15 Easy Habits That Will Make You More Fit

Workout WHILE watching Scandal?! Yeah, OK.

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1. If you're an absolute beginner, start by running for 1 minute, and add another minute the next day, and another...

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If you add 1 minute every day to your running routine, by the end of the month you'll be running for 30 minutes!

2. If you want to maintain weight loss, multiple studies have shown that you should always eat a balanced breakfast.

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A balanced breakfast (think a mix of healthy fat, lean protein, and carbs) can help you feel fuller longer, making you less likely to binge eat.

Another added bonus? Eating breakfast daily lowers your risk of developing diabetes!

3. Make time to exercise every day (even if it's just for 15 minutes).

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To lose weight, studies show that exercising 30 minutes a day is best. But if you don't have time for a half-hour workout, then try walking briskly for 15 minutes instead.

Bonus: Here's an easy 3-minute arm workout!

4. Doing the same workout every day will make you feel bored, so do different types each week.

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Your body will get bored of yoga every day. Or running every single day. Give it a break (and give your muscles a new challenge) with different kinds of workouts! And a study from the University of Florida found that adding variety to a workout routine will help you stick with it.

5. Get a fitness tracker (doesn't matter which brand) so you're more aware of your activity each day.

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Fitbit, FuelBand, Garmin... all of these keep track of exactly how many steps you're taking each day. And while their accuracy is still being tested, what is clear is that if you have a daily reminder of how active (or inactive) you are on your wrist it's an easy way to stay motivated.

6. Don't skip meals, especially right before you go food shopping.

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A Cornell University study found that when you skip a meal, your judgment is impaired by hunger and may make you choose the wrong thing to eat next (or overeat for the next meal). And if you go food shopping while hungry, you're way more likely to buy excess food.

7. Have a fitness buddy who can keep you motivated to workout.

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An MIT study found that when you're paired with someone who has similar health goals, you're three times as likely to adopt their healthy behaviors.

8. Fitness Magazine recommends that you stock up on a week's worth of workout clothes so you never have an excuse ("Oh, no, my sports bra is dirty...") to not workout.

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Also, having workout clothes that make you feel comfortable will help you be more confident in your workouts. Which, in turn, may make you actually look forward to working out.

9. Lay out your workout clothes for the next day as an easy morning reminder.

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See those clothes, hear those clothes, run in those clothes.

10. Cook most meals at home so you're less likely to overeat.

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When you make food at home you have more control over the ingredients, which means you're not adding in secret ingredients that can pack on calories. Also, no bread baskets (which is sad, but also makes your body happy).

11. Don't diet, instead eat healthy REAL food.

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Dieting does not work in the long term. In fact, multiple studies have shown that dieting increases your risk of being overweight. So, instead of consuming "diet foods," opt for whole grains, fruits, and veggies (you know, the actual healthy stuff).

12. Get at least 6 hours of QUALITY sleep each night.

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Quality sleep, as in you're sleeping through the night, is actually more important than the amount of hours you're getting. Getting enough sleep will make you less hungry, and less likely to gain weight. So GET TO BED ALREADY, YOUTHS.

13. Don't drink sodas (diet or otherwise). Just don't.

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A University of Texas study that monitored people over a 10-year period found that those who drink diet soda had a 70% increase in waist size, compared to those who drank no soda. Not to mention the empty calories found in non-diet drinks.

14. Get your workout in first thing in the morning, right before breakfast, and you'll burn more calories.

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Because if you're like me, (and if you're lazy, then yes), as soon as you get home from work it's all, "Do I reallllyyy need to workout, like, actually?" And according to a study published in the Journal of Physiology, exercising first thing in the morning before breakfast can actually help you burn off calories faster.

15. Keep a yoga mat by your couch, and instead of fast-forwarding through commercials, use those minutes to get in some workout moves.

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Seriously, you can work out while watching Scandal, OK?

No excuses, now get to it!

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