A Lazy Girl's Guide to Keeping Fit

I'll admit it: I can be extremely lazy.   Between a full time job, a part time blog, and all the other crap that life throws in my general direction, I have difficulty coming home at night and not launching myself, fully clothed, on to the bed.   And I don't even have children.  

I do, however, suffer from insomnia, and I've heard that it can be quite similar.  Apart from the fact that I'd love to have something that kept me awake at night for an actual reason, it'd be nice to have some company in the wee small hours to stop me slowly descending into inevitable madness.

Anyway, lack of sleep aside, I do try to make an effort to exercise.  This is mainly because I love wine and crisps and not because I'm interested in living long enough to be an 80 year old insomniac.  If that happens, you'll find me camped outside Dignitas with my under eye bags occupying the space next to me.   

Quite... 

These are my top tips for how to work out when you don't like working out: 

Do something you enjoy:   It seems blatantly obvious, I know, but it is the biggest cause of me stopping a particular fitness regime.  If you HATE your workouts, you'll simply give them up and sit on the sofa, stuffing your face full of onion rings, scrolling through Netflix for anything that contains no gratuitous exercise scenes.  Narcos is my current series of choice, in case you were wondering.     

Buy a membership:  I know, I know, it's always touted as the biggest mistake EVER, but it works for me.  Nothing will get me in my swimsuit quicker than having shelled out £16 for a Membership at my local pool.   Seriously, I'm determined to make that saving on the regular price and have stuck with my twice weekly sessions for...ooh, around 3 weeks now.   What could possibly go wrong?

Do something close to home. I have to drive past my local swimming pool to get home from work.  Every night.   This makes it quite difficult to justify NOT stopping by.   This is further bolstered by the fact that I keep my swimming gear packed at all times and just hurl it in the boot before I head to the office.   Sometimes,  I can hear it calling to me during the day, begging to be used.   

If you don't want to pay for the hell that is working out, go running or walking.   As a lazy girl you will, of course, need to take someone with you.   Someone mean would be best.    Give them your address and make them promise they'll come round and drag you off the couch come rain or shine.    It's too expensive to move to another country to avoid them, so you're likely to stick to it.   

Ditch the car.   Even if it is as pretty as this one.  

If you're put off by the Great British weather and hate being in a gym, buy or rent equipment for your home.   I own an exercise bike, which is surprisingly well utilised during the working week.   It's amazing how motivated you'll be if you park it in front of the TV and work out while catching up with the latest instalment of The Walking Dead.  It almost feels like you're NOT working out.  As I'm usually short on blogging time, I can often be found posting to social media or trawling through Pinterest's endless supply of blog articles while I'm on the bike.  Multitasking-tastic.    

Download a free app.  If, say, I fancy the idea of going to Dolgellau's charity shops during my lunch break, but can't actually be bothered walking there, I turn on my walking app.   This way, I can monitor the steps and distance and often it's enough to get me over the massive hurdle that is removing myself from my chair and venturing outside.    

Once I've done a little bit, I usually find I'll take the longer route to the office on the way back.  Also, I buy lots of heavy stuff as this helps incorporate an arm workout while I'm at it.    Genius, huh?

Get a dog.  This is pretty much my answer to everything. Feeling down?  Get a dog!  Feeling happy?  Get a dog!   Want a cat?  Get a dog!  

If you have space and time, a furry, baggy faced companion can encourage you to get out and about and do more exercise.  They're also fantastic at munching human food, so you're less likely to binge if you have one around.   Seriously: they're total junk buckets.  

Dogs are amazing snuggle buddies and will love you unconditionally, even if you're the laziest person on the planet.  They also adore Netflix binges and even the boy ones will ALWAYS let you control the remote.   Who could ask for more?  

I'd LOVE to go for a walk....just give me five more minutes.

Do you have any exercise hacks for lazy girls??