How to make exercise a priority
You know the routine. You’ve been busy all day either attending school, working or taking care of the kids. The last thing on your mind is going through a workout. All you want to do is relax and unwind. If you’re overweight the effects of a busy day can wear you down even more than your thinner counterparts.
So how do you make exercise a daily priority?
I have tried to make it a part of my daily routine as so many experts have recommended. For the most part it does help, but I’ve found that it just became one of my many tasks that I didn’t want to do. Currently I workout 4 days a week 30-60 minutes per session. I have been able to stick to it because I have made exercise a part of my unwinding and relaxing time. Now I look at it as time just for me to do what I want to do and not what I have to do.
The secret is to make it fun and competitive.
Find a physical activity that you enjoy doing like walking, running, biking or even lifting weights and set a realistic goal for that session. It could be anything from the amount of calories you burn to how fast you can complete a set distance.
For example my exercise of choice is running. I have 2 routes a 5 kilometer one and a 10 kilometer one. On each run I set a goal time to beat. (23 or 50 minutes). It’s an awesome feeling to beat or even reach that goal. It keeps me motivated and I look forward to beating that new time on my next workout session.
Cutting out the excuses
There are so many excuses that can trip you up. “I’m too tired, the gym is too far away, my favorite TV show is on or it’s raining outside” are some of my favorites. All of these can stop your momentum, but can be easily overcome. Here are some simple ways to counter those excuses:
1.) Change into your workout clothes right after dinner.
2.) Set a time to meet with a workout buddy. You’re less likely to skip it if you have someone else waiting on you.
3.) Use your Tivo, PVR or VCR and record your favorite TV shows and watch them on your rest days.
4.) Who says you need a gym to workout. Put on a workout video, run the stairs or do some body weight exercises.
5.) Work out in the morning as a great start to your day.
My favorite excuse is I’m too tired to workout. There is no better cure for low energy than a good 20-30 minute walk/jog. Motion creates energy and increases the oxygen flow to your brain, essentially waking it up.
Regular exercise can improve your overall health, add years to your life, improve your self-confidence and make you look and feel better. So good luck and get moving.
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More Great Songs For Running
I wrote a post a while ago (wow almost a year) titled “Great Songs for Running” and it featured a few classic rock songs which apparently not too many people agreed with. Well I thought I would do another quick post about workout songs, but this time I am focusing on the rock/metal.
This first song is from a local band that I just found out about recently and man are they good. They’re called “Hail the Vilian” and they really get the blood pumping when I am running or doing my weight training routine.
Check out their first release – Take back the fear
And my favorite which is perfect for running – Runaway
The next song in my running playlist on my ipod is Muse – Hysteria just singing along with the “I want it nowwwww” parts keeps me going.
Breaking the Habit by Linkin Park is great when running, it makes me think about my life and how far I’ve come in my weight loss goals, “Breaking the habit” says it perfectly. Basically any song by Linkin Park is good for running, always high energy.
So those are just a few songs that I listen to while running, now when it comes time to cool down I listen to these 2 songs almost exclusively.
First, Broken Bells – The High Road It gives you a nice little bounce in your step.
The last song I listen to before calling it a night is…..Sleeping Sickness – City and Colour with Gordon Downie Just a great song to end the night.
Alright your turn, leave a comment and let me know your favorite Rock songs for running so I can add them to the Ipod 
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My Birthday – Weight Loss Update
Well another year as come and gone and as of today I am officially 33 years old. I like to use these special days to celebrate the highs and reflect on the lows of the previous 365 days.
This year I finally got a new car! After 10 years driving my old Pontiac Sunfire I picked up a new Ford and I love it. Paid for in CASH!!! I might add, which was a huge change from 10 years ago when I leased the Sunfire and financed the buyout afterwards ( Never again!). Dropping that amount of money in 1 day is both exciting and nauseating at the same time.
I was able to make the purchase thanks in large part to my online income which has really taken off. I’ve learned a lot about the IM business and all that time I’ve spent creating, promoting websites and services has really paid off. I am now proud to say that my online income matches my offline income which is huge!
My weight has been steady over the last year not great but measuring success isn’t always about the numbers. For example I’ve learned how to properly use herbs in our family dinners to provide flavor without adding sugar, salt or fat. That in it’s self is great but I’ve also learned to cook, I mean really cook not just re-heating. This has been a huge savings to the wallet and the waist line.
Some Failures and Scary Moments
Now for the lows 
First and foremost my job. The company I work for was hit pretty hard by the recession and was looking for ways to cut costs. Meaning job cuts.
