Life Lesson: Easy Exercise = Solid Foundation

It's amazing the power of a paradigm shift. It's all how you look at things really. I've been so down on myself lately about gaining back this weight but what I think I need to understand is that time will get me back on track. Slow and steady -- yes an overused cliche but it is true for me right now.

What is the huge rush?? If  it takes me a year to lose 10 lbs then so be it. I have noticed that I've been making these grand plans and strategies. Not just with diet but with all areas of my life and then getting depressed when I can't live up to them. I say to myself -- 'I'll try again starting Monday'. Monday comes and I'm on track for a day or 2 then fall off.

Some examples include such things as diet, exercise, home maintenance (cleaning), work, yoga. For exercise I have decided that what's most important is consistency. It is more important than what exercise I do, the intensity, the duration, etc. About 5 years ago I started this little experiment after months (if not years) of trying to get back on the exercise regimen. I decided that I would exercise every single day doing only Walk Away the Pounds - 1 mile. It only took 15 minutes and some days I even did it barefoot. There was no workout pressure. And no expectations. I wasn't looking to get a butt of steel in ____ weeks. I wanted consistency and a solid workout habit foundation. It worked!

I committed to the 1 mile WATP DVD for 1 month straight. After that I said I would move up to the 2 mile the next month. Then I moved onto the 3 mile. By this point I had been exercising CONSISTENTLY for 3 months. From there I moved onto the Firm and I truly had a solid workout habit base. I got stronger too, and tighter.

The point I'm trying to make (in my typical long-winded style) is that the most important thing is to start off super easy but the activity HAS to be a daily thing. Regardless of whatever life throws at you you must do that exercise. It could be as simple as a 5 minute walk around the block. But whatever you commit to has to be done daily. For at least a month!

Some ideas:

• Walk 1 mile per day (or whatever amount of time or distance you choose)
• Do ___ pushups, situps or squats per day
• Yoga
• Biking

SUMMARY: Commit to a VERY EASY AND SIMPLE exercise and commit to it every single day for at least 30 days. It's a necessary step to setting the workout habit into a solid foundation. Even if you are capable (which I believe physically that I am) of doing more -- DON'T! Focus on building the exercise habit by easy. If there isn't that dread then it's much easier to get it done!

My commitment starting 10/21/2010 (Thursday) until December 1st is to walk 1 mile every day (15 minutes) and do some form of yoga every day (even if its just a few poses).

PS: You are NOT allowed to bash yourself about previous exercise attempts and failures. We have all started and stopped exercise regimens so be nice to yourself -- even if it's only for that 30 days, then evaluate how you feel.