53 Fitting exercise into your life
by Una Hearne.
Yes, lovely friend Sinead, this is rich, coming from me! 🙂 However, ploughing on…
We all know we should. We all want the health benefits. Most of us find it hard to integrate exercise into our lives. To those of you who do, good for you, it does take effort.
We often forget that people who keep in shape are making a choice and doing the work. We say things to make excuses for ourselves, ‘It’s easy for them!’ ‘They enjoy it’ ‘They were born skinny!’ as if we are exempt because it’s not for us, we don’t and we weren’t. Staying healthy and in shape, especially after the age of 30, requires daily choice and action. It’s not easy for anyone.
The reason I wanted to write about  this is that I noticed of friends, clients and yes, me too, talking about exercising and then delivering excuse after excuse and finally beating ourselves up for not doing it, or not doing enough. From a mental/emotional health point of view, I have one really important message for all of us. If you can’t fit exercise into your life, or choose not to, at least don’t beat yourself up for it. This only compounds a less healthy physical choice with an unhealthy mental/emotional choice. Making it even less likely you will.
How to deal with exercise depends (like EVERYTHING) on knowing what you want, remaining conscious of this on a daily basis and knowing what strategies will work for you. You find out what works for you by trying things you think might work, and keeping up the ones that do.
If you take advice from ‘experts’ be aware that everyone who has a plan or a model to sell you (the honest ones) is telling you what worked for them. It may or may not work for you. Try it and see. Don’t start with anything extreme. Balance is the key and working up your fitness level. Set targets that are right for you (big huge ones if you respond to a challenge, tiny baby steps if you get overwhelmed easily) there is no right and wrong way. The only way is the way that works for you.
Take charge of your own health, create the healthiest habits you can in your life and never beat yourself up for falling off the wagon. Just smile at yourself in the mirror for being fabulous and climb back up there tomorrow!
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