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

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  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,849 Member
    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: 4,364 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: 10,742 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: 4,364 Member
    bump. This is such an inspiring thread ... and we are in a new month now ...
  • MelanieCN77
    MelanieCN77 Posts: 4,047 Member
    Yardwork and gardening is my main activity outside of purposeful exercise or walking. I have animals so there's always some chore or clean up to do, and we are on a fair size chunk of land with a small landscaped portion so literally always something to be done. This morning I've switched my planned gym time to this evening and am about to head outside and do some cleanup before it is supposed to rain this afternoon. After that I'll do some pruning and weeding. Got two enormous lemongrass plants that need attacking.
  • allieeveryday
    allieeveryday Posts: 85 Member
    I also walk and talk when I get phone calls on my cell, even if it's just pacing circles around the house.

    When the weather isn't cruddy, I walk on my work breaks to get outside for a few minutes.
  • ecmorgan101
    ecmorgan101 Posts: 24 Member
    I teach, so I'm basically on my feet walking around the room a big part of the school day - probably 6+ hours.
  • puffbrat
    puffbrat Posts: 2,806 Member
    Walk the long way. For instance, I will go outside and around the long wing of the building, then back in and down the hall to the bathroom rather then just going through a small office area and around the corner. If I don't want to go outside, I will go up to the third floor, down the hall, downstairs, and then down the hall to the bathroom. My last job was in a four story rectangular building and I used to walk laps around my floor or down across and back up at least a couple times a day. This is a good way to get a couple thousand extra steps and an extra couple minutes away from the computer screen.
  • kali31337
    kali31337 Posts: 1,048 Member
    Walking home from work instead of taking the metro (about a mile away)
    Walking back and forth in the metro while waiting on my train (and probably making the other people nervous)
    Spending a lot of time with my dog and getting her out for walk as much as she can
    Not sure how effective but a couple times a day, I'll walk the 5-8 flights down the steps and then take the elevator back up (will be incorporating the stairs back up slowly) just to get more steps into my day
    Keeping my house clean has led to less time on the couch and a better mental state
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 24,707 Member
    jesspen91 wrote: »
    My rule is if I can walk there in less than 45 minutes I walk it

    Yep ... me too!

    I travel from work to Uni one day each week. By bus, it takes 30-ish minutes and walking, it takes about 45 minutes. The bus isn't necessarily reliable ... so far, my feet have always been reliable. Plus it's a great chance to get some exercise!

    So I walk.
  • rfajitas12345
    rfajitas12345 Posts: 27 Member
    A little meth here or there
  • shercamp1
    shercamp1 Posts: 2 Member
    I don’t know if this counts but I work in a supermarket and stacking shelves etc is great exercise for me! I actually enjoy going to work knowing that my trips to the stock room or running to find items are putting me in a deficit, as well as earning me brownie points with the bosses 😁
  • llUsernamell
    llUsernamell Posts: 12 Member
    I may be too old for this, but Dance Dance Revolution, para para dancing, and an intense game of air hockey.
  • BMcC9
    BMcC9 Posts: 4,364 Member
    I may be too old for this, but Dance Dance Revolution, para para dancing, and an intense game of air hockey.

    No such thing as "too old" time play! I still use an old Wii game called "Walk It Out" (Step To The Beat in UK) almost every day. It's compatible with the DDR mat.😎