A Healthy You

Have you ever vowed to lose weight? Get healthy? Feel better? I’m sure these sound familiar, especially since we’re in the midst of resolution season! To make things a little easier on you, I’m going to “spotlight” various workout programs aimed at helping you achieve those goals! I’ll also throw in some other fitness tips, insight into eating better, and overall guidance on living a healthier, better life.
First order of business: Getting started. Trust me when I tell you that there is no better time than NOW to start. Be honest with yourself: Is it really going to get any easier if you start next week? Is life going to all of a sudden slow down? Get less hectic? Unless you make a commitment to yourself and your health, that time that you PROMISED to set aside next week to work out will magically fill up with various social, work, and/or family activities. You’ll always find a way to justify it. “Oh, my friend is in town and I haven’t seen her forever!” “My son’s game is tonight and I can’t miss it!” “I really need to stay late at work and finish up some stuff.” I understand that life happens, but that doesn’t mean that your workouts have to take a backseat to it. So what do you do to prevent your crazy life from sabotaging your fitness goal(s)? Aim for a bare minimum of ten minutes a day. Just ten, especially when you’re getting started. Everyone has ten minutes a day, even if that means waking up ten minutes earlier. Whether you run in place, do jumping jacks, squats, lunges, or calf raises while you’re brushing your teeth, at least you’re doing SOMETHING fitness-related. Even if you do five minutes in the morning and five at night (NOT right before bedtime!), get those ten minutes in! This ten-minutes a day tool is fantastic for other reasons as well. Feeling blah or energy-depleted? Exercise for ten minutes for a quick boost of energy and feel-good endorphins. This especially helps when you’ve been engaged in something that’s mentally taxing. Also, lacking motivation to work out today? Tell yourself that you just have to do ten minutes and then you can call it quits. More often than not, it feels so good after those ten minutes are up, you’ll add another ten, and then another. Even if you don’t, though, at least you did something to work toward your goal.
Second order of business: Make it official! WRITE IT DOWN. Be as specific as possible. What exactly is it that you're looking to achieve? Is it to have more energy? Boost your immune system? Fit into a pair of jeans? Be able to run a 10k? By writing it down, you'll be cementing that goal and making it real.
Bottom line to remember: The struggle and sacrifice of exercise if you do work out is much easier than the pain and sacrifice of bad health if you don’t. YOU CAN DO IT!!!