Many departments were affected and mine was no exception. At one point I was offered a package or a chance at one of the few remaining positions. I turned down the money and was offered the job, many of my friends were not so lucky.
This all happened 2 days after I bought my car. Life has a way of bringing you back to reality like that.
Around the end of May I re-injured my knee playing basketball. Not the end of the world but it took a lot of the momentum out of the progress I was making with improving my cardio fitness.
As always though I try to find something positive from a negative situation and I used the off time to develop and very simple and effective workout routine. I will be using it as part of my new 8-week fat loss program, so you can look forward to some progress reports and if it works as planned I may turn it into a downloadable eBook.
That is pretty much it. It’s been an interesting year and I’m looking forward year 33 being even better.
How is your year going?
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Free Workout Videos Online
It’s no secret that I am a fan of the P90X workout plan. It’s really effect and thousands of people have seen great results with it, but unfortunately it isn’t free in fact even on sale you are going to pay $100 for the complete program.
Fortunately for those of us with big bellies and skinny wallets can find a ton of really great workout videos online for FREE
Below are some good videos that I’ve found. You really need to wade though a lot of crappy videos to find a few diamonds in the rough on youtube, these are all good, watch the videos, subscribe to their channels and get fit
Enjoy and hopeful you can mix and match the videos to create your own total body exercise plan.
10-Minute Cardio Kickboxing Workout by Coach Nicole from Sparkpeople.com
View her youtube Channel here: sparkpeople
Bex Life: 300 Rep Superhero Workout Cardio
View her youtube Channel here::genghisgirl
Destorm: The Best Home Workout – Exercise Routine
View his youtube Channel here: DeStorm
Leehayward: Complete Chest Workout
View his youtube Channel here: Leehayward
Homeworkoutroutines: Intense Home Ab Workout
View his Youtube Channel here: Homeworkoutroutines
EmpowerYourBody: Sexy Arm Routine
View her youtube channel here: EmpowerYourBody
Brides Made Fit: The Really, Really Good Leg Workout
View Her youtube channel here: Brides Made Fit
This video is by Craig Ballantyne creator of the Turbulence Training Program. He has done a ton of work for Men’s Health Magazine and really knows his stuff.
cbathletics: Great Upper Back Workout
View his youtube channel here: cbathletics
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Simple Trick for Exercise Motivation
I have been doing this for the past week or so and it has done wonders for me. 5 straight days of running or weight training.
You know when it comes to losing weight, eating healthy or doing exercise sometimes it feels like I am 2 different people. There is morning Steve, always tired but very motivated and hopeful for having a good healthy day, no junk foods, lots of walking breaks at work, drinking lots of water and looking forward to working out at night/evening etc.. I like this Steve.
Then there is night Steve or more specifically after the kids are in bed Steve. He craves the junk food and does whatever he can to get it. Night Steve is also tired but only when it comes to exercise or meal planning or making lunches/snacks for the next day. For all other activities like working on the computer until 1am, watching movies or driving to the store to get junk food he has boundless energy.
Obviously these 2 personalities clash and for some reason at night after the kids are in bed and it’s Mommy and Daddy time I forget about all the good intentions I had started the day with.
So Simple it Seems Stupid
What I do is this, in the morning before I leave for work is I write myself a note, nothing too elaborate usually just a sentence or a word.
For example yesterday’s note said this “Before turning on the computer run for 30 minutes on the treadmill, you’ll feel great” . I left this on my computer monitor, sure enough last night I came down stairs ready to hop on the computer as usual. I saw the note and immediately it brought me back to when I wrote it that morning.
45 minutes later I had run for 35 minutes and burnt 365 calories. Best of all I did feel great afterwards and I was able to work on the computer guilt free.
The key for me was not to think too much about what else I had to do that night or what else I could have done. Basically not talking myself out of it. I was listening to my motivated self and did what I knew I really wanted to do.
I Don’t Have Short Term Memory Loss
Maybe “forgetting” is the wrong word for my not following through with my good intentions, as I do not have short term memory loss. It’s more like wilful ignorance and I know I’m not alone on this.
My wife thinks it’s funny that I do this and has posted notes around the house with things like “unload the dishwasher” and “change the laundry” mocking me it seems. (Doesn’t work like that honey )
Before you just blow this off as silly or stupid, give it a try first. When you’re motivated in the morning (or anytime you’re feeling motivated) write to yourself and leave the notes somewhere you’ll be most likely to read it or need to read it. (on your fridge,TV, bathroom mirror, in your car etc…). Hopefully this will help you stay motivated or at least remind you of what you really want to do, when your motivated that is.
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