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Simple Steps to Frugal Health and Fitness

This is a guest post by Chris from Zen to Fitness.

Health and fitness are too often shunned or put off due to the misconception that things like a gym, vitamins, and expensive super-foods are needed to live a healthy lifestyle, build muscle and look good. This post will cover a few tips on how to get going with your fitness regime without spending cash that I have picked up along the way.

No Gym, No Problem

I actually recommend avoiding the gym when beginning a fitness plan for the following reasons;

• It takes transport time to get there, wasting your time
• They’re expensive
• Intimidating for new comers and personal trainers normally pester new members for the first few months
• Too many distractions
• You can achieve a great body through body weight movements

Staying fit is a beautiful thing when you are flexible with what you do. Acquire some simple sports kit you feel comfortable in (a good cotton t-shirt/basketball shorts/solid training shoes) which can all be had for less than a single month’s membership at a gym. I would also recommend an iPod Nano.

Learn to improvise with your fitness. One of my favorite routines is to just put on some good music on my iPod and hit the road. While I don’t run exclusively I will usually take a short run and stop at a playground to do circuits of body weight movements like squats/push-ups/pull-ups. Usually, I run for 10 minutes then do 10 minutes of the body weight movements and then run back home. This means I’m in and out of my house in under 35 minutes, fully exercised and ready to do as I please the rest of the day.

What I love about this is you get to soak up some scenery and enjoy the surroundings. You will inhale fresh oxygen and feel energized. Remember the importance of training with resistance (push-ups, pull-ups and squats) and do not exclusively run/jog - throwing in some sprints will also help. And when you sprint, don’t think about it - just run as fast as you can for a while its a great feeling.

Have a look at these websites for simple, cheap and equipment free exercise recommendations:

20 Minute Fitness Solution

Simplefit

Try and organize sports with your friends/family; go swimming at the beach, play tennis or go to the park and play frisbee these are the best ways to stay fit and be happy.

Simplify your diet

I would recommend reading this post from the Modern Forager on real food. It gives a grasp on nutrition which is such a simple thing for us all to improve on. Enjoy the foods that are natural, I personally take great pleasure from simplifying my shopping basket. I know when I go to get groceries I am only going to buy the following foods;

• Fresh fruit and vegetables (whatever is on offer and looks good)
• Select cuts of meat, again look for what is on offer
• Cheese and eggs
• A good selection of nuts and seeds and olive oil
• Fresh herbs and spices to add flavor to my cooking

No soft drinks, juice, starches, pasta or stuff in a packet just fresh wholesome foods. Arthur De Vany’s dietery guidelines are great.

You will find by eating/buying from this selection of food, you’ll be less confused when shopping, save money and feel far better. This is not to say you can’t eat other foods, so long as you stick to the foods above 80% of the time you will reap the benefits. The other 20% feel free to eat any other foods especially when out with friends and family.

Always buy less than you think you need, its surprising how much food is wasted in this day and age. If you find you run out of food to early just take a walk to the grocery store and forage for your next meal. This keeps things exciting and fresh.

The last tip for diet is to listen to your body. Just because it’s midday doesn’t mean you need to have lunch. feel your hunger and eat well when you are really hungry. Once you pickup this habit you will find that you will eat less and enjoy your food far more, while losing weight and improving your fitness.

Free Advice and Motivation

The beauty of the internet is that their is so much good free advice and motivation available; from the two sites above offering equipment free workouts to sites like the fitnesspotlight you can learn a wealth of information in no time without any cost to you. If you have an iPod and need some free running music checkout Podrunner which offers free weekly workout mixes which serve as great motivation.

Bonus Tips

-Walk and cycle to places instead of taking the bus/car. It takes longer but sometimes there is nothing more relaxing than a walk or bike ride.

-Learn to meditate. This is one of the best free ways to improve health and state of mind.

I hope this short article can help inspire a few people to start a fitness regime or re-ignite a lost passion. You will find that the easier and more simple you make fitness the more you appreciate it being in your life.

Thanks to Chris for the post!

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Naturally, you should see a doctor before starting a workout routine and all that. Besides, when was the last time you went to your doctor? Go get a checkup for goodness sake. And go to the dentist while you’re at it. Photo courtesy of here.

Thursday, August 21st, 2008 at 3:19 pm and is filed under Exercise, Food, Guest Authors. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.