Getting Fit in Phoenix: Meet Your Health Goals in the Valley of the Sun

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #BalanceRewards #CollectiveBias

Someone is against my ambitious health goals. I planned to get up at 5:30am each day this week, to go for a run. Well, on Monday I woke up and realized my sneakers were in the baby’s room. I knew that going in there would be taking a HUGE risk that he’d wake up, and instead of running or sleeping, I’d be hanging out with a baby for the next hour. So of course I went back to bed.

Tuesday was another story. Have you heard of a little thing called the Arizona Monsoon?

Well I got up at 5:30, was out my front door by 5:45, and there was a very light drizzle. Really just a misting. I don’t mind running in the rain, so I went for it.

5 minutes down the road, the heavens unleashed a deluge of flood waters, directly at the top of my head. I had to turn back. I literally had trouble breathing and felt like I was drowning as the water poured down! And I was wearing a white t-shirt…

Today was my golden day. I made sure my shoes were ready (my old shoes, as my new pair are still drying out), and the weather was clear. I had a nice 40 minute run, watching the sunrise, before returning home to get the kids ready for the day!

And while I was exercising this morning, I was making money. Oh yes, it’s true! Have you heard of Walgreens’ Balance Rewards program? You can sign up and receive a loyalty card for free, and every time you shop there, you earn points which translate into store credit when they reach a certain number. You also get special discounts and coupons for being part of the program. Like today, everything in the store was 20% off! That’s it. No minimum purchase, just 20% off everything the whole day!

I really like it because there’s nothing you have to keep track of (unless you want to). You just shop there, swipe your card, and usually you see your total decrease while checking out. “Oh, that said $16.89 before the swipe, and now it says $15.35? No argument here!” (I made up those numbers.)

And now Walgreens has started rewarding their Balance Rewards customers just for improving their health, with their healthy choices program.

All you have to do is download the Walgreens mobile app, and then either sync your other health apps (such as My Fitness Pal or RunKeeper) or enter your workouts and data in manually, and you earn rewards! I’ve never seen a program like this before, and I love it!

And it’s not just for workouts. You can also track your weight, sleep habits, and blood pressure, and even set goals and see your progress.

And when you get lots of reward points, then you can go shopping at Walgreens for more items to support your habit.

So now that I’m all hooked up and getting rewarded for my healthy choices, I want to make more of them!

Today I thought I’d share with you a few fun ways to get fit in the Valley of the Sun, otherwise known as Phoenix.

So with all of these fun and exciting options, plus the chance to earn Balance Rewards at Walgreens, there is officially no excuse for not getting fit in Phoenix!