5 Ways to Simplify Active Living to Make it a Sustainable Lifestyle

It's Tuesday and I am linking up with hosts Jessica Joy and Jill Conyers for their The Fit Dish Link-Up every Tuesday.

Today' s topic is "Keep it simple. How do you simplify active living to make it a sustainable lifestyle?"

Here are 5 ways that help me simplify active living to make it a sustainable lifestyle:

1. Do an activity/activities you love - If you want to be active and keep it up, you need to find out what you like. Whether it be running, hiking, swimming, cycling, fitness classes, fitness dvds, etc.. try new things and discover what it is you love and keep doing it. If you do an exercise that you don't enjoy, it's inevitable that you will stop. Find out what it is you love to do and that is fun for you and you will keep doing it. I have found that I love to run, hike, and also do fitness dvds (T25 and PiYo) along with fitness classes (Spin and Body Combat), but what I love, you may not enjoy so it is important to find out what activities that are right for you.

2. Follow a training plan/sign up for a run/challenge yourself/make a goal -  If you have a training schedule to follow or some sort of goal, it is likely you will keep it up. I have found that signing up for a run helps motivate me to follow a training plan so that I will do well in a race. Whatever your case make a goal, put it on your calendar and follow the plan so you can meet your challenge or goal. With my races winding down and winter coming up, I was recently asked if I would participate in a runstreak challenge of at least a mile a day for 36 days and I am seriously considering it. Challenges like these help make you keep being active.

3. Write it down - I find that if you write down your activities and track your time and progress it helps you stay on course. My blog is my way of writing it down. I like to post a weekly recap of my training/workouts that I have done to keep me accountable. It's a great way to see how much you have improved or if you need work in certain areas. It is also nice so you can look back and see how far you have come and how much you have achieved. Writing it down helps keep you on track.

4. Workout with friends - Teaming up with a friend or group motivates me to get out and be active. Whether it be meeting a friend at the gym to take a class together or going for a group run, it helps when someone else comes along and you keep each other accountable. It is also a lot funner.  When I run with friends I love how the miles go by and you don't even realize it. Doing this frequently helps make it easier to be active.

5. Make it a family affair - I find it helps when the family does an active activity together. Whether it be a walk, hike, run, playing soccer at a park, tennis, etc.. being active is great family time and even more important if you have kids, can make being active a staple for them so they will hopefully continue it when they are grown up. My kids love to hike so we go whenever we can. If the family likes it, it is easier and a lot of fun to keep up the active lifestyle.

Those are 5 ways that help me stay active in my life. What keeps you staying active?