Spring is here, so we think, and soon it will be time to run around half naked on beaches showing off our healthy, fit bods. Oh wait, I forgot, the majority of us have been sitting on our butts doing nothing for the past six months. I don’t know about all you, but I’m feeling a little insecure about the five, ten, fifteen pounds I may have put on over the winter. I want to be in shape, as many of you do; the problem is getting started. According to the Center for Disease Control, sixty percent of American adults (yes, we’re adults now) don’t get the recommended amount of physical activity, and over twenty-five percent of adults are not active at all. Why are the numbers so big? Excuses, excuses.
In order to get started you must commit yourself (easier said than done). I advise finding activities that you love and making a list of them. For the past five years I’ve been telling myself that I’ll start running. This just won’t happen because I absolutely despise it. This year I have chosen activities such as tennis and swimming, both fun and aerobic. After you have come up with a list of things to do, make another list of goals you want to achieve, long and short term. For example, your short term goal could be to increase your workout time by ten minutes in two weeks. Your long term goal could be to fit into a smaller pant size.
Once you have committed yourself, the next obstacle is keeping your commitment. To help out, you should schedule your exercises. Make sure you are specific and realistic. For example, my schedule is Monday, 5-7 p.m. – boxing; Tuesday, 8-9:15 a.m. – tennis; Wednesday, 1- 1:30 p.m. – take a walk, etc. Be careful not to push yourself too hard, especially if you have been sedentary for the winter.
The next hurdle is, of course, keeping the exercise appointments that you’ve made. Here’s a tip: treat your exercise appointments like you would any other appointment. You wouldn’t break your dentist appointment because you had to “rest up for the upcoming night of drinking” would you? Of course you will have those days when you feel like it is absolutely impossible to exercise. You may have had a bad day, or you may be tired, or just not in a chipper mood. When this problem arises, try the “5-Minute Compromise.” Tell yourself that you’ll start exercising for five minutes. If after those five minutes you still feel as if you can’t go on, then stop and don’t feel guilty about it. In most cases, once you start you will want to finish.
Visualizing can also help you achieve your goals. If you feel yourself having trouble getting started one day, and your goal is to lose weight, visualize your exercise as peeling off the layers of fat on your body, like the layers of an onion. If your goal is to increase your cardiovascular health, visualize your heart pumping the clean oxygen to the cells of your body. As you sweat, imagine all the impurities flowing out of your body. This will make you feel better about what you’re doing. Finally, once you’ve gone through the process of getting started and keeping your commitments, reward yourself (preferably not with a McDonald’s super size value meal). Go ahead and buy yourself those new running shoes you wanted, or take a long hot bath after a hard workout.
If you are able to commit, you will be doing yourself a huge favor. Exercising is preventive medicine. It bolsters the immune system, and lowers the risk of heart disease, cancer, high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, and osteoporosis. Exercising also significantly reduces depression and improves sleep. For you women out there, a fourteen week study at George Washington University showed that aerobic exercise, three times a week for forty-five minutes, significantly relieved premenstrual depression and anxiety. When you exercise you also boost brain power and memory because you are increasing blood flow to the brain; we could all use some of that.
“People who exercise regularly tend to sleep better, and use less sugar, caffeine, alcohol, nicotine, and other drugs. Above all, exercise makes you feel good about yourself. For most people, exercise is one of the most obvious self-respecting behaviors. Each time you jog, visit the gym, or play a game of squash, you are building your positive self-image – a physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual foundation for your growing self-esteem.” David Imrie, MD