Not quite exercise - what 'active lifestyle' activities do you enjoy throughout the day?

zibaldize
zibaldize Posts: 7 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I am mostly a lump. I know that purposeful exercise offers more benefits than 'physical activity', but as I begin an exercise regimen, I'd also like to incorporate some less structured activity into my life and further cut back on the amount of time I spend on a couch, in front of a screen.

What sort of things do y'all enjoy? When/where do you fit them into your daily schedules?
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Replies

  • zibaldize
    zibaldize Posts: 7 Member
    solieco1 wrote: »
    You might like this thread.

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10610953/neat-improvement-strategies-to-improve-weight-loss/p1

    Thanks! That looks like a good resource.
    lin_be wrote: »
    Walking and listening to podcasts/e-books is a favorite!

    Any favorites?
  • peggym4640
    peggym4640 Posts: 156 Member
    I like to walk, take a quick bike ride and do yoga / stretching while watching tv. Sometimes I'll use my rebounder as well.
  • seska422
    seska422 Posts: 3,217 Member
    edited November 2018
    I drink tea between eating times. I have an open concept living room/kitchen area where I can walk in circles while my tea water heats and while the tea steeps. Many times, I'll also walk 4 or minutes before I start the water heating.

    I'll also walk in circles any time I use the microwave.
  • hesn92
    hesn92 Posts: 5,966 Member
    edited November 2018
    I like going for walks. It helps me decompress sometimes to get out for a bit and be by myself (and my dog)
  • zibaldize
    zibaldize Posts: 7 Member
    b3achy wrote: »
    BTW, I'm also a Stand Up Paddleboarder, so I get plenty of 'structured exercise' too...but I'm usually doing that with a purpose too as I typically train for racing. I say, find something you enjoy doing, and focus on that to get you moving. I get a way better full body workout paddling than most anyone can get in a gym. And it's way more fun.

    That does sound like a lot of fun! I loved kayaking as a kid/teen and keep meaning to get back into it, though I'm always planning on doing it after I build up better baseline fitness. Though I guess that's a bit backwards, and starting a sport is as good a way to build up fitness as any.

    Also: I have my activity levels set to sedentary for the same reason!
  • scorpio516
    scorpio516 Posts: 955 Member
    I walk 2-5 miles a day just getting to work
  • MaryContrary1972
    MaryContrary1972 Posts: 58 Member
    Walking to the shops and bringing the groceries home by foot
  • k8eekins
    k8eekins Posts: 2,264 Member
    edited November 2018
    zibaldize wrote: »
    I am mostly a lump. I know that purposeful exercise offers more benefits than 'physical activity', but as I begin an exercise regimen, I'd also like to incorporate some less structured activity into my life and further cut back on the amount of time I spend on a couch, in front of a screen.

    What sort of things do y'all enjoy? When/where do you fit them into your daily schedules?

    If I'm willing to watch a movie, which I've not been feeling up to doing lately, even though I do, I'll walk before the movie starts, then I'll walk quite a distance towards an eatery after.

    If I'm home to watch a movie, I'll work in the skin and/or beauty course treatments, my massages (facial or full-body or both) and my flexibility routines.

    ETA: Away from either screen, my unstructured go-tos usually are:
    • Edible food gardening
    • Walking our pup
    • Hiking or a quick hard run to clear my mind
    • By the boulders meditation
    • Knitting chunky blankets for donation
    • Playful dance (eg Kizomba/Line dancing) to get in some fun & silly
    • Karaoke or sing-alongs with friends typically by the fire
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    I love to garden. I ran out of room in my garden beds. Fortunately, my across the street neighbor asked me for some help so now I have three new flower garden beds to play with. I also put in a new 12' x 2' x 6" raised bed for vegetables Sunday. Now I can let the strawberries take over one of the 4 x 8 beds and have more room for kale and herbs in the other.

    Last fall I put in a circle shade perennial garden under the crab apple tree.

    This fall we dug up the strip alongside the driveway and put in ornamental fountain grass.

    I also do a little gardening at my neighbor to the right, and have my eye on a bed at my neighbor to my left.

