Diet and Exercise. Those are the two things.

Wanna guess which one I haven’t done regularly for YEARS?

Yes, I have good reasons. We all do.

I was not born into a sporty family. My parents did not play any kind of sports or exercise much, and I was not encouraged to do much, other than take up tennis a little. See, I was one of those girls everybody loved to hate–I could eat whatever I wanted and still had a good figure. So I didn’t really have the motivation to start something I didn’t like. In college I learned to walk and work out at the gym because everyone else was doing it, but I really never liked it. Same with chiropractic school, but I did learn to like it better. When I graduated and moved back to Florida, I lived on my own. I joined a gym and took early morning walks on the beach.

And then I got married, moved across the world to a different culture (without any family or friends), and had babies. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Learning how to and now managing a home for seven people leaves things like exercising by the wayside.

And now that I’m 36 years old and have had five babies, well, my figure isn’t exactly what it once was. And my energy is…..lacking. To say the least.

It’s time for a change.

I need to walk the walk, not just talk the talk of health. After all, I’m giving tips on how to be healthier, right? I’m sure you’d agree that I should be a person who actually exercises regularly, not only for my own health but so that you can feel good about trusting me to help you on your path to health.

So this is my plan so far:

• I’ve been doing about 5-10 minutes in the morning on the floor which includes stretching, stomach crunches, push-ups, and back extensions. Not a lot, just a little and I will increase it as I gain strength.
• This morning I took an early morning walk after my floor exercises for about 20 minutes. It was wonderfully energizing. I’ll try to do that most mornings plus the floor workout from 6 to 6:30 AM.
• Hubby bought a home gym machine for weight training. I’m not sure when I’ll fit that in, but probably in the afternoon during nap time. I’m always sleepy and it will help wake me up. It’s getting delivered at the end of the week. I’m excited that we’re in this together.
• And a mini-trampoline. It’s in the living room. I can certainly put on some fun music and dance for a few minutes each day. I hope we can find some place to keep it when it’s not in use…

Just like everything that’s good for you, exercising is part of a lifestyle change. And changes need to be approached in a way that is simple and most importantly DO able. That means to take babysteps so that you don’t crash and burn.

I think I can realistically commit to 1/2 hr each morning. I don’t think it’s realistic to commit to an hour. So I won’t. I want to be successful in reaching my goal.

I think I can probably commit to about 15 minutes each afternoon, but for this week I’m going to focus on the morning habit. Every little bit counts.

Jonathan Roche coined a term I love. It’s the No Excuse Work Out. (NEWO). No excuses, because it can take only 6 minutes. And everyone has 6 minutes! You can listen to his weekly BlogTalkRadio show here.

I can use all the encouragement I can get, and I’d like to cheer you on too. What’s your exercise routine or challenge?

This is a very important concept in life. Things keep moving, and it’s almost certain that you won’t keep up with everything. But what you do when you realize you’re “behind”, and more importantly how you feel about it will make all the difference in what you do next.

I’m struggling with these flylady babysteps. I’m falling back into the same habits I had before I began them again: I haven’t done the 15 minutes of decluttering every day. In fact, I haven’t done 15 minutes since I posted my success with it. That was days ago. Two minute hotspot, yes. Room rescue, yes, sort of(if you count me delegating it, but not if I do one myself). Daily mission, not so much.

I think my very favorite concept of Flylady’s is “You are not behind. Don’t try to catch up. Just jump in where you are.”

I’m never going to catch up. I really need to just do what I can today. It’s a new day, a fairly new week (we have Sunday as a work day here, so Monday is the second day for me). I’m going to ditch the guilt I feel and jump in where I am.

I’m also going to prioritize those things I seem to have a very difficult time getting done. I’m going to call my 15 minutes today my frog and eat it as soon as I can. I’d say “first”, but with other household things that must happen in the morning, it’s not possible. If you aren’t familiar with the “eat the frog” concept, enjoy this short (1 minute) video. I wanted to embed the player but it won’t let me. Very worthwhile.

I’m glad that today’s babystep is to read an essay about calendars and how/why to use them properly. I can handle doing that while still focusing on my frog.

What’s your frog today? What are you procrastinating on?