Exercise in a SNAP
When You Don’t Want To But You Know You Need To
Look, you’ll probably never find me saying I love to exercise. However, there’s been enough family history of diabetes and cancer in my family that I’d be a fool to ignore the obvious: exercise has many benefits.
So, from one exercise hater to another, let me share what has helped me make exercise happen in those seasons of my life when exercise is miraculously happening.
First, the goal is 4 times of exercise per 7 day period. This means I’m exericising more often than I’m not exercising. Sweet victory in Jesus.
I keep visual track of this so that I can feel like a 9-year-old teacher whose teacher has rewarded her with a sticker chart. I put a fun sticker on my paper calendar when I exercise. It’s satisfying to place the sticker and to look back and see how often I’ve exercised.
What about the actual exercise? My handy acronym addiction comes in here:
Exercise in a SNAP:
Schedule it: If you’re like me, you rarely just up and feel like exercising. You have to figure out ahead of time when you’re going to do it. What time of day works best for you? Early in the day so you can finish it before you change your mind? Take a “10 minute out, 10 minutes back” walk at lunch, or right after work to decompress before dinner? Maybe at night after the kids have gone to bed or so you can be in a less crowded gym after everyone has gone home. Trust your gut; you know the best time for you to exercise. Decide a day ahead and stick with it.
Name it: decide what kind of exercise you will do. I mean, find something you decently like. Think back to your childhood and what you enjoyed before exercise became a chore. Maybe even a simple, 20-minute walk outside for fresh air will improve your current activity level? For me, I’ve sorted out a few options to choose from when naming it: a walk outdoors, swimming, biking (indoors or outdoors - Walmart has a great stationery bike that they’ll deliver to your doorstep for $150), or a one-year $100 subscription to online 30 minute workouts through Beachbody on demand. And, no, you don’t have to have a beach body to do the workouts, but you will feel more firm in a matter of days; that’s the truth.
Accessorize: Girl, you’re gonna need some stuff to exercise. You’ll need the right clothes, and you’ll need some music or weights, or videos (DVDs from the library or online videos). Shopping is fun, especially when it’s for your health. Go check out the fitness areas of Marshall’s and get a fun water bottle. Invest in your health! What do I own for accessories? I have a one-year membership to Beach Body, the stationary bike, and some cute exercise clothes that I found at a consignment shop.
Prevent Boredom: This one calls my name. I get so bored so easily. For each of my elected exercises, I have a few tricks for not getting bored. If I’m on a walk, I might do one of the following: walk with a friend for a conversation (or call a friend), leave and listen to messages on Vox with a friend, listen to a podcast, or listen to music. For the online video workout, I silence their music and play my own fun workout mix (made on iTunes) or put on a TV show or movie next to the online video (Thank you, Steve Jobs, for all these i-devices that make this possible). If I’m riding my stationary bike, I bring a stack of books to read while riding. Caution: if the book is good, you might ride longer than planned.
What are your personal tricks for making exercise happen? How do you stay motivated? What do you do and when do you do it? What do you do to prevent boredom?
“She dresses herself with strength and makes her arms strong.” Proverbs 31:17
