Ways to Stay Active at the Office

Believe me, I know how hard it is to get moving in the mornings and especially while you are at work. With more and more research coming out that sitting for extended periods of time is bad for you (some are referring to sitting as the new smoking), it's important to remember to get up and move every hour. How much you can do will vary on your workplace but even just getting up to go remove the paper off the copier or getting up to get your own cup of water instead of having someone bring them to you will help you get in those extra steps and give you an opportunity to stretch your legs and take a break from the screen.

Below are some ideas to get you started. We suggest taking a 10 minute screen break every hour but understand that is not always possible so even if you only have time to do 10 push-ups or 10 squats you are still getting some extra movement in! Try something new each hour! It might be best to even set an alarm on your phone for each hour!

Below are a few more tips on how to stay active at the office:

• Get a balance ball chair or a treadmill desk (yes, they really do exist)!
• Park at the parking spot the furthest from your office.

What other ideas do you have? How do you take a break from the screen each day?

- Whitney

Let us be your personal trainers with our detailed 4, 6 and 12 week She Sweats Workout plans! We guide your workout each day, telling you exactly what to do and what intensity to work at. We have everything you need! Find out more!

5 Tips for Busy Moms to Squeeze in Exercise

Whether you are chasing a toddler around your house, shuffling your school-aged children from school to after-school activities and sports practices and games, or taking care of your grandchildren, the roles every mother plays at any given time leave little to no time for themselves.

This is a guest post written by Tiffany.

I'll be the first to tell you that between chasing my little one around (now 15 months), working 4-6 hours every day from home, keeping my house somewhat organized and clean, and maintaining my relationship with Jim, it's hard! However, I do make time for fitness and I'm here to tell you - it's possible!

Check out these additional mom resources, also written by Tiffany!

• 5 Tips for Busy Moms to Squeeze in Exercise
• How to Occupy Children During Runs
• 7 Tips for Choosing the Right Jogging Stroller

Top 5 Tips for Busy Moms to Squeeze in Exercise

1. Take a deep breath and smile, you are not Superwoman.

Yep, that's right. You need to breathe. And smile. When you start to get overwhelmed and aren't sure how you are going to get anything done, let alone actually workout and spend some time on yourself, take a deep breath and smile. You will figure it out sooner and more efficiently if you are calm and less worked up.

2. Schedule your workout and fitness time and get into a routine.

Even if your schedule changes day to day, sit down for 2-3 minutes in the morning (maybe while your children are eating breakfast) and schedule your day. If you have an idea of what your day really "looks like" on paper, it's easier to find opportunities for fitting in some "you" time. We have a lot of free at-home fitness resources to choose (try this at-home full body workout or quick heart pounding interval workout). We even offer a Busy Body 4-Week Workout Plan!

RELATED: 5 Reasons Why You Need a Fitness Plan

3. Utilize breaks in your schedule to your advantage.

I was once told by a mom that she ran while her daughter was at gymnastics practice. I've held on to that because I've been there - I've taken my niece to ballet class only to sit there and watch through the miniature window. Why?!? They weren't doing anything overly special that day and it wasn't like I could see much anyway. Who needs to sit when you could go outside for 30-45 minutes and get your workout on?

4. Get help if it's available.

Before I had Bryce, I would workout with one of my friends that has two children. We would purposely drive to a facility 30 minutes away to workout so she could drop her children off with her mom for an hour and a half while we worked out. Some days, her and her neighbor would swap off watching the children. If you have this option - use it! If your gym has a daycare facility (like mine), you really eliminate some excuses.

5. Leave the "Mommy-Guilt" behind.

Don't let the "Mommy-Guilt" get you! This one might be the hardest for me, especially if I feel like Bryce hasn't gotten "enough" attention from me for the day, but it's important that you take care of you. After all, if you don't feel good, you won't be able to give your best to your little ones. Check that guilt at the door and go get your sweat on!

What's your best tip for the busy mom that still wants her time to exercise and keep fitness a priority in their life?

Good luck ladies! You can do this!

Tiffany

Shenandoah National Park + Washington D.C.

Trip Dates: July 3-8, 2014

Scott had to go to Annapolis, MD for work so we, of course, went early to do a little sightseeing! I’ve never been to D.C. before and Scott hasn’t been since he was a kid so we flew into D.C. and stayed in Fairfax, VA Thursday-Saturday. Saturday we had to check into the hotel in Annapolis where Scott would be working but we still spent Saturday and Sunday in D.C.! We also used the opportunity to cross another National Park off our list (I have now officially completed that from my “30 Before 30” – even before our fall hiking trip)!

Thursday (July 3, 2014)

Our plane departed from Atlanta at 6:40 Thursday morning. We got to the airport in what we thought would be plenty of time until we saw the line at the counter where you check your bags. On the Thursday before a holiday Southwest only had 3-4 people working the check in counter. We waited almost 50 minutes in the line – I have NEVER waited that long. Then it was like Home Alone running through the airport to get to security. Luckily, the security line wasn’t too bad – it still took about 20 minutes. The entire time my head was racing and I kept thinking”We aren’t going to make it!”. They even put a “late check in” tag on our luggage and said they wouldn’t guarantee it would be on our plane. I wasn’t really concerned about the luggage – I just wanted to get to D.C. but the cost of a ticket change kept going through my head – it was so stressful! We made it through security and THANKFULLY we weren’t pulled to the side to be searched. We then ran like we were in Home Along again to get to the terminal. We ran up the escalator and when I got to the top I thought my legs were going to die. We didn’t even have time to put anything back in or on (computers, belts, etc.) after security and I had just worked legs the day before. We ran up to the counter, frazzled, and the worker said “Well, keep on running!” We made it with 2 minutes to spare! We were afraid we wouldn’t have seats together since Southwest doesn’t have assigned seating. Well, we get on the plane and we are 2 of 16 passengers! It all worked out great and we basically had the entire plane to ourselves! I took a short nap across the row I was sitting in.

