Staying Active at Home

Hey there! Happy Thursday!

Luckily for us Canadians, we only have one more day 'til the May 2-4 long weekend. Can I get a {woot! woot!} :D I'm actually double dipping because we're heading to my parents for a couple of days over Memorial Day as well, so we get 2 long weekends in a row. I can't wait!!! Work has been extremely busy and I am in need of a break.

Derek's still working 2 jobs and now his baseball schedule has started up as well. That means he's pretty much gone from early morning to late evening every single day. I miss him. The dogs miss him. We are happy that his bartending gig is done this Saturday (thank freakin' goodness)!! His busy schedule has made it really difficult for me to get to the gym. I live about a 45 minute drive from work, so I leave home at 7:50 a.m. and get home around 5:30 p.m. Our dogs are crated during the day, so unless I get up and go to the gym before work, it's been hard to find time to go afterwards because I don't like to crate the dogs in the evening if we've been gone all day.

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...so, I've had to get creative to ensure I get some exercise in each day! Here are some of the ways that I sneak it in on days when I can't get to the gym:  

• Get up 30 minutes early, throw my running shoes on and go for a power walk or light jog. This gets my mojo flowing for the day and I'm finding that I don't mind getting up that little bit early. Hank likes to get up with me and Dora likes to sleep in with Derek, which works out perfectly because Hank's our little maniac, so an extra walk a day does him some good!
• Bring my runners to work and take a walk during the lunch hour. My friend, Lisa, and I usually meet once a week for lunch. We used to go for a cheap-o pizza lunch, but now we meet at a park that's located between our offices and go for a 20 - 30 minute walk. This makes such a huge difference in my afternoons! Instead of feeling sleepy and lethargic, I'm wide awake and productive.
• Get out and do some yard work. Last night after work I spent over an hour raking and lugging grass clippings out of the yard. We have a fairly big yard and it was quite a tedious task. By the time I was done, I had a good sweat going and my arms were starting to ache. I'd already power-walked for 50 minutes earlier in the day, so I figured I'd gotten in my activity for the day!
• Search online for some at-home workouts. I'm not great at coming up with my own workouts, so I've done some searching around online and found tons of great ideas that I've been using regularly. Here are some of my fave finds for at-home workouts.
• Tone It Up - these girls are so motivating! They have lots of online workouts, printouts and meal suggestions! I've signed up and get a newsletter from them several times a week.
• MyYogaOnline - tons and tons of yoga workouts! I was lucky to get a free 2 week membership.
• Fitnessista - she is an all round awesome blogger - I check out her posts every single day. She also gives tons of workout ideas. I've been loving her 10 ways to crunch post.
• I love this printable 5-4-3-2-1 Workout from Fit Fab Cities.
• Pinterest is another awesome source for at home circuit workouts.

Now please keep in mind that I am not an expert in this area.

I'm simply sharing the things that work for me personally :)

Even though life is going to get back to normal once Derek goes back to only working one job, my plan is to keep up with my early morning walk/jog and my lunchtime walk most days. It's unbelievable how much of a boost they give me both in energy and in my mood! I do plan to get back to the gym a little more in the evenings because I've been missing the 'class' atmosphere and it helps to keep my cardio workouts interesting, but just knowing that I have the option to workout in the comfort of home is awesome!

How do you fit in exercise on days when you can't make it to the gym?
Do you have any online sites that you use for at home workouts? If you do, please share!

Have a fabulous Thursday,

Andrea
xoxo