Healthy ways to spend your evening!

It’s far too easy to get home from work, switch on the television, throw a pizza in the oven and recline in to your sofa for the evening. Getting fitter and healthy however doesn’t have to be the hard work that everyone makes it out to be, it can just become part of your lifestyle, a more active and productive lifestyle. Whether you live on your own, with your partner or friends, getting out of the house for a short stroll or learning a new skill in the kitchen can greatly benefit not only your body but your mind too.

Here are our top 5 ways to actively spend your evening

Join a gym

Joining your local Gym this is perhaps the easiest one on this list, you’ve probably even done it before, the hard part however is continuing to go. Many people throw themselves in to it, and try and go nearly every night, but after a few weeks burn out and stop going altogether.

Pick a couple of nights/mornings a week and start from there the fitter you get the more you’ll then want to go, and increase your workout time while you’re there too. Don’t necessarily join the ‘best’ (usually most expensive) one in your area; join the gym that your friends go to, or the one that’s on your daily commute. The more you pass by the more likely it is that you will go inside and spending even a half-hour working out is a great boost for your fitness and mental health.

Picking a gym with a pool and steam room can be a great compliment to a comfortable workout regime and will provide you with the perfect cool down.

Join a sports club or team

Netball, Football, Tennis or new sports to the UK like Handball, joining a sports club or team can be a great way to get fit, build stronger team skills and boost confidence and motivational skills as well as getting fit and healthy.

Form strong bonds with your new team mates, or build yourself in to confident sports person, and remember that every sports team or club has a similar work hard, play hard attitude and it’s as much about the social side of sport as it is about competing.

Join a fitness class

Get down to the local leisure centre and scour the information boards for a class that interests you. Anything from the latest fitness trends like Zumba or Seen on Screen classes. To old favourites like aerobics and martial arts. These high intensity workouts can be brilliant for your body but even better for building strength and a healthy heart. Just one night a week is a great way to start and if you get very much in to your new fitness class you can start doing both the beginner and the more advanced classes to and really feel that fat burn.

Learn to cook

Try a new recipe one night a week, maybe buy a few different vegetables when you’re shopping and build a meal around them. The internet is awash with recipes for all kinds of different cooking, and dietary requirements.

You’ll be surprised once you learn a few basic recipes how easy cooking healthily for yourself can be, in fact cooking healthily is more about buying the right ingredients than it is learning how to cook.

Go for a walk (or a run)

After eating your evening meal, or after placing a nice casserole in the oven how about go for a long walk, by yourself or with your partner. Walking is one of the best things for your body and heart and can burn off some of those calories you have consumed in your final meal of the day.

Wander around your local area, pick a different a different direction and just stride, head up and watch what’s around you, maybe you’ll find a new green way, spot some impressive architecture, or wander in to a local free event that’s just sprung up, and fall in to conversation with some like minded people.

These five things are really easy to do, and will only lead to you living a more healthy lifestyle which will only have a positive effect on your health both mental and physical.

If you have any ideas, or changes you’ve made to your evening routines please share them below, and help our list grow.