make exercise a habit

We have a treadmill and a Total Gym and we are getting a YMCA membership and I have a bike and I can walk and there really is NO reason why I can’t exercise. My excuse is its hard and I hate it because of my weight and my asthma….but i can walk slowly and still burn calories and not get out of breath and walking on the treadmill doesnt hurt, so I can do this.

I am overwhelmed right now with us packing to move this week so I have not been exercising, although we went for a walk yesterday, but I definitely want to get back into a routine of exercising everyday so that it becomes a habit and I stick with it. I need to exercise if I want to lose weight, and it wont happen if I dont just get off my ass and do it.

So I am not going to commit right now to doing any particular amount of exercise until after we get settled with this move, but once I get settled in at our new place, then I will make an exercise committment and force myself to stick to it.

I started using DVDs for exercising at home. I’m trying this approach to making exercise a habit! :-)

I really need to make it a habit!

I have gym membership at 24 hour fitness, and I have qualms about going by myself… I am just very insecure when I’m alone in public.

I guess I just need to suck it up and go to the gym!

To make something a habit, you’re supposed to do it for 21 days in a row, so I will exercise for 21 days in a row, and hopefully keep it up after that. I’m 6 days into it!

I should do an analysis of what challenges I face in making exercise a habit.

Challenges
-being tired;
-feeling like I don’t have enough time in the day to exercise (more important things to do like taking care of baby, making dinner);
-not motivated;
-not knowing the types of exercises to do;
-getting bored with exercises (too repetitive);
-not seeing results;
-being overly ambitious one day, and then too sore or tired the next day to do any exercise;
-finding excuses not to workout;
-not having the proper equipment to do exercises safely;
-not enough space to workout comfortable (at home).

What can I do to improve the situation?
(Three things for the next 30 days)...

1. Schedule exercise time (do it first thing in the morning so that I can get it out of the way);

2. Go to bed earlier, ask for help, only do the important things that I need to get done during the day (let the things that can wait—wait until later) and take a nap during the afternoon (help feel rested);

3.Create a space for working out (exercise equipment, music, motivational images/ quotes, etc.)

These are the 3 things that I’ll work on for the next 30 days!

(Schedule, Rest, Space)

I’m trying to increase my activity level. Walking whenever possible, doing cardio workouts in my living room, playing with my baby, just moving around more throughout the day.

It was such a nice route that the hour went by quickly. My legs feel like they got a workout.

It was starting to become a habit, but tonight I’m going to take a night off from my evening walk.

Reasons for not walking:

I did a lot this week, and I don’t want to overdo it. I walked over 5 km on Wednesday, carrying baby in a mei tai. I also got blisters last night from breaking in my shoes, and tonight the baby is too tired to go out again.

A year later, I’ve come to the realization that exercise has never really been a habit for me so I’m going to have to work extra hard to make it a habit.

I guess that if things are good habits, that if you stop doing them for a while, and try to resume it doesn’t take as much effort, energy, or time than if you never had it as a habit to begin.

Yipee!

I have the treadmill put together, and indoor shoes for the treadmill…

now if I could only muster up enough energy to do a decent workout. Must get some sleep!