Last year, in the spring of 2013, I took a workshop called Building a Foundation for Fitness, which was taught by my friend Amy Christensen, the owner of Expand Outdoors. Since I lost weight and ran in the fun run at my daughter’s school, people have continued to ask how I did it. Part of it was the amazing products produced by Isagenix, but the other reason for my success was Amy’s incredible workshop. In fact, I think if it had not been for Amy’s workshop, I would not be 40 pounds lighter or regularly practicing yoga.

Why was Amy’s workshop so helpful? I thought about it and made a list. The list got so long, I had to split it into three parts. So here’s the first five things that I learned from Building a Foundation for Fitness:

1. FIND EXERCISE THAT YOU ENJOY—If you hate going to the gym like I do, then don’t buy a gym membership and beat yourself up when you don’t go. Find a form of exercise you enjoy and do that instead. When I gave up the gym and joined a yoga studio, I began exercising more. Duh.
2. PLAN AHEAD—This sounds simple—and it is—until life gets hectic. Then if you are like me, you skip exercise. Healthy eating is the next thing to go. But a little advanced planning can make all the difference.
3. A SCHEDULE IS YOUR FRIEND—As a creative person, I used to fight schedules. I thought it would hamper my creativity. But it turns out a schedule takes thinking out of the equation and keeps me accountable. Once my exercise is scheduled, if a conflict later develops, I reschedule the exercise just like any other appointment. Simple and effective.
4. PUT ON WORKOUT CLOTHES WHEN YOU GET UP—I had read about this technique, but thought it would never work for me. Well, I was wrong. Yes, there were a few days I spent the entire day in yoga clothes and never exercised, but most mornings I figured I might as well go to class since I already had the clothes on….
5. EXERCISE WHEN CHILDCARE IS NOT AN ISSUE—This seems really obvious, but I didn’t do it. I’d plan to exercise when my daughter was home, and then beat myself up when it didn’t happen. Once I scheduled exercise during my former “work hours” when Katie was at school, I started exercising a lot more.

Are any of these tips new to you? Which tip did you find most helpful?

Stay tuned for Part 2.

Until next time,
Cynthia Patton