health

Challenge: Watch less TV and swim a little more.

” I work hard, I deserve it!”

 

 

 

By LAURA PERCY

After a long day at work, the thought of getting comfy on the couch and catching up on all of my fave TV shows waiting on the IQ (Hello The Bachelor!) with a glass of wine in hand sounds like a rather brilliant kind of idea. After all, I work hard, I deserve it!

Transferring from desk to couch has become such a deceptively addictive weeknight routine. And it becomes all too easy for the innocent ‘just one episode’ to turn into two or three in order to avoid the end of episode cliffhanger (My fellow Homeland fans will know the feeling). Sometimes before I know it, an entire evening has been spent zoning out infront of the box. And there’s no rewinding that!

When you add couch time to the amount of time I spend sitting at a desk each day for work it equates to a helluva lot of wasted hours spent sitting on my butt.

Just as an FYI, you should know that this post is sponsored by Blackmores. But all opinions expressed by the author are 100% authentic and written in their own words.

Remember that old wives that if you watch too much television that your eyes will turn square? Well, come to think of it, the chances of that happening fails miserably in comparison to what damage those scary couch calories have been known to do to unsuspecting thighs.

‘Instead of watching the characters lapping up their surrounds through the telly, I will go and actively enjoy where I live ‘in real life’.

So, I’ve decided that the start of Daylight Savings is perfect reason for the shows to take a step aside and to make the most of that extra hour of light by getting out in it. So my Blackmores pledge is this: watch less TV, and swim a little more.

Growing up by the beach I have always loved ocean swimming, but it’s something that I have fallen a little out of touch with in recent times. Sure, I am a regular beach goer, but these days it has become more about sunbaking (sensibly of course) and a quick dip to cool off rather than completing those run swim runs and pool swims I did so regularly during my days as a surf lifesaver.

With a choice of ocean pools so close to home, I’d pick swimming in the sea every time over the chlorinated indoor pool at the gym. Coincidentally, one of my new fave shows, Wonderland, happens to be filmed around the beaches where I live too, so it would seem logical that instead of watching the characters lapping up their surrounds through the telly, that I go and actively enjoy where I live ‘in real life’.

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Laura’s pledge.

I’ve started my three times weekly swimming sessions by doing a 200m warm up followed by completing a freestyle set of 100m and then increasing my distance by 100m each time until I get to 400m, then working my way back down to 100m. I usually finish up with a 200m warm down.

So lets examine the positives shall we? Apart from being totally invigorating and a great way to de-stress after a long day at work, ocean swimming makes for a great all-over body work out. Not to mention those salt-water benefits for my skin too. Plus I can be in my one piece and at the waters edge in less than 10 minutes and it won’t cost me anything. But that’s not such a bad thing now is it, if it means I watch less TV?

There are plenty of excuses that come to mind as to why I shouldn’t go swimming and should give myself permission to indulge in some catch up TV instead. Like, ‘It’s too cold’, ‘I’m sooo bloated, I couldn’t possibly be seen in swimmers’, or my personal fave, ‘I don’t want to get my hair wet.’ But the mere thought of the couch being a breeding ground for cellulite is enough motivation to ditch Bachelor Tim and his Bachelorettes and don the cap and goggles. Bikini season is upon us after all!

 

Despite our best intentions, particularly in the colder months, staying active and healthy isn’t easy. We aim to give up chocolate, abandon alcohol and promise to visit the gym four times a week, only to fail. A Little Less, A Little More reminding people that making small commitments is a much more achievable and sustainable way of living a balanced lifestyle. What will you do? Make a commitment here, challenge your friends, upload your pics and follow us at #littlelesslittlemore on FacebookTwitterPinterest, and Instagram

 

Last week Bern committed to ‘A little less emailing, a little more running‘.  This week Laura is pledging ‘A little less television, a little more swimming’.

 

What will your ‘little less, little more’  commitment be this week?