Hello Delilah readers,
I’m so excited to be joining you here today. I’m Megan Westfield and I know Delilah through a group of female military veterans who write romantic fiction. (Thanks for the opportunity, Delilah!). My very first book, Lessons in Gravity, came out in October and is a new-adult rock-climbing romance set in Yosemite National Park.
Since we’re just a week past the new year, resolutions are still strong on my brain. For me, it seems like the meeting of resolutions always comes down to time: the fact that there is never enough of it. As an author who has a day job and two young children to care for, there’s no way I’d be able to get everything done if not for multitasking, and one of most effective ways I multitask is by doubling up my workouts with other things.
So whether you’re a person has resolved to be more active in 2017, or a person who is amply active wants to eek out more time in the day to focus on other resolutions, here are a few ideas for multitasking your workouts.
- Listen to an audio book.
All of us Delilah blog subscribers all have this in common: we love to read. My suggestion is to play an audio book on your phone, grab a pair of earphones, and head out the door for a walk. Or go ride a stationary bike. Or hit the bouldering wall at the climbing gym. This concept can be combined with many of the suggestions below for triple-tasking credit. J
- Workout on your lunch break.
This has been a habit of mine since my military days when I’d combine my allotted workout time with my lunch break so I could do a long road bike ride or go swimming at the base pool. Some private companies offer a fitness perk similar to this, but if your company isn’t one of these, an hour lunch break is plenty of time for a 30-40 minute cardio workout with a shower afterward. Alternately, if you have a shorter lunch break or don’t have access to a shower, you could do a low-impact workout: one where you don’t get drenched in sweat and therefore don’t need to change clothes beforehand or shower afterward (ex., going for a walk, or doing high-repetition, low-weight strength training).
- Walk your errands
I do not live in what is considered a “walkable” neighborhood, but there is a strip mall about a mile from our house with good sidewalks the whole way. I save time by making the day’s workout be a walk down to the grocery store to grab a few things for the evening’s dinner, or to run a different errand at one of the other stores.
- Take your kids on your workouts
For me, this means using a double jogging stroller, or carrying one kid on my back and pushing the other in a single jogging stroller. Kids love to be outside and joining in on parents’ activities, so not only are you doubling up on the tasks of taking care of children and getting some exercise, the kids are getting a “win” as well. My daughter is just old enough to start riding her strider bike alongside me, so this has been a fun variation for us. And don’t forget that many gyms offer free child care!
- Make your workouts a group activity
This is the same principle as #4, but instead of taking your kids, you arrange to meet up with a friend for a workout rather than of doing something sedentary. The multitasking element is that you’re having fun and maintaining connections while also being active. My best conversations with friends happen during long jogs and walks! Triple up by meeting with a friend for a weekday lunch-walk.
- Walk or jog your errands with kids in tow
This combination of #3 and #4 is a triple-tasking method that I do almost daily. Since my kids are small enough to ride in a stroller, the basket in the bottom comes in handy for holding groceries or other goods, but a backpack works just as well. If you live somewhere that’s truly un-walkable, you can always drive to an area that is, like a nice park that adjoins shopping area.
***GIVEAWAY***
Let’s get a conversation going so we can share even more ways to gain more time by doubling up daily tasks with workouts. See below!
Book Trailer
Back Cover
All eyes are on Josh Knox…
Fearless. Guarded. Cut-to-perfection. Daredevil rock climber. The best in the world.
This time he’s poised to scale Yosemite’s notoriously treacherous Sorcerer Spire, with Walkabout Media & Productions filming every move.
April Stephens’s dream to be a documentary filmmaker rests on her acing her internship with Walkabout, and that means getting the abrasive Josh to give her more than one-word answers in his interviews.
The problem is, with every step forward professionally, she and Josh are also taking a step forward personally, and after watching her stunt pilot father die in a fiery crash, a guy who risks his life for a living is the last person she should be falling for. Especially because in one month her internship will have them dangling three thousand feet in the air from the side of the Sorcerer. She’ll be filming. He’ll be climbing without a rope.
About the Author
Megan Westfield has dabbled in many hobbies and pastimes over the years, ranging from playing the cello to cake decorating (i.e., icing-eating) to a dozen different outdoor adventure sports. Eventually, she discovered the only way to do it all was though writing—her first and strongest passion. She grew up in Washington state, attended college in Oregon, and lived in Virginia, California, and Rhode Island during her five years as a navy officer. Megan is now a permanent resident of San Diego where she and her husband count family beach time with their two young kids as an adventure sport.
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***THE GIVEAWAY***
Post a comment below about how you double up daily tasks with workouts (or write about a fitness barrier you find especially challenging) and I’ll enter you in a drawing for an e-copy of Lessons in Gravity at the end of the week. Triple-tasking suggestions welcomed, too!