As soon as we landed in D.C. (thankfully our bags arrived with us) we picked up the rental car and headed straight to Arlington National Cemetery. I was so moved by the Tomb of the Unknown Solider. It was humbling and amazing to watch.

After Arlington we went to Old Town Alexandria to eat lunch before Mount Vernon. Old Town Alexandra was so neat! I loved it there. After eating lunch, we went to Mount Vernon and walked around (and bought “limited edition” George Washington whiskey – which is for sale if you want it!) for a little while before our tour started. The tour was of George Washington’s mansion. We also were able to tour the gristmill and distillery. It started raining at the end of our mansion tour so we left and headed to the hotel to check in.

On a side note, I have recently started to wear a pedometer because I was NOT moving nearly enough and wearing it helps keep me on track. In our rush at the airport I thought I lost mine during security and I was SO BUMMED. I didn’t get to wear it the first day but we went that night in Fairfax and bought me a new one and wouldn’t you know…the next day Scott finds it in his bag!

Friday (July 4, 2014)

We aren’t too big on crowds so we knew we didn’t want to spend the day, Independence Day, in D.C. with a million other people so what did we do? We planned a hike! We woke up early and drove to Shenandoah National Park. The drive there was absolutely gorgeous. We did Old Rag Mountain which is more of a rock scramble than a hike. It reminded me a lot of the Tallulah Gorge hike I did last year in Georgia. Parts of it were pretty scary! We did the 9.5 mile hike and then headed back to the hotel.

Hiking Old Rag Mountain in Shenandoah National Park

Hiking Old Rag Mountain in Shenandoah National Park

Hiking Old Rag Mountain in Shenandoah National Park

Hiking Old Rag Mountain in Shenandoah National Park

We left to go to D.C. around 5:30 PM. Our first stop was The White House. Then we just walked around and stayed at the Thomas Jefferson Memorial to watch the fireworks.

Total Steps: 27,895

Saturday (July 5, 2014)

Scott and I are not really museum people but we wanted to go to a few of the Smithsonian Museums. We rode the Metro into town and first went to get tickets to the Holocaust Museum. After getting our tickets we went to a few of the memorials before our tour of The Capitol at 12:30 PM. The Capitol was pretty awesome but so unnecessarily extravagant in my opinion.  After The Capitol we headed back to the Holocaust Museum. Scott really wanted to rent bikes but I wouldn’t because I was still scared of them since I broke my leg when I was little! So after another long day in D.C. we headed to Annapolis, Maryland to check into our new hotel.

Total Steps: 25,856

Sunday (July 6, 2014)

Sunday we still had the Natural History Museum that we wanted to see and some of the monuments on the other side of The Mall. I finally caved into renting the bikes so that we could do everything much faster since we were going to the Nationals vs Cubs game that afternoon. Well, we rode the bikes everywhere! We ended up taking the Metro to the game but then rented bikes after the game to get back to the city. We stayed on the bikes for another few hours riding around The Mall and back to The White House. So now I have a new obsession!  I’m all about bike riding now! The Cubs lost but it was fun going to a new stadium (and checking another stadium off of our list!).

Total Steps: 18,188

Monday (July 7, 2014)

Scott had to work Monday afternoon and evening so we decided we would check out Annapolis for a few hours before he had to be at the golf course. It was a very pretty city but also pretty crowded for me…there were cars parked everywhere with very narrow streets so it kind of freaked me out. We didn’t spend much time there before we had to head back to the hotel.

Scott left for work and I decided it would be a good idea to run to Target. Not such a good idea. It was a little over 2 miles round trip, which was fine, but the heat index was over 100 degrees! Once I got back from my running adventure I went to the hotel gym for about 20 minutes to do a few upper body moves. Then I worked the rest of the day into the night. 

Tuesday (July 8, 2014)

Scott had to work Tuesday morning and our flight was scheduled to leave at 6:40 that night. I went to the hotel gym again and attempted to do lower body but I was still sore from all the walking and hiking so that didn’t last long! I instead just came up with this hotel room workout!

When Scott got back we headed towards D.C. We got to the baggage counter around 4:30 PM and was told our flight was delayed an hour. Well, an hour turned into 4 hours. We didn’t leave until 10:30 PM, so we didn’t get home until around 2 AM. So much for taking an earlier flight so we had time to get back in the groove at home! Not only did we have a 4 hour delay but our bags were soaking wet because one of the workers decided that she would only put 1/2 of them under cover and just leave the others out in the rain. Luckily, the airline responded and has “corrected” the issue. 

Oh, and we ate at the same restaurant 4 times in D.C. It was called The Protein Bar and their food was TO DIE FOR. We even got a little punch card after going there twice. Unfortunately, we couldn’t fill it up because we had to leave town but I gave it to someone in the restaurant and it MADE THEIR DAY. They now get a free meal after only having to buy one more! We also didn’t use all of the money we had on our metro cards so we gave them to other riders. It’s very easy to brighten someones day with something even that small. Always think about how you can help others!

So, that was our trip in a nutshell.

Have you ever been to DC? What was your favorite part?