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.

So if you have a friend who has been interested in getting in shape, or need a little motivation yourself, you have about two weeks to jump in and start to develop the habit.

Working out with a friend has a lot of benefits, the largest being you’re much likely to make it to the gym if you know someone else is waiting on you, and vice-versa. Of course, you can motivate, encourage, and share in each other’s successes as well.

For a while now I’ve felt there was a lot I wanted to get done during the day and I was becoming frustrated that I wasn’t fitting it all in. I knew I could get everything done, I just hadn’t fully thought through how I should go about it. Here’s what I realized:

• I needed a concrete goal. To simply say “I’ll get up earlier” wasn’t cutting it.
• I needed to specify what I was going to so I didn’t fritter away my time.
• I needed to visualize myself doing the things I wanted to accomplish.

Concrete Goal
I pulled out my trusty, always-with-me Moleskine notebook and wrote down my ideal schedule. I say ideal because when I showed it to my wife she had to stifle a laugh. My day started at 5 am and culminated with me getting into bed at 9:30 pm and lights out at 10:00. Far fetched? Perhaps initially. But it was something I could work toward.

Schedule it out
My ideal schedule had everything on it that I want to accomplish during the course of a day and when I could accomplish it. Now I’m very aware that the “there just isn’t enough time in the day” excuse is no longer valid. There is time. I just have to discipline myself to use it properly. I should note that I didn’t go into detail about my work day, except to block out the hours I’m there.

Visualize yourself doing it
For years I’ve heard about how athletes are trained to visualize themselves making the free throw, completing the pass or acing the serve. And to be quite honest, it seemed a bit hokey to me.

I’ve had a change of heart.

Let me switch gears for a moment.

When I hear about people doing things I admire, like getting in shape for a triathlon (which my wife did before our son was born), I have a lot of respect for them. Their “cool” factor goes up a few notches in my mind. I think, “Yeah. Yeah! I want to be like that!”

So if I can visualize myself doing those same things, having that same discipline I admire so much in others, I am much more likely to do it myself. In fact, before I go to bed at night I picture myself getting up the next morning and going to the gym. It may sound weird, but it works.

Once you’ve laid out the first two things, all that is left is to do it. Of course, it’s easier said than done, but by visualizing yourself doing things and knowing what it is you want to do you’ll have the satisfaction of accomplishing the things you set out to do.

Please share your thoughts and comments!

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Photo courtesy of here.

1. Focus on the benefit.
Define why you have the resolution you do. Example: I want to rediscover my six pack abs that faded shortly after my son was born and, in general, get into better shape. The benefit of this? I won’t cringe when I look in the mirror, I’ll feel better in general and will have more energy.

2. Find a way to keep yourself motivated.
Everyone has great intentions until about February 2nd and then the goals* we were all fired up about don’t seem all that important and it’s easier to slack off. Motivation is the way to remember the benefit. There are a lot of ways to keep yourself motivated. Using the missing six pack example, perhaps it’s a “before” picture I tape to the mirror. Maybe it’s a collection of pictures of people doing active things who look fit. Or, my wife’s favorite, create a star chart and give myself a star every day that I do 100 sit-ups. You get the idea.

3. Don’t try to start accomplishing all your resolutions at once.
For example, let’s say your resolution is to become a well-read person, so you want to finish four books from classic literature this year. Instead of worrying about finishing all four books, pace your resolution so you read a book every three months. It’s a less intimidating way to look at things and you’ll be less likely to feel overwhelmed and give up.

4. Simplify your goals. Limit the number of resolutions you have. If you’re like me, you can probably list a couple dozen things you’d like to do better (or stop doing) right off the top of your head. Slow down, pick a the three or four of the most important things you’re passionate about. Define them. Determine what you have to do to achieve them and go.

What other things should you keep in mind when approaching your resolutions? Do you disagree with one of the points? Do you have any resolutions you’d like to share? The comments are open!

*I’m aware that the definitions of goals and resolutions are unique, but for the purpose of this post I’m going to use them interchangeably.

Sometimes it’s because of laziness but other times it’s because I simply forget. Fortunately, it’s easy to send yourself reminders with Google Calendar.

Set up a new calendar called Reminders. Using that calendar, schedule days you want reminders to do things. For example, if you’ve resolved to write your grandma a letter once a week (a great idea – not only does it communicate with a loved one, but make a copy of the letters to keep as a personal history) schedule an appointment for Monday titled “Write Granny” using your Reminders calendar.

Of course, you can set each appointment to repeat weekly so you don’t have to repeat the process 52 times.

Repeat with your weekly and monthly resolutions.

I’d also suggest establishing “check-up” reminders. For example, if you want to read War and Peace, perhaps break it up into sections. So by the end of week one you want to be on page 125, week two: 250, etc. So on the first Saturday set an appointment that says, “War and Peace page 125″. Continue to do this for the remaining Saturdays until you should be done with your resolution. It’s a much more manageable way to approach a big task like this. Knowing you only have to read 125 pages a week is much less daunting than being reminded to “Read War and Peace.”

Once your schedule is established, go into your Google Calendar settings, select your Reminder calendar, Notifications then select Daily Agenda. Ta-da! All your resolutions will be there happily waiting for you in your Inbox each morning making sure you don’t forget to write Granny and tell her about your latest adventures.

Oh, and if you want to keep your calendar looking clutter-free you can uncheck your Reminders calendar (see picture) to hide those appointments from view. They’re still there, you just won’t have to look at them all day. Then again, that might not be a bad thing.

Do you have any other suggestions on how to remember your resolutions? Please leave word in the comments.

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This simple act can help clear your mind and appreciate the world around you, that might otherwise go unnoticed in our rushed lives.

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