Healthy eating is a way of life for us here at Right Hand Mom-land, about 90% of the time. What started as a way to lose weight has become a lifestyle and habits that we can hang our hats on.
As for exercise, well, that is entirely different story. I know the importance of exercise. I know how much I need to incorporate it in my day. I know that when I am exercising regularly, I feel better, look better and can just generally handle life better. And yet…
Needless to say, I’m aware of my short-comings and always on the lookout for ways to encourage myself to work out more. I told you last week I downloaded an app to train for a half-marathon. Well, I have used it but I will admit it alone is not motivating enough to kick my butt out the door (Surprise!). One afternoon, after working with health coaching clients, it occurred to me that I have all of them write down goals and then we brainstorm steps to achieving them, but I haven’t practiced such an act for myself in quite some time. I needed to set some goals and then get to work achieving them. I mean, that’s how we radically changed our eating habits and quite honestly how I’ve accomplished nearly anything long-standing. Now it’s time to do it with fitness and exercise. I need goals and I need motivation to keep working toward them.
So it was with great excitement that I tried out Steps with Walgreens Balance Rewards Program. I already had a Balance Rewards account for when I shop at Walgreens and it was simple to sync that with my new Steps account. Here’s the deal, you know the rewards you earn from shopping? Well, now Walgreens is willing to give you points for making healthy lifestyle choices too. It’s kind of like I’m about to get paid for running. How motivating is that?
First I had to set up the goals online. Actually, I went online but ended up doing everything from my phone. It’s all simple, but for me the phone worked because it’s always on me.
See the little walking man at the bottom? That’s how you get to where the magic happens!
I made a weight goal, an exercise goal and a healthy living goal. I basically want to be outside and active a minimum of five days a week and run for 15 miles. The weight goal I’ll keep to myself for now (at least in print, pictures don’t lie) but let me assure you, I have weight to lose-lots of it. No amount of healthy eating keeps me in shape without some physical activity. Let’s just say mama’s got some work to do before bathing suits come out of hiding in six weeks!
Now this is mid-week for me so don’t mock my only half-completed goals!
Then the really cool thing is, you just go in every day and log your activity and it not only tracks the work toward goals for you, but it also rewards you with Balance Rewards. I got 250 points for just setting my goals and then 20 and 60 points for my runs. Pretty cool. I also get daily emails reminding me of the prize of the day for the Step Up and Win contest. It’s just one extra incentive to be mindful of my fitness and exercise. Plus, prizes are fun!
With all this new money-making motivation, I decided to head to Walgreens to get myself some healthy and fit gear. I thought I’d need a knee brace or at least some Advil, but I decided instead to get some coconut water for after my runs and some seed kits to get the kids and I outside for gardening. Instead of prepare for inevitable injury, I decided to focus on doing the work to avoid it! I also bought a whole lot of other stuff, because the prices and Balance Rewards make it difficult to just walk out of the store with two things. You can see all about my trip here on Google+.
I’m pretty excited about the Steps With Walgreens Balance Rewards Program. Not only am I loving the ease and usefulness of the website and app, but I’m hoping the promise of Balance Reward Points is enough to get my butt out the door and on the road to real wellness!
I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. Though this post was compensated as part of a social shopper insight study for Collective Bias® and Walgreens, all opinions are my own. Sadly, even the ones about how large I’ve grown. #cbias #SocialFabric #BalanceRewards
P.S. Looking for more parenting guidance and tips for self-care? Check out From Chaos to Calm a guided training to help you feel better in this tough season.
