Lifestyle Exercise Goes to the Mall

You may not think about getting exercise at the mall, but it’s a great place to get a bit more lifestyle exercise. Lifestyle exercise is movement you do while doing regular movements during the day. A good example of this is spending a day at the mall. How can shopping at the mall help you to exercise and stay in shape?

The bigger the mall the better, but if you live a small town, like me, you might have to do with what you have. That could mean walking up and down a short street instead of through an enclosed mall. Either way, doesn’t matter. The mall is actually a great place to walk around. There’s people there, windows to browse, beautiful things to look at. You can go in and out of various stores to take a quick look and not worry about spending too much (keep your mind on the goal here, okay)?

This becomes a great lifestyle form of exercise. If you need to get something at the mall anyway, you suddenly have a new type of gym. You can make you purchase then keep moving. Walk quickly and no one will even notice. They are also walking quickly and not paying attention to others as they move around. Just keep moving. You don’t have to work up a sweat but maybe you will. The think is just keep moving, and remember, park farther away from the mall too. That means having to walk farther to get to the mall, just adding more lifestyle exercise.

Walking around, stopping and starting, will help burn calories which can only add in helping you to stay in shape. There are some things that you should look out for, however, so that you do not destroy any effort that you make in this regard.

First of all, make sure you don’t give into the temptation of taking a break at one of the many mall restaurants to get a meal that could have enough calories to completely blow any dieting that you have done for a couple of days. If you’re not careful, an appetizer, hamburger and onion rings along with a soda can have two days worth of calories in it if it is bought at the wrong restaurant.

That being said, find ways to add even more movements such as taking the stairs instead of escalators or elevators. If you don’t have an option but to take the escalators, make sure that you walk up and down them instead of just standing still. Remember, little things add up to a lot and the lifestyle exercise you at the mall will pay off in the long run.