03 November 2013

Humble Beginnings

Too many people wait until the last second to try and whip into shape. They know things have gone off the rails, in fact they've known for a long time. But for some reason they wait until "Oh my GOD! Michelle's wedding is in TWO WEEKS!" or "Call 911, I think I just had a heart attack." 

I get why. Fitness is not woven into our modern lifestyle. We sit in cars to sit at desks. We have endless easy options of instant edible gratification. Then we come home tired, tend to our home and kids, and collapse. It's depressing. 

This is why I think so many get it all wrong. Everyone's all over the internet, "shredding" and "ripping" and "blasting" and "cleansing" to go from A to Z in 14-30 days. I guess that's fine if you always wanted to hobble around, feeling like you have tetanus with a shart in your shorts. But most people don't enjoy that sensation, so they quit and never go back. 

So, this is how I plan to start: One thing at a time until the momentum catches up with me. My time table is one YEAR, not one MONTH. And I want habits to have time to truly change, so that if we hit a bump in the road, I'm not back at square one. I feel that when you alter a little bit at a time, you adjust easier and it sticks. It's the difference between de-pressurizing and getting the bends. 

I'm a big advocate of the push ups, sit ups, and squats challenges on the internet, as well as the "couch to 5K" running plan. I always start with these types of workouts because they are easy and take up very little time. The point is not to transform right now, the point is to carve out a little time and build momentum. It will give me a little energy boost and make me want to do more. 

My schedule will look something like walking/jogging 3-4x a week and doing 5-10 minutes of bodyweight exercises whenever I can fit them in, 6 days a week. I've been known to bang out the pushups right before bed because I forgot until the last second. But that's the beauty of these little challenges. It can be done anywhere, any time, and takes less than 10 minutes. My time table is keeping this up through Christmas and moving into phase two after the chaos of the holiday. 

No ripping and tearing, no hard guilt trips for not keeping a nearly impossible schedule through Holiday season, just a spark. A little impetus to get going is all it requires. 

So we're at:
1. Get your demon out of the house. (mine is chocolate. We threw out all the extra Halloween candy yesterday.) 
2. Ten minutes a night of a bodyweight challenge OR 3-4 thirty-minute sessions a week for a cardio introduction. (OR both, if you want)

That's it for a month & a half. Who's with me? 

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