“Once the kids get settled into their school schedule, I’ll begin an exercise program.”
“I’d have to walk early in order to do it before work, and it’s too dark now.”
“We are so busy with the holidays that I’ll have to wait until January to get back to the gym.”
A healthy and fit lifestyle should be a greater priority to all of us because it affects every other area in our lives, including our jobs and relationships. Improved health and fitness does not just mean fitting into a smaller pair of jeans. It means having more energy, a better attitude and living longer.
“I know exercise is important, but I don’t like it. How do I get motivated?” In all my years of training others in the fitness industry, I have come to the conclusion there is only one answer: you make the decision to do it. You simply choose to fit exercise into your daily schedule – like anything else, it’s a choice. If you want to get a degree to go further in your career, you decide to go back to school. When you want to buy a new car, you make the time to do the research, travel to dealerships, take a test drive and you even find the money to make the payments. It’s all a choice.
So, if you truly desire to improve your health, lose weight and begin to exercise, you make the choice. Realize that to get different results than you are right now, you will have to do something different.
Choice #1: Determine what your goals are. Do you want to lose weight? Improve your health? Have more energy? All of the above?
Choice #2: Prepare to succeed. Write your exercise time on your calendar like an appointment. Consider having a cancellation fee.
Choice #3: Be realistic with your goals and start slowly. Saying you are going to workout for two hours a day and fit in your wedding dress by Saturday is not going to happen. How about 20 minutes a day for a start.
Choice #4: Get the family involved. Run with spouse. Walk while son rides his bike and daughter skates. Push little ones in a stroller.
Choice #5: Supporting the cause. Everyone needs a good support system – a group of friends who chose to live healthier and think positively.
Choice #6: Set a training goal – sign up for a race, run an eight minute mile, cycle your favorite bike trail without stopping.
Choice #7: Show up. Show up at the track, the gym, spin class or the pool. Once you are there it’s hard to say no. 98% of life is just showing up.
Make the choice to have a healthy and fit holiday season by deciding to start and stick with your exercise program. Remember to put it on your calendar.
It has now been 37 years since my first attempt at dieting. I was a 14-year old with a much older body and lots of skinny friends. Therefore, I thought I was fat. As I look back at pictures of myself in those days, I laugh and cry at the same time. I laugh because of what my young, impressionable mind thought was “fat”. I cry because I remember that to be the beginning of many years of distorted thinking.