A Quick Way to Beat Inertia

Getting started on an exercise plan is tough. We all struggle to find the time to fit it into our busy schedules. Sometimes it seems like it takes moving heaven and earth just to get to the gym for a half hour. So, with that in mind – do you have 5 minutes?

Sure you do.

Lace up your walking shoes and head outside. If you are absolutely positively miserable during those 5 minutes (although unlikely, it’s possible), then find a different way to move. The whole idea is to build up. And perhaps you’ll find such bliss during those 5 minutes – because your body just revels in moving - that next time your feet hit the pavement, you’ll want to make it 10 minutes, then 15, eventually 20 and so on.

Find a realistic place to start. Too drastic changes are rarely lasting changes. So, if you've never exercised consistently and you attempt to begin a routine that puts you in the gym for two hours at a time, five days a week, chances are those plans won’t stick. But, if you build up gradually in an activity that is achievable and dare we suggest enjoyable, you will be successful.

After all, you can do anything for 5 minutes, right?

Wish List

What’s on your list of necessities to get healthy? An endless supply of fresh fruits and veggies? A gym membership? A weight loss support group? Thigh Master? There are so many books, technologies and machines that are designed to help us in our quest to be healthier. So much that we are flooded with diet apps and exercise doohickeys. Kind of makes it difficult to know where to start, doesn't it? We tend to think we can’t do it if we don’t get that “one thing” we don’t have.

Identify one thing that you have that will help you to get healthy. Maybe it’s a calorie counter app, a weekly yoga class or your walking shoes. Or maybe it’s a good friend or family member who lifts and supports you wholeheartedly. Or maybe it’s the pure desire to be healthy.

Whatever you identify, know that your pursuit to be healthy can be enhanced by books, ideas and gadgets, but they are all just instruments to draw out what’s already inside of you. You have everything you need right here and right now. All you have to do is open your eyes and really see it.

Don’t let what you think you don’t have hold you back. Gather what you do have and put your heart into making it work for you.

Get Yourself Unstressed

Stress. It’s something nearly all of us deal with on a daily basis. It’s also something that can cause a whole host of health problems. At the root of many of those health problems is the excess weight we carry around. Stress is often at the core of why we eat what we do and also why we can’t seem to find the time to blow it off with a good workout.

With so much on our plates today (ok, pun intended), it’s no wonder we’re stressed. The pressures of work, family and finances can be wholly overwhelming. So how is one to deal with it all and stay even keeled and consequently healthy?

Step one is just to become more aware of it. Feel the effects that stress has on your body – shallow breathing, hunched shoulders, clenched jaw, maybe even a stomach ache. Find a way to minimize its impact. Of course, you know we’re going to tell you that a balanced lifestyle that includes a healthy diet and regular exercise is a great second step. And if the thought of that sends your stress levels to high heaven, take a step back. When it all seems like too much perhaps the best thing you can do is just sit down and catch your breath.