I have never been the person to choose fitness. I was a band/choir/theater kid growing up. My worst grade was in PE. The combination of being overweight and out of shape kept me from wanting to do physical activities. I always enjoyed dance as activity, but most other things, not so much. So if you’d have told me as a kid that one day I would choose to wake up at 5:35am to exercise, I would’ve laughed at you. Yet here I am.
I have found that the only way I can either lose weight or not gain when I eat less than perfect is to exercise almost every day. Between work and raising a toddler, the only way I can make this happen is by doing it first thing in the morning, before the boy wakes up.
I have to make the decision before I go to bed. I know when I’m going to wake up and what I’m going to do. If I decide to do it then, I don’t have the resolve to talk myself out of it when I wake up. I find it incredibly hard if I don’t get it in to have the motivation to do it later in the day. I am very skilled at talking myself out of a workout.
I’ve mentioned before that an object in motion stays in motion, and the same goes for people. By starting the day with that workout, I am more inclined to make more active choices throughout the day. I’m not always perfect in my eating, but I tend to eat better when I’ve already exercised.
When it comes to fitness, I have a few pieces of advice.
1. Find something you don’t hate to do. If you enjoy it, that’s even better! Dance/Zumba/Jazzercise has always been my first choice of activity. It’s fun and the time passes quickly. Generally you can scale it back if you’re a beginner or bump it up if you’re more in shape. I’m also big into lifting weights. Running, HIIT, other activities that make me feel like death are NOT things I enjoy. If you hate the workout, you’re not going to stick with it.
2. Schedule your workout and make it a priority in your day. Everyone has the same amount of time in the day, it’s just a matter of how we budget it. I choose to exercise rather than get an extra hour of sleep. I do love sleep, but the benefits of working out outweigh that for me. If it’s on your calendar, you are less likely to skip it than if you just think you might exercise sometime later. Later never comes, trust me.
3. Just start doing something more than you are doing now. Working out 6 days a week if you’re doing nothing can be intimidating. Start with three days. Don’t know what to do? Start with walking. Take the stairs. Choose the furthest parking spot from the store. Hop on YouTube and do some yoga. Find a fitness app and get some ideas. Once you start moving, you’ll gradually find yourself wanting to do more.
4. Get some accountability. I love having a workout buddy, but a lot of times I lean on them and if they bail, I will skip my workout. Instead, my gym offers free monthly weigh ins and measurements. This is really important to me, as often the inches or body fat percentage will move when the scale doesn’t. Plus having someone else do it gives me more motivation to make good choices.
Remember it takes 18 days to make a habit. It will be a challenge at first, but once you get started, you won’t look back. Find a way this week to up your fitness game! You won’t regret it.
A Work in Progress 