Are you staying active?

This blog post will be a little different than what you’re used to.Being that the sun is finally out people in New England love to get out once the weather hits above 50F. I, for one, am out and about for work, for fun, and a little exercise.Now, let me be clear exercise does not equal fun for me but I wanted to share my recent experience with you through this blog.I recently started a weight loss challenge with a close group of friends and so far, it’s been great.I’m amazed on what the human body can do if you put even just a little effort.If you don’t have a bunch of crazy friends that are willing to do a fitness challenge with you, you’re definitely missing out but since there's an app for ever-y-thing these days you don’t have to be left out.There’s a nifty app called Pact.If you haven’t heard of it, you’re about to get very excited!So here is the deal with Pact, you basically bet $$ with other people within the app's community to keep you motivated, crazy cool, right? You create a profile and then you have to show up to the gym and do your workout. If you show-up, no biggie. Now, if you decide to flake and skip your activity or workout, you’ll be charged $5 each time (or more, depending on what your bet was). Talk about putting your money where your mouth is? This might sound a bit crazy but we all know money is a great motivator for most of us.... So, if you are looking for something to keep your butt in gear this is the app for you!And if you’re not a huge risk-taker or a gambler, I get it.You can still use another cool app called Nike Plus. It has a wide variety of exercises that you can choose from – from something that’s 10 min long while you are waiting for your coffee to brew, to a full-blown workout.Another great option is the Mindbody app; it gives you all the nearby studios and gyms closest to you and all of their fancy specials and discounts. Who doesn’t love discounts, right?Maybe you’re not into gyms, I know a few people that just hate going to the gym; I guess it’s a buzz kill for them and that’s fine too. There are so many online programs you can do; one of my favorites is the Beachbody franchise. They have online streaming where you pay quarterly for the service and you can choose from over 50 different programs to start with, it’s the Netflix for workouts. There you can find videos on P90X, 21 Day Fix, Core De Force, Piyo, Hammer and Chisel, etc.And finally, for those of you who don’t want to spend money on a gym or online subscription, YouTube is your friend. I’ve found great yoga video for when I feel the need to get moving with little impact.Now that I’ve shared some very convenient workout the next step is to fit it into your busy schedule. Since you’re a super busy person, I know you have a calendar and because I also know you’re successful, you probably commit to anything and everything that gets “calendared” in, am I right?We all know what happens when we have to-dos or projects lingering in our heads, they’re easily forgotten or you end up scheduling something else instead. There’s a level of commitment that goes along with adding things to our calendar, we automatically commit. And the best part is that you see how much time you truly have available therefore you utilize your time more efficiently.Now, don’t go and schedule your bathroom breaks too, just the things that are most important to you; those things you really want to commit to.I hope you find this helpful.~ Pavlina A.