By Mona Ismaeil

Time.com released a list of the Top 10 Most Broken New Year’s Resolutions. What was #1? Lose weight and get fit!  Now why is that? Could it be the time commitment, the lack of results, the inability to change one’s lifestyle, the COST or a combination of these?

If you have ever made the resolution to get fit and have broken that resolution once, twice or 100 times because of the cost then these tips are exactly what you need! Memberships to fitness centers can be very costly. If you are someone who has little or no fitness or training knowledge you may need to hire a trainer and they are not cheap! Here is a list of 10 ways to get fit on a budget… 

1. Use “Equipment” From Home.

You would be surprised to know that your home is filled with great “fitness equipment”.  For example a dining table chair can be great for tricep dips or v-sits. A staircase is ideal for a great leg workout including lunges and calf raises.

 2. Get Outside

Getting outside for a lovely walk or run is an amazing way to keep active. Whether you can hit some trails, head down by the beach or explore city streets being outside in the open air will have so many great effects on your health. 

3. Watch Your Food

By watch your food, I do not mean go on a diet.  This just means to be aware of what you are putting into your body. This means arranging your eating schedule to be 6 small meals. This will help you to stay away from needless snacks like chips or cookies. By planning your healthy meal items, you can avoid heading down to the vending machine at work when you get hungry.  Also, by fueling your body with healthy wholesome foods you will have more energy to put towards your daily activities and maybe a bit extra for a workout!

 4. Get Appy

There an infinite number of apps you can download that can help you with your new active lifestyle.  You can find apps that give your workout ideas, virtual trainers, meal plans, calorie counters, and much more.  Many of these apps are free!  Here you can find the “25 Best Fitness Apps of 2017”.

5. Join a Sports Team or Social Club.

Big city or small town, you will find some sort of sports team you can join; softball, rugby, swimming, or hockey just to name a few. You can find some women’s only, men’s only and co-ed teams (maybe you can get your spouse out with you!). Many of these teams are free or may have a small fee for equipment or tournaments. Most places also have social clubs. These can be walking, running or hiking clubs.  There are even places like the “Running Room” that have walking, running and jogging clubs you can join for Free!  If you can’t find anything in your hometown, go ahead and plan something! No doubt there are others itching to get active too!

 6.  Call on a Friend

Getting a friend involved with you will benefit you in so many ways. Not only will it make what you are doing bearable if not dare I say “fun” but you will be helping that person too. When you have others involved in your journey you can motivate one another and keep each other accountable.  The best part, is that you have someone to do the workouts with. There are many partnered workouts you can do that will have you working up a sweat and burning some extra calories laughing and having a good time.

 7.  Build a Home Gym

This sounds expensive but it doesn’t have to be! There are some great pieces of equipment you can get that cost next to nothing but offer great results. A skipping rope is a great example. Another example is a resistance band. These come in different levels of difficulty. You can literally do a full body workout with just one band. If you want to get other pieces of equipment, head down to garage sales, or used equipment sales and auctions. Use Facebook “buy and sell” groups to find a great deal of new and used fitness equipment.

 8. Water, water, water!

You should be drinking about 2 Liters or half a gallon of water a day. You may not know this but drinking water will help you to lose weight and be healthy.  Water restores your muscles and tissues. It provides your body with oxygen through your blood stream and does so much more for your body and your mind.  Try water in all its amazing forms:

• Cold, ice water
• Diffused water
• Flavored water (no sugar added)
• Water with lemon
• Hot water

9. Include Fitness in All Your Daily Activities

There are so many ways to include fitness in your normal daily activities. If you work in an office, you can search for office workouts. There are many things you can do right from your chair.  Spend lots of time in your car? There are workouts that can be done in the car too.  How about a stay-at-home mom?  Picking up toys, squatting to put laundry in the machine, cleaning the floor, etc. With the right intention, these can all be turned into short workouts.

 10. As a Last Resort…Join a Gym

There are many benefits to joining a gym but you need to find the right one for you.  All gyms will offer a wide variety of fitness classes that will be included in your membership. Try something new! Zumba, Step, Yoga, Barre, Viper, Kickboxing, etc. Take a good look at the schedule and plan those fitness classes into your week. Know which ones you will attend so you do not forget or show up to the gym and you missed the class you would have be interested in. Some fitness centers have swimming pools. Take advantage of that! Swimming offers an amazing full body workout then follow that up with a nice relaxing hot tub or steam.  If you need help paying for your gym membership you can check out Loan and Go.

Make your health a priority and you fill find an infinite number of ways to include fitness into your life!

About the Author

Mona Ismaeil is  the Associate Editor Muslimmoms.ca. She is also an elementary  teacher turned blogger and writer. Mona is the proud owner of Modern Hejab and stay-at-home mom to a witty 3 year old girl and a sweet newborn boy. She loves to travel and see all the world has to offer with her family.