Let’s face it we all have our lazy days. Those days when we literally don’t want to do anything productive. We don’t want to shower (admit it), clean, cook, go to work, exercise, take care of the dogs, go above and beyond for the kids, or anything that is going to require us to put in some effort to accomplish a task.
I’m talking about those days where you just want to lay in bed all day eating junk food and watching Netflix.
Sometimes those are the best days, but those are also the days when we cheat ourselves the most out of really caring for ourselves. This is because instead of doing something that will help us improve our overall health in some way, we opt for doing absolutely nothing. Which if we’re going to be honest is the true definition of what it means to be lazy.
But here’s the thing. We can have lazy days and still make a point to do something that will better our overall health. These activities don’t have to be long, over the top amazing, or even super interactive. They can be small and very simple little things that you do for no more than 10 minutes.
Sounds crazy I know but believe it or not there are so many simple things you can in 10 minutes or less to improve your health. Trust me I know because I spent years telling myself that there wasn’t. Flash forward to now and I have proven myself wrong! There is literally so many simple things you can do that don’t require a lot of effort, is low productivity, but will still help you get closer to your health and wellness goals.
Continue reading to learn about my favorite tips and simple activities that help keep me in good health on my most lazy days.
Related Posts: Overcoming Guilt and Shame to Reach Your Goals
Related Posts: Sustaining Wellness for An Improve Health Overall During Quarantine
1. Cut your workout time in half
A big part of fully participating in a lazy day is skipping out on your workout for the day. Or is it? About a year ago I would have totally said that this is absolutely true! On my lazy days I skipped my work out for the day and opted to do absolutely nothing relatively close to exercise.
The problem with skipping a workout on a lazy day is that this can quickly turn into a snowball effect. When you skip one day of exercising simply because you’re being too lazy to do it, that one day can easily turn into two days, and even three days. Before you know it, you’ve gone a whole week without exercising and you find yourself struggling to get back into a consistent routine.
So, on your lazy days instead of skipping your workout routine altogether, cut it in half. For example, on most days I exercise for about 30 minutes a day. On my lazy days I’ll cut that time in half and only exercise for 15 minutes that day instead of doing the whole 30. This is a great tip because you’re still taking the necessary steps to improve your overall health without putting in all the effort needed to really exhaust yourself from a workout.
I’ve created the perfect workout routine for lazy days like these. This quick workout is complete with some of my favorite moves that target all the major muscle areas. The best part is that it can be completed in a total of 15 minutes, and you’ll still get a sweet burn while toning your body and building muscle.
Click the link below to download my 15-minute lazy day workout routine now.
2. Eat smaller meals and drink plenty of water
This tip is a good one! If you’re going to completely surrender to having a lazy day the one thing you want to make sure you don’t do is add on unnecessary weight. I’m talking about weight that you gain from literally failing to move your body for the day.
Our bodies need to be in movement in order to encourage healthy blood circulation, keep your muscles warm for any type of movement, and to help keep your body from putting on extra weight and body fat. So, in the true spirit of being lazy, my best tip to avoid the unwanted weight is to eat smaller portion sizes for the day and drink plenty of water.
If you’re not going to be doing much movement you don’t want to consume a lot of food. This food will just burn and be turned into fat that you won’t work on burning off your body until the next day. When you think about it that’s a lot of hours in the day (and night) to try and burn 3 square meals plus snacks in one day.
So instead of trying to work out for a little bit longer, or a little harder the next day, adjust your eating habits on your lazy day. This will look different for everyone but maybe instead of having two snacks a day you only have one. Or instead of eating takeout food you stick to homecooked meals. Or maybe you even choose to eat more fruits and veggies for the day instead of chowing away on junk food.
No matter how you choose to switch up your eating habits for the day, make sure that it’s going to help you in the long run and not be something you ultimately regret. Be sure to also drink plenty of water.
Water is essential to our overall health. Plus, if you want to see the definition of your muscles on your body after all that hard work you been putting into your workout routine, water is the key! Water also promotes healthy brain functioning, keeps your muscles from getting tight, prevents dehydration, and fights fatigue.
