Everyone that knows me, knows that I love being active, I love working out, and I love being outdoors. I grew up playing tennis, so being active was a very big and natural part of my life since a very young age……and it still is up to this day! Whit so many possibilities out there, how exactly do I stay active? And why do I find it so de-stressing?

I love being outdoors, and one of my favourite type of sports activity is jogging. Before we had kids, I would go jogging about six times a week. Now I have reduced it to four times, mostly due to time limitations. When our son was born I felt so trapped by the fact that I couldn’t just go jogging whenever I felt like, that we got one of those sports strollers for jogging, hiking and mountain biking. This is really great – the kids are so used to it, and it allows me for much more flexibility. For example, in order to optimize my time, I usually “jog” them to pre-school in the morning (except for the winter months of course).

I also love the mountains, so I absolutely love mountain biking and hiking. I find it so extremely peaceful and de-stressing to spend a few days in nature, to get away from the madness of the city and of the hectic lifestyle. Before we had kids, my husband and I used to mountain bike pretty much every weekend. Now we still go, but obviously have reduced the frequency, as well as the distance. As we love sharing different experiences with our kids, we take them along on our bike tours (but thankfully, I am not the one pulling the kindercar!).

I also enjoy playing tennis very much – especially in the summer! I think that it is a great all around workout, and if you are playing against someone better then you, then you always have to push yourself:) I also love golf – I find it so peaceful and calming to spend a few hours on a golf course.

I think that it will be safe to say that I am absolutely addicted to all these activities. Any of these activities are like meditation for me – it helps me de-stress, clear my head, put things into perspective, get energized for the rest of the day, get focused on what’s important in life, and just be grateful for all I have. For me working out not only allows me to take care of my mental state, but it also allows me to take care of my body.

I don’t weight myself, and I don’t do sports to lose weight. I do sports because I like to feel fit and comfortable in my own body. I love pushing myself to the limit to see whether I can complete this or that workout. I also never wear a pulse watch, just because I want to listen to my body and decide how far I want to push myself at every single workout.

I have never been the gym type of person, but I also know that in order to stay physically (and mentally) healthy I need to find other ways to workout. There was a time when I wasn’t open to trying too many new type of workouts. Meanwhile this has changed, and in the last few years I have discovered many interesting and beneficial workouts. I have become a huge fan of pilates……..but more on that later in the month:)

Recently I have discovered a community called Tone It Up. It was found by two ladies with a huge passion for a healthy lifestyle and fitness. On their web page among other, they offer different types of workouts – some for free, and some not. I have tried number of their workouts, and I have to say that it is a great addition and variation to my one sided jogging / hiking / biking routine.

Since adding different types of workouts, my body feels much more balanced, stronger and fitter. I knew how important workout variation is, but only in the past few years I have actually experienced it myself. I think that when it comes to workout we should all be open minded, and even if we have a negative experience with one or another type, we should just try a different kind of workout…….until we have found what makes us happy, balanced and de-stressed. I also think that it is extremely important to find different type of workouts, so it is not one sided (like I used to do for many years).

I am eager to trying out many more type of workouts in the future, but until then share what are your favourite workouts! How do you stay healthy and active? And what are some of the workouts that you would like to try.

Stay healthy,

Anna

Photo by: Luciana Meister