3 Easy ways to add fitness to your new year

Now that the holiday busyness (and overeating) is passed us, it’s time to start the new year on a healthy, physically active foot (pun intended). If being a gym rat isn’t your thing, here are three easy ways to add fitness to your new year.
Now that the holiday busyness (and overeating) is passed us, it’s time to start the new year on a healthy, physically active foot (pun intended). If being a gym rat isn’t your thing, here are three easy ways to add fitness to your new year.

3 Ways to get fit this year

1. Fitness DVDs

Don’t let the lack of gym membership — or lack of desire to get one — deter your health and fitness intentions. Simply buy a few fitness DVDs or borrow a variety from your local library. Fitness DVDs allow you to work out when it’s convenient for you — and you get to sweat in the comfort of your own home. Trade DVDs with your friends and neighbors so you always have fresh workouts to keep you motivated.

Our favorite fitness DVDs:

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• Top Trainers

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• Angie Miller Fitness

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• Burn

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• P90X

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• Insanity

2. Family fitness

Since your ability to exercise is largely based on convenience, recruit your family to get fit with you so you don’t have to pay for daycare or forgo your workouts because you can’t find someone to watch your kids. Take the kids to the park and run the trails while they ride their bikes or do a playground workout.  You can also organize family Frisbee, basketball, or calisthenic competitions to add incentive to your physical activity.

3. Do mini-workouts

Carving out half-hour a day to exercise can be an impossible feat for busy families, so break up your workouts into smaller, more practical chunks of time. Take a 10- to 15-minute walk or jog with the dog in the morning, keep dumbbells or a fitness band by your desk and do 10 minutes of strength training on your lunch break, and end the day with 10 minutes of yoga or stretching.

More vegan lifestyle tips!