These are all things that we put ourselves at risk for when we choose to lay in bed all day. So, enjoy your lazy day while still taking necessary measures to be in your best shape possible with this super tip.
Related Posts: Health vs. Weight Which Should You Focus More On?
Related Posts: Wellness Practices to Improve Your Health
3. Stretch your body
I love stretching on a lazy day. Stretching is so necessary to keep our muscles from tightening up, becoming sore, and making us feel immobile. Which means yes people, you can stretch even on days when you do not engage in a workout!
It’s so important to stretch your muscles before and after a workout. When you stretch before you are warming up your muscles for the workout so that you decrease your chances of hurting yourself. When you stretch them after a workout you are again helping yourself avoid injury by loosening them up so they don’t become tight and stiff.
Which is why it’s so important to stretch even on your lazy days. Lately I’ve been living for stretching all my muscles without having to leave my bed. Is it possible? Yes, it is! Read more to learn how.
It’s no secret that I love Blogilates for all her Pilates workout routines. Well turns out I love her for all of her flexibility routines as well. A year ago, she released the bedtime stretches video and I immediately fell in love with it. These stretches are stretches that you can do without getting of your pajamas or ever leaving your bed!
That means you can do this stretching routine in the morning as soon as you wake, 30 minutes before you go to bed, or even in the middle of the day while binging your favorite TV show. Click here to watch the bedtime stretches video and make a plan to do it on your next lazy day.
Or to do it just because, like I sometimes do.
4. Do an appropriate lazy workout routine
Even though this is technically a lazy day, that doesn’t mean you can’t find low impact ways to be active. Trust me, on my best lazy days I love nothing more than sitting on the couch and watching Netflix all day. However, I just recently discovered this video by Blogilates that incorporates a low impact workout routine that you can do while watching Netflix.
This routine is awesome because it is completely done in the area that you are having your best lazy day. For me this would be the couch, and the video literally includes the couch as the workout space.
As I’ve learned more effective ways to make my lazy days not entirely lazy, but more so low productivity days, I’ve been learning more about different ways to engage my body. When I think of a workout I think of the whole shebang.
Workout clothes, appropriate location, necessary equipment, specific time frame, and a very clear intention about what your routine will look like. On lazy days this is doing just way too much. Which is why I like the idea of minimal effort that will still help me get maximum benefit.
Check out the video here.
Related Posts: The Best Tips for Staying Healthy During A Crisis
Related Posts: How to Stay Motivated to Live A Healthy Lifestyle
5. Space out your exercise moves
Last but not least space out your exercise moves. Again, the idea is that even though you are choosing to have a lazy day doesn’t mean you still can’t do little things that are in favor of improving your health. Just like learning how to use your couch as a workout space and tool while watching Netflix can be low productivity, so can spacing out your exercise moves throughout the day.
What I usually like to do is take one move that targets various areas of my body, and at random times during the day do that specific move for with a 1minute and 30 seconds, or 2 sets with 20 reps each. For example, I may do squats in the morning and right before lunch do some sit-ups.
I have found this method to be helpful in a couple of ways. The first is that it allows me to still get in some exercise during the day without feeling like I need to dedicate a specific amount of time to doing so. The second is that it helps me continue to hold myself accountable with staying on track with my goals.
Consider this technique the next time your lazy day rolls around.
Conclusion
Lazy days can be fun but they can also be a slippery slope for throwing us off our course. Find the advantage in having a lazy day that lets you relax and not make exercising a major priority for the day, but has little activities to make sure you still improving your health in some way. I’ve found that the key is to do all the tips listed in this post.
Understand what your most important needs are and figure out the best way to meet them. It can become exhausting exercising every day and only taking a rest day one day out of the week. This can quickly lead to burnout and loss of motivation if you don’t switch it up every now and then and keep things interesting.
To that I say its ok to have a lazy day every now and then, but with a twist. Instead of going full on lazy and doing absolutely nothing all day, find the little moments of opportunities that you can take advantage of to improve your health. Whether it’s with the tips listed in this post or others that you find elsewhere, don’t let a lazy day be the reason you take a step back with your progress.
Find a way to stay on top of it all without over-doing it. What are some of your favorite ways to engage in low productivity on your best lazy days?
-Xo
Kimora