Last year, in the spring of 2013, I took a virtual 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. (You can read Part 1 here.)  So here’s the second list of things that I learned from Building a Foundation for Fitness:

1. IDENTIFY HEALTHY FOOD OPTIONS—If you have a problem with junk food, like I did, then figure out options that are faster and healthier than fast food. Instead of grabbing something at MacDonald’s on my way to Katie’s therapy session, I figured out what I could stock in the fridge and pantry for grab and go convenience.
2. REDUCE OPTIONS—This one truly blew my mind. More options equals more decision making and too much thinking reduces creativity and available time. Wear a workout “uniform” or have the same breakfast every morning to help speed you out the door and free up more time for exercise or any creative endeavor.
3. FIND YOUR TRIBE—We all need a “tribe” to provide us with support, and healthy living is no different. Make a list to help identify who could support your healthy living efforts. It could be eye opening.
4. IDENTIFY WHO SHOULDN’T BE IN YOUR TRIBE—Related to #3, figure out who shouldn’t be in your healthy living tribe. I discovered a single friend was seriously sabotaging my efforts to lead a healthier life.
5. HAVE A BACKUP PLAN—Everyone, but single moms in particular, need a backup plan for days when things go wrong. In my case, I found exercise I could do with my daughter for those days when going to the yoga studio wasn’t in the cards, I made sure to check https://www.posturesavvy.com to find out the right way of doing our posture during this exercise.

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

Stay tuned for Part 3.

Until next time,
Cynthia Patton