    Gardening season is pretty much over here so I'm going to start doing trail maintenance in the woods behind my house. And hiking in the state park. And soon will be snowshoeing! A friend gave a pair to my mom. She was afraid of falling, so gave them to me. These are old wooden ones, so not as efficient as the newer ones, but a great workout and lots of fun. He bought them for $5 at a yard sale.
  • jjpptt2
    jjpptt2 Posts: 5,650 Member
    I enjoy playing basketball, and try to do so 2-3 times per week on my lunch break.
    I enjoy riding my bikes, and try to as much as my schedule and the weather will allow.
    I enjoy walking/hiking with my dogs, and try to do so a couple of times per week.
    I enjoy trail running, and try to do it a couple of times per week.

    Those are things I do because I enjoy them. Any training or health or weight loss benefits are bonuses for me.
  • Stationagentjules
    Stationagentjules Posts: 57 Member
    I like to roller skate and dance around.
  • sbrooks0387
    sbrooks0387 Posts: 167 Member
    zibaldize wrote: »
    I am mostly a lump. I know that purposeful exercise offers more benefits than 'physical activity', but as I begin an exercise regimen, I'd also like to incorporate some less structured activity into my life and further cut back on the amount of time I spend on a couch, in front of a screen.

    What sort of things do y'all enjoy? When/where do you fit them into your daily schedules?

    I don’t know if I would agree that structured exercise offers more benefits than being active. I get PLENTY of activity in my daily life that I don’t need to purposefully exercise. But I do enjoy walking so I do that when I can.

    Some ideas:
    -parking in the back of the parking lot
    -taking the stairs
    -deep cleaning the house (I saw a debate on here a few weeks ago laughing at people that record cleaning. But let me tell you 4-6 hours deep cleaning a 3,000+ sq foot house that 4 kids, 4 cats, 1 dog, and a spouse live in, you bet I’m logging that. Now sitting on the playroom floor sorting toys of course I don’t log that)
    -yard work (push mowing, raking)
    -gardening (weeding, tilling)
    -walk the kids to school instead of driving

    We live a little more “rustic” aka frugal than most so also:
    -bring firewood in from the woods and stacking it
    -cleaning animal pens
    -shoveling snow in the chicken run

  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    Stationagentjules wrote: »
    I like to roller skate and dance around.

    I used to go to a roller skating rink but kept falling so I stopped. Oddly, I never ever fell at the ice skating rink. I would have thought the 4 wheels were more stable than the blades on the skates.
  • zibaldize
    zibaldize Posts: 7 Member
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    With apologies for veering a little off-topic for your thread: IMO that's actually the best and most straightforward way to build up fitness. If you find a sport you love, it's self-motivating. You'll do it as often as you can. Perhaps you'll find there are particular things you struggle with in the sport (upper body strength, say), and you'll want to do other activities (strength training, say) in order to improve performance at your beloved sport.

    That's the good slippery slope, the virtuous cycle. It's exactly what happened to me when I started rowing around 16 years ago as an obese, sedentary, completely out of shape person just out of cancer treatment. It was magic: Changed my life, no exaggeration. :)

    On the contrary - finding a pastime that leads you to beef up your conditioning routine is really good practical advice, and gets at the heart of one reason I (and, I suspect, many others) are trying to get fit in the first place - a bigger, broader experience of life. I'm glad you 'veered'! (On a side note: rowing! That's another item on my bucket list, but in this case, it'll probably have to wait until I'm based somewhere with a regatta.)
  • BMcC9
    BMcC9 Posts: 4,451 Member
    bump
  • AliNouveau
    AliNouveau Posts: 36,287 Member
    I love walking to do my errands if I can. We have lots of shops around and I try to leave my car at home as much as I can. I also curl, the sport on ice, and figure skate. Those are my hobbies and both are active so they keep me fit.

