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!

Please subscribe to LivSimpl by clicking here.

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.

The above photo is of a toy my son, Jake, got for his first birthday. It launches balls out of the orange top and plays music. He loves it.

On Sunday I walked into the living room and noticed the fan was blowing but there weren’t any balls shooting out of the top. I couldn’t figure out for the life of me why the balls were just sitting there in the tube.

It took me a moment to notice the watch my dad gave me when I graduated college, was sitting at the bottom of the tube stopping the flow of balls and, subsequently, air. I chuckled, showed my wife and turned the toy over to get my watch out. No problem.

Then I had a realization: that orange top could just as easily have been a toilet bowl, which means the watch would have been in an entirely different tube. You get my drift.

I began thinking about how I would react if my son really had flushed my watch. Anger? Frustration?

A friend at work, Kendall, had a similar experience. His wife was carrying an armful of stuff in from the car and accidentally dropped his iPhone on the tile floor. His reaction? He told me, “I had the thought: Which is more important? An object or a person?”

Well put, Kendall.

Yes, I’d be upset if my watch got flushed. But it certainly wouldn’t be an excuse to get upset, especially when my son is only a year old. (If he were 16 and flushed my watch it would be a different story entirely.) :)

Thinking through this has helped me mentally prepare for how I’ll react to situations I know I’ll face as a father. But I think it has a greater application as well, beyond my son destroying my stuff.

Which is more important? An object or a person? For example, I began thinking about why I, and others, put in long hours at work every week. Is it to be able to afford expensive toys? Or is it to provide for my family?

If the answer is that we want to be able to afford stuff, at what point do we become satisfied? It’s a different way to look at it, but one that I think is worth giving consideration.

Thanks for reading! Please subscribe to LivSimpl by clicking here.

Real listening will transform your life. When you speak you are expressing what is in you. When you listen you let the world in. You open yourself up to new information and experiences. The little story about why God gave us two ears and one mouth is true.

But listening is not just a necessity; it is also a pleasure and an adventure. It opens life opens up. Conversations become vivid. You connect to people at a deeper level. As with all good things, the fruit of listening has to be plucked – it won’t fall into your lap. You will have to make an effort to unlearn your bad listening habits and learn some good ones. Here’s how:

Develop the desire to listen. You will not listen if you don’t think it is worth the effort. Listening to others is your key to another world. If you listen, the other person will tell you some astounding things. You will become a better partner, colleagues, friend, parent; in fact all your relationships will be transformed beyond recognition. If this doesn’t motivate you, find something else that will.

Give full attention. This is the first step in listening, yet most of the time we get it wrong. So put down your pen, turn away from your computer screen and listen to me. You should at least stop all other physical activity. More about your mental activity below.

Listen to the last word. Always let the other person do most of the talking. And do not interrupt them. Listen until they have spoken their last word. The reason why we interrupt others is that we think that we understand what they are saying. But most of the time we don’t. Take notes if you are worried about forgetting a particular point.

Paraphrase to make sure you understood and ask them if you did. To paraphrase, one simply rewords what you think the other person has said. For example, she might say, “He was stupid to break up with me.” You might respond, “I hear you saying that you believe he shouldn’t have walked out.” And then ask them if you have got it right. This is also a good way to consolidate if they are talking for a long time. Just ask if you can make sure that you understand, and then paraphrase what they have said up to that point.

Get more information. Another way to get deeper into the conversation is to ask a genuine question. If they haven’t told you yet, ask about their feelings: “How do you feel about this?” Or if you don’t understand parts of what they are saying, ask them to explain further. And be prepared to look stupid. Saying that you don’t understand is an excellent invitation to learning something new.

Don’t just listen to the words. Listen to how something is said. What is the overall sense you get from them? Is there something that you would have expected them to say, that went unsaid? If you sense anything of this nature, ask them about it in as non-confrontational a manner as possible. Say something like: “Can you tell me more about how you responded when he walked out?”

If what they say pushes your emotional buttons… We often stop listening when we feel that we are being accused, or when something that is important to you is being belittled or criticized. The trick to avoiding this is not to jump to conclusions and retaliating. Rather try to ask a genuine question; if nothing else this gives you some time to regain your composure. For example, the speaker might say, “You really screwed up this job.” You might respond, “Can you tell me more about what you didn’t like about it?” or “Can we talk about what can I do to improve on this?” Such questions will allow you to explore their statements and get back to a constructive conversation, one that can be helpful to both of you.

In the end listening is about giving full and sustained attention to the person that is speaking. Any technique that allows you do to do this will do the business. What else has worked for you?

Learning how to listen is a wonderful skill to master to improve relationships. Thanks to Albert for his post! Please be sure to visit him over at his site, Headspace. – LivSimpl

Please subscribe to LivSimpl! Control + click here or paste the following into your feed reader: http://feeds.feedburner.com/livsimpl.

Photo courtesy of here.

Sure, a lot of places will refund the difference if the price drop is within a certain time period, but that means I have to put the same effort into researching the product after I buy it than I did before I bought it – for a price drop that may never happen. It’s hardly convenient.

Guest author Erin of The Duchess Manual of Style has a possible solution in the form of SavvyCircle.com:

Think of Savvy Circle as a personal online shopping assistant. Register for free and browse the 130 current store choices, select any products you’re interested in, and if the price drops, you’ll be notified instantly via email. According to the developers, “It’s simple, smart and makes you feel oh-so-satisfied when you get a deal on an item you’ve been wanting!”

I couldn’t agree more. I had a few books from Amazon.com selected on my list. Today I got an email saying two of the books were available through third-party retailers at a lower price than the previous listing. I immediately bought them and saved 38% on my entire purchase.

As a side note about Amazon’s service—don’t discredit third-party sellers. Check out the feedback from past customers before you order, but be assured that Amazon is great at refunding your money if what you ordered isn’t exactly what you want. I’ve ordered from Amazon forever and have only had one complaint.

More stores are being added all the time for products you want—shoes from Sketchers, clothes from Old Navy or American Eagle, furniture from Pier 1, toiletry basics from Drugstore.com. Try the service for yourself and see how much money you can save.

If you have any great (or even not-so-great) experiences with Savvy Circle, share them with others in the comments!

Thanks to Erin for her post!

LivSimpl

Please subscribe to LivSimpl! Control + click here or paste the following into your feed reader: http://feeds.feedburner.com/livsimpl.

Photo courtesy of here.