The cooler fall temperatures provide a break from the sweltering summer months, making outdoor fitness more comfortable. Fall also comes with temptations and reasons to derail your healthy habits. High-calorie comfort food, holidays and shorter days are a few potential stumbling blocks for your fitness plan. A solid fitness plan going into autumn helps you stay on track with your healthy plans.
Tackle Fall Chores
Fall presents many opportunities for getting physical with outdoor chores. Instead of looking at raking as a dreaded chore, turn it into a calorie-burning fall workout. Rake the leaves with lots of effort to burn more calories. Picking up the bags to put them in a compost pile or bag also adds to the workout. Other fall chores that double as a workout include climbing a ladder to clean out the gutters, packing away lawn furniture for the winter, digging up the garden and cleaning up other yard debris. Volunteer to help your neighbors for more of a fall workout once your outdoor chores are complete.
Boost Your Motivation
If you find your motivation to exercise fades as fall nears, find ways too overcome those motivation killers. The shorter days of fall mean less daylight time for outdoor activities. Fall temperatures sometimes dip to uncomfortable levels, making you want to skip an outdoor workout. Adjust your schedule to fit in your workout in the morning if you find the early sunsets a problem. You get your workout done before you can talk yourself out of it and you might have more energy throughout the day. A backup plan for days when the weather doesn't cooperate means you don't need to skip your workout just because it's raining or unseasonably chilly. Working out with a friend is another way to keep your fall fitness plan on track.
Choose Healthy Fall Foods
A healthy diet supports your exercise routine to boost your fall fitness. Rich comfort foods become healthier with simple substitutions. Choose low-fat milk products for recipes to increase the health value. Most low-fat dairy products work in recipes without a noticeable difference. Take advantage of fall vegetables like squash to bulk up your diet. Add extra vegetables in a meat-based dish and cut back on the meat to save calories. If you attend lots of fall gatherings, make a healthy dish you can share. This ensures you have a healthy option.
Fall Safety Considerations
Autumn presents some safety considerations, especially if you plan to head outdoors to exercise. The late sunrise and early sunset means you might end up exercising in partial darkness. Wear bright clothing with reflectors if you're out in the dark. Leaves become slippery when they get wet so walk carefully on leaf-covered sidewalks. Wear layers of clothing to account for the cooler temperatures, allowing you to adjust the amount of clothing so you stay warm without overheating.
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