My 10 000 Steps a Day Challenge

Society has a huge obesity problem; you don’t even have to look far to see what I’m talking about. In this day and age we can get everything at the push of a button and we don’t even have to leave our home if we don’t want to because almost everything can be delivered to your door.

I have kind of always been into health and fitness because I enjoy working out and breaking a sweat and I'm also paranoid about how my body will look when I hit my thirties, so I try to be as active as I possibly can. I used to be a lot more active when I was younger by playing sports at school and running around outside but the older I got the more effort I had to put into being active.

I recently decided to try the 10 000 steps a day challenge (I love a good challenge) and trying new and creative ways to get myself moving. It has changed me and I am now very conscious of just how much time I spend on my ass. I feel guilty now when I sit down for too long; even at work.

I figured it wasn't enough for me to just simply do more; I needed to be proactive about it and consciously move more. There are many options for wearable tech that you can get to help you track your goals. There are apps you can download on your phone such as Google Fit that use a pedometer for your steps tracking. If you don’t mind spending cash you can get yourself a Fit Bit or a Bfit; there are a variety of options for fitness trackers available you just need to find what’s best for you.

Some of these tips are my own that I implemented in my daily life (at work and home) and some are ideas I got from others, nonetheless here's how to do it:

•  jog in place- at varying speeds because it can get boring
• march while you're printing or waiting for some printing
•  at the mall park as far as you can and walk to shops
•  take several loads of laundry out to dry instead of taking it out all at once
•  march in place while you're washing the dishes
• go for walks on your lunch break (the longer, the better)
• walk the dog
• pace while you're on the phone
•  if your office is big; walk to colleagues instead of calling or emailing to pass on messages
•  take the stairs ;say no to escalators and elevators
• march while you're ironing your clothes
• give the drive-through a miss and walk in to get your order instead
• march while you're folding the laundry
• march while you're hanging the laundry out to dry
• play tag with your kids (or friends)
• march in place while you're brushing your teeth
•  get up and fetch objects that are across the room instead of asking someone to pass them to you
• use the furthest cubicle in the restroom
•  march while you're chopping the veggies
• get off the bus a stop early (2 if you're feeling energetic) & walk the rest of the way
• take walks around the block when you feel angry/sad (great stress reliever)
•  take the long way to your desk at work
• pace while you're waiting for your nail polish to dry
•  pace while you're waiting for your hair dye/relaxer to set
• set reminders on your phone to get you to move every hour
•  march for the duration of your favourite song

In a nutshell; march while doing stationary activities or on the phone, take the long way round and do whatever it takes to keep you moving. Even if you can't do 10 000 just yet, start small and you'll get there before you know it but most importantly you should have fun.

The whole idea of this challenge is to keep you moving and encourage you to live an active lifestyle. I live a pretty active lifestyle when things are going well, there are times when my health doesn't necessarily allow me to go to the gym or exercise so just moving around more in my daily activities helps me and it can be of help to those of you who aren't particularly into physical activities. If you can’t or don’t like doing physical activities; just walk more.

Give 1 or 2 (or even 5) of these a try. This is a great way to start your fitness journey; especially if you hate exercise. Being healthy shouldn't feel like a chore. Give these a try today ;in fact get started right now.

So go on; get your butt off that couch and get moving!

Study Tips That Actually Helped Me

I work full time and study and at times it's a hassle. My very first semester at UNISA went very well; I passed the subjects I used to fail dismally and even managed to get a distinction for economics (my first ever in my life at university).

I never considered myself to be particularly intelligent but I know I'm not dumb either; it just takes me a little longer to go through and understand work. Anyways I used to get depressed after studying and getting unpleasant results back and the only advice I got from my mom was "read", which frustrated me even more because that's what I had been doing all along and I wasn't getting the results I wanted or at least passing my modules.

I don't know why I had never thought about using this tool for my studies because I'd been using it all along to catch up on the latest music and other unimportant things. The other day my dad said to me "have you ever thought of using YouTube to help you study?" I was baffled at this because after he said it, it seemed so obvious and no, I had never thought to use YouTube to help me and let me tell you it has changed my life! That was just one of the new methods I tried.

For many years people have been holding study tip workshops and talking about effective study methods & here are the ones that worked for me:

• Watch lectures and lessons on the subject on YouTube
• Make notes that are bright and colourful in your own words that are easy to understand 
• Use drawings and diagrams
• Use mnemonic devices ( for example My Very Elegant Mother Just Served Us Nice Pizza for the order of the planets i.e. Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto)
• Make little flash cards you can carry around and read while you're in traffic or long queues 
• Read out loud so you can hear what you're trying to study; the more senses you use the better
• Make voice notes that you can listen to while getting ready for work or school
• REPETITION!!! The more you go through the work, the better it sticks 
• Use a red pen/marker to highlight important keyword or definitions
• Exercise
• Take regular breaks & reward yourself; for example study 1 hour then watch your favourite series for 30 min or go out for ice-cream

The most important tip I can give you is something that has been repeated over & over again but it is vital, DRINK PLENTY OF WATER & GET ENOUGH SLEEP. Your body needs this in order to allow your brain enough time to process and store new information.

These are just a few helpful tips that I tried, please feel free to share yours with me.