Friends don’t let friends…blow off their healthy habits and feel miserable. In fact, partnering up can make it much more likely that you stick to your goals. But more than that, it can make it much more fun. Here are a few ways to bring a friend along for the wellness ride.
- Join the same gym. It may sound obvious, but friends typically don’t join with friends but rather strike out on their own. A studio may offer more than you think (for example walk into a Core Connection TRX class and you may have no idea we have a thriving spin studio across the street). Ask about all offerings at a gym, and also ask if they do anything special when you bring a friend along to join at the same time.
- Or work it out. If joining the same gym doesn’t make sense, find other ways to work out together like scheduling a walk. Even a bi-coastal one! Set up a regular weekly time to talk knowing that you’ll be walking while on the phone the whole time. Lace up your sneakers and be ready to go when the phone rings; it can become your most favorite Sunday afternoon ritual.
- Cook for each other. If you have a friend at work who’s also trying to get healthy, take turns making each other healthy lunches. You’ll have a more varied menu then you’d have on your own. Just don’t be surprised if office mates try to jump on the bandwagon!
- Or swap recipes. The easiest way is to make a Pinterest board and invite your friend to join it. You can even have multiple boards for things you want to try and things you have tried. Leave each other helpful tips in the captions under each image.
- Skype it in. If your gym offers personal Skype workouts, see if they’ll let you share your workout with a friend. Then you get a private workout for half the cost.
- Motivate each other. Keep each other honest and engaged. Some people like to share what they eat every day. For others, that gets competitive. Always welcome: helpful articles or forwarded inspirational messages on Instagram. Sometimes when you’re having a tough day, that can be enough to keep you away from the “comfort” of a tub of ice cream.
- Partner up. And then there are the workouts you can actually do with a friend. Partner moves can give you a routine a shakeup and make it twice as fun.
