You don’t have to spend all your time and money in the gym to stay healthy. While it may seem impossible, there are numerous ways to improve your health even at the comforts of your own house.

So if you’re a stay-at-home mom, a retiree, an individual who works from home, or simply someone who can’t find time to hit the gym after work, here are a few practical steps to stay and remain fit and healthy even at home.

1. Set a schedule

For improved health, everyone is recommended to spend at least 30 minutes of daily exercise–whether it’s jogging, or any other cardio workout. If you start the day really early, you can set your exercise time during the afternoon. For instance, if you’re a mom who prepares breakfast and sends kids to school, you can start with your regimen when everyone else is out of the house. If you find it hard to spend 30 minutes straight workout, you can divide them into sets of 10 so that it won’t feel long.

2. Stick to your schedule

Starting a workout regimen is quite easy; sticking to it is the hardest part. There are many factors that can disrupt your exercise program and the most common factor is laziness. Once you’ve started exercising, try your best to stick to your promised schedule everyday. Once you give in to laziness, you’d find many other reasons to quit. A good idea is to workout in short periods of time, so that you won’t get bored easily. Thirty minutes isn’t that long!

3. Have workout tools at home

If you can afford to transform an entire room into a home gym, lucky you. If you can’t, however, investing on the basic fitness equipment is fine. There are many workout equipment in the market today that offers more functionality and lesser space. Some of these equipments roll cardio training, core strengthening, and weight lifting into one. Buying instructional DVDs is also a great investment. This way, you’d be able to see how a certain exercise is performed to ensure positive results and less injuries.

4. Turn household chores into exercise

If you find running on your treadmill a weary endeavor, why not spice it up? There are numerous ways to break a sweat at home, and most of them involve household chores. Set three days a week keeping your home squeaky clean. You can have gardening on Mondays, scrubbing the floors on Wednesdays, and cleaning the garage on Fridays. Without noticing it, you can burn more calories than you can imagine. This exercise regimen is also twofold. You can break a sweat and keep the house clean at the same time.

5. Eat healthy

Exercise won’t work if you still eat unhealthy food. Remember: a healthy body is the result of exercise and proper diet. Although it may be hard not to be tempted by food (especially if the kitchen is only a few steps away), try to take the step towards a healthier lifestyle by following a diet program. This doesn’t mean starving yourself or doing a crash diet. Instead, start replacing the junk food you have in the fridge with something nutritious such as fruits and vegetables.

With a positive outlook and by following the steps above, you’ll surely have an improved lifestyle even at home. Do you have any other tips to share?