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:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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….
- 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
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