it is.

As background, I started gradually becoming routinely active after full-bore breast cancer treatment: Surgery, chemo, radiation. I was physically totally depleted, and I decided I needed to become more active if I ever wanted to feel strong, energetic, or even happy ever again. I started slowly, but started trying things, gradually progressing in effort/intensity.

A couple of years in, a breast cancer survivors rowing team was starting in my area, so I joined. Walking up 4 flights of steps to the first workout/meeting with indoor rowers, panting with the effort of those stairs, I wondered if I was out of my mind. Maybe I was, I dunno. But I got hooked, and loved it. On-water rowing was great!

I loved it so much I did other things in the off season to stay in shape for the next season (because our river freezes). I don't like being in water, but I took adult learn-to-swim lessons because rowers need to be able to swim, then followed up with lap swimming classes. I did aerobics videos to improve my cardiovascular fitness, in between machine rowing. There was more, but you get the picture.

Somehow, along the way, a "chosen last in gym class" kid turned into a senior athlete, even competing in on-water and machine races . . . not always unsuccessfully in age-group competitions. It utterly transformed my life. I'm not sure I'd even be alive now, if I'd stayed on my pre-cancer life trajectory. (To be clear that's not a statement about self harm. It's that exercise can reduce chances of developing metastatic breast cancer, and I'd done a good job of getting cancer: Stage III, locally advanced, multiple tumors. On top of that, I had other health issues that exercise then weight loss greatly improved.) There are things that were physically difficult for me at age 45, chores around my home, that are quick and easy for me at age 69.

Now many of my friends are fellow rowers, widely ranging in age. I don't think it's a brag to say I'm fitter than average for my demographic, at that age of 69: It's just a happy side effect of doing something I love, that I've now been doing for over 22 years, starting when I was still obese. Having lost weight later in the process, around 10 years ago, I'm also now healthy for my demographic: Good blood test results, blood pressure, resting heart rate, body composition, endurance, etc.

Finding the fun activity was a life changer, no lie. It took some experimenting and persistence to stumble into that thing, but the benefits have been massive.

Lietchi

Two things were key for me:

• Counting calories rather than overhauling my diet to 'eat healthy' without any idea of how much I was eating
• Related to the first point: not overhauling my diet, but rather eating my usual foods in different quantities/proportions and along the way make tweaks to my diet with some calorie friendly substitutions...

cupcakesandproteinshakes

making fruit and vegetables half of my diet.
walking more.

Going to bed at 10 pm

nossmf

Drinking more water. I was definitely of the "if it's not soda, I ain't drinking it" variety at one point. When I decided to lose weight and realized the soda had to go, I made myself a deal: I could still drink as much soda as I wanted, but I first had to drink an equal amount of water…so before a 12oz can, I had to drink 12oz of water. At first this didn't slow me down on my soda drinking, but it did get me used to drinking water. Over time my desire for sodas did start to slow down, helped by me putting flavor additives in my water (Crystal Light, Kool-Aid, etc). These continued until I cracked a tooth on an un-popped popcorn kernel, at which point cold hurt my mouth, and warm Kool-Aid just didn't taste right, so I reverted to unflavored water at room temp. Fast forward to today and I still drink predominantly room-temp water, because it's easier to gulp down a large glass at room temp than it is if it's cold.

Water has so many benefits:
it helps give energy during exercise…
it helps recovery post-exercise to reduce soreness…
it aids digestion…
when losing weight, glasses of water to help fill the stomach pre-meal (or between meals) helps to calm hunger pangs…
water encourages NEAT by forcing you to walk to the bathroom several times per day…
tap water is free so saves money over ANY beverage you may buy…
water doesn't spoil for lack of refrigeration, so survives power outages or camping trips…