I am joining Nicole of The Fit Pepper and Jessica Joy of The Fit Switch in The Fit Dish linkup. Today’s Topic is: What are your top healthy living tools?
1. My Fitbit – A Fitbit or other activity tracker helps you improve on your overall activity level. For people with a competitive spirit, a Fitbit can motivate you by giving you something to compete against. You may “compete against own previous record or you may find friendly competition and support through the Fitbit community. Any “numbers people” will like the objective feedback. And playful people may enjoy the ability to “gameify” their fitness journeys. I wrote a detailed review of my Fitbit One.
2. My smart phone – There are so many great apps to help with all aspects of getting fit. Depending on my needs at the time, I have used my phone to:
- track my food intake
- record my workout
- sync my fitbit
- provide new workout options (there are a number of great workout apps like Zombies, Run!, Fitstar and others)
- play music to entertain me
- and to access support and motivation from my #fitfam
3. A kitchen scale – I know different nutritional plans or “diets” can work for different people. For me, what works best if good old-fashioned “portion control”. If my diet is too restrictive, I rebel and that can lead to binging! I believe in healthy moderation which includes allowing myself treats. This may seem counter-intuitive, but a food scale is a tool that makes this a lot easier! I see large portions everywhere that just are not appropriate for my build and body type. My eyes are trained to see larger portions as normal. Using a food scale helped me realize I was eating a lot more than I realized. Many people use measuring cups and spoons for this purpose. I personally prefer a digital kitchen or food scale because it doesn’t create more dirty dishes to wash. I simply put my plate on the scale, zero it and add my food directly to the plate. The other benefit is it has retrained my eyes to adjust to more appropriate (for me) portion sizes so using the scale becomes less necessary over time.
4. A positive attitude – This is so important. Getting healthy and fit is an on-going journey. You make progress “bit by bit” (hence my blog title Feeling Fit, Bit by Bit). This journey is easier if I believe in myself and in my ability to switch my less healthy habits for more healthy habits.
5. My fitness toys – I find that I need fun at-home workout options to help me stay consistent with my fitness program. Consistency is key, so I try to exercise most days even if sometimes my “workout” is only 10 minutes. It really helps to keep the momentum going. One thing that helps is to have a few fun toys around the home. If I was too busy to workout, and just want to collapse in front of the television in the evening–I can hula hoop while watching tv. Or if I am in the mood to workout, but just don’t have time to go to the gym, I can get a great workout at home using my jump rope or my kettlebells. My “toys” help make my workout fun and excuse-proof. For more on this topic see: Putting Fun back in FUNctional Fitness
Those are five of my favorite healthy living tools. I like them because they make it easier to make small changes in my daily routine that add up to a lifestyle change. I would love to read about your favorite healthy living tools! Feel free to hit me up in the comments. Any bloggers and trainers who happen to find this post, feel free to include your own non-spammy, non-sales links on this topic in the comments section as well! I look forward to reading other tips.
Also on Feeling Fit, Bit by Bit:
- Ten Tips to Increase Your NEAT Activity
- Get Rewarded For Your Activity: A Round-Up of Five Activity Incentive Programs
- Putting Fun back in FUNctional Fitness
- Three Tips to Eliminate Excuses to Workout
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