Many of us will have "Get fit" or "Lose weight" as one of our New Year's Resolutions. We always mean to try and stick this one out and get that dream body we desire but somehow we fizzle. Not only do we feel guilty (and mentally beat ourselves up) for failing a Resolution we truly wanted to achieve, but then we're often stuck with the cost of a gym membership and feel EXTREMELY guilty for wasting our hard earned money. Before having my kids I felt the same guilt. Over and over. But after having two babies and having very limited funds, I lost a combined 50 lbs (20 lbs with my first and 30 lbs with my second). Not only was I able to achieve my weight loss goals, I also kept my money in my wallet.
Here are my MONEY SAVER tips to "Get Fit and Avoid the Gym":
1. Walking
I know, I know. Everyone says it. But truly walking will help those pounds melt away. Walking is greatly underrated. And if you can find great big butt kicking hills, all the better. After my son I would walk almost 2 hours a day. He would sleep and I would walk. And if you can find a Buddy to walk with that's even better. You can chat and walk and not even notice the miles passing below your feet. Your heart, mind and soul will improve with a good Buddy.
2. Use Videos
There are some TERRIFIC videos available now. AND they're a great price! They're not like they were back in the 80s when they first appeared. They are very fun and upbeat and motivating. Many are only $15 each. That's less than a week's membership at the gym! There are also some very short intense videos. I used these after my daughter was born. I didn't have the time to do the 2 hours of walking like I did after I had my son, BUT I could squeeze in 20 minutes spread out over the day. I did a video for 10 minutes in the morning and a second video for 10 minutes after the kids were in bed. The intense videos I did were a bit expensive (about a month and a half membership fee) so I asked for them as a birthday gift.
3. Buy Day Passes
Especially if you know that every year you renew your gym membership and do diligently attend, but then start slacking after a month, then never go again. If you KNOW this is your pattern, stop beating yourself up (and your wallet!). Instead buy day passes. My local gym sells a 5 day pass (to be used any 5 days you'd like) at half the cost of a monthly membership. If you use up the 5 days and never go back to get a second 5 day pass then you won't have wasted ANY money! If you don't end up with your dream bod at least you'll end up with some moola!
4. Buy Used Equipment or (better yet) Borrow
I fall for this every year too. I think that if only I can get that ONE piece of sports equipment I can be "That Person" who is fit and exercises everyday and is the envy of all her friends! But this is just not true. SO, if you save a few bucks and buy used equipment (most likely it only has a few hours of use on it anyways). Or better yet borrow a friend's (many, many, many of us have unused equipment sitting in our basements. You know I'm talking about you!) then after a few months, if you don't use it anymore, you can just give it back. If it's really working for you then you can look to buy a used one for yourself or offer your friend some money to buy the borrowed one. After all if you were able to borrow it then clearly they have not been using it. They may even give it to you once they see how much more room they have in the basement!
5. Create Your Own Gym
I was fortunate enough to a part of this after my daughter was born. Our church invited a group of women to meet in the basement of the church to work out together. We simply followed videos that each member of the group brought in. You could also follow videos OR if you knew someone who was qualified (or just plain willing) to lead an exercise group for free or minimal cost you would save big! If your church is not available, you could use a room in your home, basement, backyard or someone else's home. Finding a group of women to "join" your group will be easy as most of us are looking to shed a few pounds and enjoy fellowship at the same time. You can advertise at church, work, your book club, around your neighbourhood, at your kid's school or at your local Children's Center.
6. Free Online Trainers
If losing weight and working out are all new ideas for you it can be very scary to try and manage it all on your own. There is a free site at www.freetrainers.com where they promise to help you create a workout routine and meal plan all for free. I have not tried using this site myself so use your your own discretion.
7. Follow Government Guidelines
This one may seem very odd but every country's government wants it's citizens to be healthy. My own country puts out Food Guides and recommended exercise commercials. I followed these food guides after both kids and lost the weight I needed to within a month. You MUST be committed to following the rigid guides. I measured out all my food and stuck to the four food groups. Sugar and candy and cookies do not feature on the guide so that cut out alot of the junk I was eating. You can download your free copy of the Canadian Food Guide (or request a print copy be mailed to you) here. Be sure to check out "Additional Resources". I had a wipe board meal planner mailed to me. It is fantastic!
I hope these tips are of some help and that you succeed in all your weight loss goals!
Please continue to check in and follow me as I post tomorrow's first TIME SAVER.
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