Incidental Exercise

The amount of movement you accumulate in a day is a huge factor to being healthy and keeping the weight off. 

The best advice I can give - buy a pedometer. The average American walks 3000-5000 steps a day. Experts recommend at least 10,000. Where are you at? Wear a pedometer for a few days. It's amazing how mine motivates me to run down the stairs rather than yell over the banister.

I wrote an article once, "Why FedEx Drivers Don't Get Fat." The main reason? Those dudes move. Some of the men who wore pedometers for me logged almost 20,000 steps a day. Pretty hard to keep weight on when you're moving that much. 

This article on about.com has some good information about pedometers - http://walking.about.com/cs/measure/a/countsteps.htm

An article on incidental exercise by Ultimate Weight Loss explains why it's important to move more.

"Incidental exercise, or the exercise we get doing daily activities, can make a big difference between being overweight and losing or maintaining weight. 

Engaging in more incidental activity can help boost our daily calorie expenditure and keep our metabolism (fat burning engine) fired up through the day and in doing so help us reverse the trend and lose weight." 

http://www.weightloss.com.au/articles/exercise/incidental-exercise.htm

Here are some ideas to get you moving.

• Take the stairs whenever you can. 
  
• Park at the end of the parking lot instead of driving around to find a good spot. The other day I drove around the gym parking lot twice and had to laugh at what a loser I am!
  
• Go on a walk or bike ride with your family
  
• Put your weights and bands next to your t..v. couch and do a workout while you watch The Biggest Loser (If Jillian doesn't guilt you into moving nobody will!) 
  
• Dance around your kitchen
  
• Play tag, kickball, or any fun sport with your kids. 
  
• Jump on the trampoline (if your bladder can handle it, think I've had too many babies)
  
• Walk or do squats or calf raises while you talk on the phone
  
• Balance on one foot or do glute presses while you brush your teeth
  
• Take the stairs instead of the elevator
  

Everything you do will make a difference in being more healthy and burning off those extra pounds. 

Cami Checketts

www.camichecketts.com