Combining Forces

I don't know about you, but sometimes I find it pretty hard to work fitness into my day. I find it especially difficult sometimes because unfortunately my favorite things to do are group classes. Sadly, group classes cost money. We used to have a membership at a very nice health club that offered all kinds of fun group classes. I did everything from group weight training to Pilates to Zumba, and even a step aerobics class led by a lady who was old enough to be my grandmother (she totally kicked my butt).

Obviously those days are long gone. I do miss the hot tub in the locker room. It can be a bit discouraging, but thankfully I've been able to survive off of free DVDs from my local library (thank GOD for the library!) and being car-less.

Nope, you read that correctly. Go ahead and check again. See? I said being car-less has actually been enormously beneficial. One of the things we decided to do to save money when we realized things were quickly going down hill financially was to become a one car couple. My husband needs the car most days of the week so when I need to get some place I either take the bus, walk or ride my bike. Not only do I get the benefit of the extra activity in my life, but I also get to be all hip and trendy and claim to be "going green" by not using more gas and contributing to the collective carbon footprint of America (whatever that means).

Now that the weather is finally becoming nice I've been able to start running outside again. I'm not actually much of a runner. I top out at about 5.8 mph, 5.9 on a good day. But it's a fabulous way to torch major calories and great for getting to the grocery store. Last year when I realized that one of my favorite places to buy groceries is about 3 miles away from my apartment I knew I had stumbled upon an elusive pearl of penny pinching: being able to combine my exercise with my efforts to save cash. Whenever I want to pick up a few things and the weather is cooperating, I strap on a very light weight cotton backpack, cinch it up as close to my back as possible so it doesn't bounce around, and run to the store. I get what I need and hop on the bus to come home.

Now that's functional fitness if I have ever heard of it. If you've been trying to think of ways to save gas money and also trying to think of ways to get more activity and exercise into your day, why not combine forces? When you need to run errands ask yourself three questions:

1. Can I get there by bike or on foot?
2. Will what I need to buy fit into my backpack or into my bike basket/saddle bags?
3. Is the store close enough for me to get there and back without purchased food becoming too warm?

If number three is a concern an easy fix to that is packing a thin insulated lunch bag with an ice pack in your backpack.

I really encourage you to give this a try! If you have children, take them with you and make it a triple whammy: fitness, errands and family time all at once. What could be better? Give it a try this week, and let me know how it goes.