    In the summer since we get just a short summer I try to enjoy outdoor activities as much as possible.
  • Fflpnari
    Fflpnari Posts: 975 Member
    Roller skating!!! I have a local rink that plays music and is busy enough that you can always find people to skate with or dances to do
  • laurenq1991
    laurenq1991 Posts: 384 Member
    edited February 2019
    I don't drive and that adds plenty of exercise opportunities:
    *Walking to places in my town -- restaurants, library, post office, bank, pharmacy, etc. This is a 1-2 mile round trip depending on where I am going.
    *If I have to go somewhere using public transportation, walking to and from the train, bus, etc. Sometimes this can be a half mile, a mile, or even more.
    *Going to/from the laundromat and supermarket with a rolling cart and pushing the rolling cart full of laundry or groceries over the broken sidewalks. This is a mile round trip for laundry and two miles round trip for groceries. Also dragging the stuff up three flights of stairs. My husband and I usually do the food shopping together by car since the route to the grocery store is somewhat dangerous traffic-wise, and not possible to do if it's too hot outside (food will go bad), there's snow on the ground, etc. But I do the laundry on my own with the cart frequently.
    *I also never use the elevator in my building because I'm afraid of getting stuck inside. I live on the third floor.
    *Also cleaning. I can't figure out how to mop so I wash all the floors by hand with washcloths and a bucket of water. I don't do the wood floors that often since it's not recommended to get wood floors wet often, but I do the kitchen and bathroom every 1-2 weeks. I sweep pretty frequently also. Also scrubbing the tubs and so on can be a bit of an arm workout.
    *I also go for walks for fun/relaxation although not as much in the winter. I live in a nice town, might as well enjoy it.
    *I also do exercise bike, weights, and conditioning sometimes although I wouldn't say I enjoy it. And rarely running.
  • whatalazyidiot
    whatalazyidiot Posts: 343 Member
    Taking my dogs for longer walks instead of just letting them out.

    I started using a smaller cup for water so I have to fill it up more often.

    Instead of just cleaning like one day a week, I split it up so I do something every day - that keeps me a little more active on a daily basis.

    This condo is 2 stories, but the living area is upstairs, so after taking the dogs out, I always run up the stairs instead of walking slowly.
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,740 Member
    edited February 2019
    Most of mine are the same as others have mentioned already!

    My husband and I both really enjoy walking to do our grocery shopping and lots of other errands. We have good stores/shops nearby, but there are a few places that require a much longer walk (3-4 miles round trip) - that is fun too when time and weather permit.

    I am an organizer by nature and I LOVE to dig into projects especially at work. My company is kind of old fashioned and we still have paper records of many types, but there is a constant need to purge older files and reorganize new ones. While it's not necessarily in my job description, no one else is stepping up to do it and I find that it's relaxing and fun to set aside 2-3 hours per week when I can, and work on this stuff. Carrying boxes around and moving things and standing while I organize is a welcome break from my usual number-crunching and desk-sitting.

    House cleaning of course. About once a month I go nuts on some area of the house and deep clean it for a couple of hours. While I keep a pretty tidy house normally, I'm the type who really would prefer to ignore some lower traffic areas for months and then deep-clean until sparkling. Repeat with another area...tiny toothbrush detailing the baseboards and scrubbing windows type of stuff.

    I'm a caregiver several times per week for my mom and welcome a lot of the duties that I help her with such as taking out the trash, extra household chores like vacuuming, etc. Because of surgeries & issues she had last year, she has some medical equipment in her home that needs to be moved around frequently and it probably sounds nuts but I SWEAR I have really built up strength in my arms and upper torso from doing this. Boxes I used to empty halfway in order to move at work, I can move when full with zero issues now.

    I am always up to help friends & family move or have garage sales. I will work my tail off to help them out and view it as a way to get extra movement in the process.

    Also, good ol' mall walking (haha). Even if I just need to hit up 1 store for 1 specific item, I still park at the far edge of the lot and then walk several laps (about 2 miles) in the mall. I do this at least weekly, especially in the winter when I am limited on outdoor exercise. My dad's in his 70s and walks over 25 miles per week inside of his local mall. I can easily see myself doing that when I'm older. I've joined him a few times and those mallwalkers don't mess around, they walk very fast!!
  • jesspen91
    jesspen91 Posts: 1,383 Member
    My rule is if I can walk there in less than 45 minutes I walk it
  • BMcC9
    BMcC9 Posts: 4,451 Member
    bump. This is such an inspiring thread ... and we are in a new month now ...

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