Get Your Workout IN….No Matter How Busy You Are! Tips To Inspire & Motivate – Part I

Did I ever tell you about the time I planned to start an exercise regimen and took 6 months to finally get started? No? Well….Let me tell you about the time I planned to start an exercise regimen and took 6 months to finally get started.

I’ve always been athletic and loved exercise. As a teen I played volleyball, and played on a softball team for about 3 years. In between I played handball almost on a daily basis in the summer. I have a friend who was a track and field champion and I used to train with her when she needed a running buddy. By the time I was in my early 20s I was seriously into weight lifting and at 133 lbs I was bench pressing 150. I was a SERIOUS Jane Fonda fan and did her workouts religiously and had a true love affair with the Buns Of Steel workouts. I was FIT honey, and loving it! I maintained it pretty good for about another decade and tried many different types of exercise that caught my eye.

But somewhere along the way my life got really busy and I had a lot more obligations with family, a home, a husband, a demanding job, an interior styling business and so on and so forth. Yep, you guessed it…exercising took a back seat! For the first few years after I stopped exercising regularly, I still maintained my muscle tone but not long after I started to lose it. So I decided once again to get back to a regular work-out regimen. I THOUGHT it would be easy since I had done it before but I was wrong wrong WRONG!

The plan was I would get up an hour earlier and work-out. I tried…I really did! But each day I would wake up, think about it, and then go back to sleep. When I would finally get up too late to work out, I would beat myself up mentally. I called myself all kinds of names: Lazy, weak minded, fat, lazy, lazy, and oh yeah..lazy. This went on for days, weeks, and months. It was like a cycle. I would get motivated on Saturday, plan on Sunday, and ditch the plan on Monday. Then when I didn’t get up to work out the mental beating would start again. I was a mess! I couldn’t figure out what it was that was keeping me from doing something really needed to do! I would be sitting on the side of my bed shaking my head and telling myself “I can’t believe you did this again!” The evenings were just as bad. I would get home with plans to work out but either I was too tired, or the phone would ring, or there was something I had to do, or somewhere I had to go, etc, etc, etc.

Then one day at work I overheard a conversation between two women and one of them was telling the other that the only way she knew she would exercise in the morning was if she laid her workout clothes out the night before. She said that if she woke up and saw them laid out she would be motivated to get up, put them on and do her workout.

Can you say “Light Bulb”??? That was IT! I couldn’t wait to try that idea and hoped it would work for me. I went out and bought myself three new workout outfits and before I went to sleep I laid one of them out on the foot of my bed in a position where I was guaranteed to see them when I woke up. It worked! I woke up, saw the outfit, got up and put it on and finally started my workout regimen. And I did it this way until it became second nature for me. Since then I’ve done many other things to keep me inspired and motivated and I want to share them with you! Here are the first 5 tips. You ready???

Tip #1 – Research & Explore To Find What Works For You

Exercise should be something you enjoy and not feel as if it’s a chore. That’s the main obstacle that throws most people off of their regimens. Do your research and try different types of exercise to see which one speaks to you. If your time is tight you might want to find something that’s quick and fun but gets the results you want. What I love about Pilates is that I can do a 10 minute head to toe workout when I’m short on time or if I need a quick pick-me-up.

Tip #2 – Set A Realistic Fitness & Weight Loss Goal

Don’t set an unrealistic goal for yourself. That just creates stress and anxiety for you and takes the fun and enjoyment out of what you want to do. If your goal is to get fit and lose 30-40 lbs in a month you’ll never make it. Don’t be like those folk making New Year’s resolutions that dissolve in two weeks or less! Make it more realistic and give yourself the gift of time because you didn’t gain those 30 or 40 lbs or become out of shape in a month.

Tip #3 – Plan A Doable Workout Schedule So You Can Stick To It

The worst thing you can do is plan to work out 7 days a week or even 5 days a week in the very beginning. That will put added pressure on you because you will become annoyed with yourself if you miss a day. Trust me…I’ve been there. Treat your body with love and start slow. 2 days a week and after a few weeks increase to 3 days. Listen to your body and make adjustments as you go. It will be so much easier to follow a schedule that your body can work with as opposed to pushing it too hard and causing injury. Unless you’re training for the Olympics you don’t need to push so hard.

Tip #4 – Prepare Prepare Prepare!

My main problem all those years ago was that I didn’t prepare ahead of time. Lay out your workout attire the night before and put it where you can see it the minute you wake up. (Same thing if you plan to work out in the evenings. Put the attire where you see it as soon as you step in the door.) Don’t put it in another room, or in the bathroom, or across the couch. Chances are you will not work out if you don’t see it immediately once you wake up. Also, prepare the space where you plan to work out. Make it inspiring and motivating for you. If you like a studio look, a gym look or a club look, get some pictures and model your space after those pictures. Decide what workout you are going to do and set it up. Load your DVD player, cue your music (if you’re using music), and arrange whatever equipment you are going to use. This not only motivates you but it saves you time and eliminates excuses.

Tip #5 – Set Your Alarm 10 Minutes Earlier

I know I know I know! You’re asking yourself why is this woman trying to torture me?????? Trust me, my intention is not to torture you, it’s all love here. This is something that I feel is a must for everyone who is beginning a new workout program or for one who has never really worked out consistently before. Set your alarm to wake you up 10 minutes before your actual workout time begins and then use that time to prepare your mind and body for what it’s about to do. While still in bed you start with a few deep breaths, slow and easy to wake your body up and energize it at the same time. Focus only on your body and try to keep other thoughts of the day away. Then gently sit up and stretch. Nothing major, just a few gentle stretches to get the blood flowing. What this does is it gets your mind and body in alignment to what you want to do and it gets your day off to a positive start.

Now I know some will read this and ask why should I have to get up 10 minutes earlier if I have already decided to wake up a half hour or an hour earlier than usual already???? It’s all in how you look at it. It’s not something that you have to do but more like something you want to do. Instead ask yourself this question: Does my body deserve all the time and love I have to give it? If the answer is yes then the decision is easy. It’s no longer a chore it’s a gift. I love gifts. Don’t you?

Come back next week for Tips 5 – 10

Until then…

Stay Blessed and Stay WELL!