If you exercise regularly, what are your secrets?

[bisous]

If you regularly exercise, what has made the difference for you? Have you always been that way? If not, what made the difference? Would love your thoughts!

[bisous]

For me, I have NOT always been a regular exerciser! At all! I was very active in high school (swim team and cheerleading) and have struggled with a regular exercise program ever since graduating in 1994. But for the past 5 months or so I've finally started exercising and I really am enjoying it.

The secrets for me include getting wireless earbuds. I ended up buying some for $30 from Target by jLabs. They don't have AMAZING sound or anything but they stay in my ears so I can work out!

That allows me to exercise in my tiny house at 5:00. I like exercising alone! And my kids are grown enough that they either sleep in or they can manage themselves if they happen to wake up at 5:00 (and that almost never happens these days).

Finally, I found exercise that I really enjoy. For me, I liked to swim, but I'm too high maintenance to make that my regular exercise. It it hard to find a pool, and then have to shower completely every day (I know that sounds gross...but I don't wash my hair every day). It takes too much time. I also LOVE to dance. I found a combo of high impact aerobics that are very dance-like (HIGH fitness) and barre videos and I'm loving it. That makes a huge difference to my motivation in the morning.

Once I like what I'm doing, I start doing it more often. Then in turn, I start getting stronger and fitter which again increases my motivation!

I'm excited to see what works for you guys!

[SnuggleBuggles]

Routine. It’s easy for me to maintain the routine. It’s hard when it falls off the rails for a bit (illness, injury, time available...). I like to workout at the same time each day.
When I’m not feeling it, I play one-off my favorite workout songs and it usually pumps me up.


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[Philly Mom]

I was not a regular exerciser and now am. I made it a priority. I put it ahead of spending time with my kids. I find if I exercise I will still find time for the kids and I will like it better for having had exercised. My Apple Watch has made a huge difference. It motivates me. I have goals and I want to meet them every day. Finally, I try to walk quickly with friends a few times a week. It is great exercise and social. The Apple Watch helps me keep up my pace. I feel so much better each day I exercise and that makes it worth it.


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[georgiegirl]

I was not a regular exerciser until last February. The Apple Watch has really helped keep me accountable. The pandemic really pushed me into staying active. I felt like I needed to do as much as I could to keep myself as (physically wmd emotionally) healthy as possible. I don’t do anything super intense...just fast walking 3-5 miles a day. In the summer/fall, it was more like 5 miles, but now in the winter, it’s 3. I prefer to walk with my friend/neighbor, but I also walk on the treadmill.

[bisous]

I can totally see how an Apple Watch would be helpful and motivating. I love to walk. I'm having a hard time getting out to do it. I feel like I'm needed all hours of the day. It is easier to make it happen in the summer when daylight hours are longer! I would really love to figure out how to walk at least a couple of days a week.

[PunkyBoo]

I can totally see how an Apple Watch would be helpful and motivating. I love to walk. I'm having a hard time getting out to do it. I feel like I'm needed all hours of the day. It is easier to make it happen in the summer when daylight hours are longer! I would really love to figure out how to walk at least a couple of days a week.I love walking. That is my main (usually only) exercise. Since I started telecommuting last April, I started walking every day at lunchtime. It is my stress relief, break & alone time. I only get a half hour lunch from work so I walk 1-1.5 miles quickly with my earbuds in to listen to music, then eat a quick lunch or eat at my desk while working. It helps that my kids are old enough to make their own lunches and get themselves online for remote school. I walk even when it's cold or a little rainy. I track my distance/time on an app that can also calculate approx. calories burned. I decided I needed to do it for myself and prioritized doing it. It's very important to my mental health, and I also lost almost 20# in the last 9 months, primarily from the walking.

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[StantonHyde]

I need to be a little afraid to be motivated. I sign up for a tough backpacking trip every spring and that keeps me going through the winter. I looooooove backpacking so will keep myself in shape to do it. Then, to make sure I keep going after the trip, I sign up for races. I have been doing triathlons for 10 years now and love the cross training aspect of it. I helps prevent injury and boredom. (but you don't necessarily get good at any one discipline) I don't want to suffer during a race so I keep on top of training. I am only competing against myself and I am really proud of myself for what I do. I love the sense of accomplishment.

I also try to work out first thing--if I postpone too much, it doesn't get done. And trail runs are a must for me. Better scenery and injury prevention. I just love trails.

oh--and exercise is the number one way I manage stress. I really do it more for my mental health than anything else. My kids know if I am getting snarly--they will ask "Did you exercise today? Have you had your coffee?" :ROTFLMAO:

[hillview]

I struggle. Thinks that help me
- telling people I am going to work out (DH, kids, anyone really)
- Putting it in the calendar
- Mornings work out better for me, I wear my clothes to bed and just do it
- Having a class or a work out buddy or a trainer to basically hold me accountable
- When I walk having an audio book or a friend to call helps
- 90% of it is just starting it, like just start -- we used to say showing up is 90% of it at a class I attended and SO very true

GOOD LUCK

[Mommy_Mea]

I have done a number of different things, but the keys for me:

- routine! Pick a time that works for you and do it then, always. When the kids were little, I would put on my running gear and walk them to the bus stop and leave for my run from there. Once they got older, I still went for my run as soon as they were off to school. This year is harder since that routine is gone, but now I wake up and do yoga first thing. Back in my 20s, I would go to the gym on the way to work, my bag would be packed the night before and I would just roll out of bed and go.
- make it easy! Minimize the thinking about what to do. When I was running a lot, I had a mileage goal and would plan a route ahead of time. With yoga, I am doing the 30 days of yoga from Yoga with Adrienne (thanks to inspiration from someone here!) so the workout is selected for me.
- set a goal! One year I challenged myself to run 1000 miles in a year, set up a spreadsheet and tracked all my stats. I knew if I was getting behind and when I was wavering on going running, I knew that it was critical to get 4 miles in that day to keep on pace. With yoga, it is just keeping up the streak! I am 48 days in!

Really for me, doing it first thing in the morning is so important. It is done, out of the way. I feel so much better, clearer. If I try to work out later, life gets in the way!

[Liziz]

For pretty much my entire adult life, I'll get into a routine and exercise regularly for 3-9 months. Then, something happens, I get off-schedule and I'll stop (sometimes for just as long!). So I can't say I have found anything that keeps it being consistent long term, but the things that I realize do help me are:

*routine - I'm not good at skipping days. If I tell myself I'm doing it every day (well, every week day), then I'm much better about sticking to it. If I allow myself excuses/reasons to skip days, then pretty soon I find I'm skipping all days....
*morning - since having children, it's just impossible to consistently do it at any other point. If I don't do it right away, too many things could come up to change the plan, and once I'm off routine, I'm at huge risk for stopping all together. (pre-kids, DH and I used to go to the gym together in the evenings and I LOVED it. I look forward to some day, waaaaaay in the future, doing that again. But it's not going to happen anytime soon and that's okay!) Currently I'm getting up early enough to be finished before my kids wake up.
*Sticking to things I like - I used to equate "exercise" with "running". I spent years trying to make myself run and be a runner. I've never, ever liked it, and anytime I've done it for a consistent amount of time, I end up with some (minor but not comfortable) injury or issue. Once I accepted that I don't enjoy running but there are other ways to exercise, it's been much easier and pleasant to stick with something. I enjoy weight work (primarily though workout videos with free weights), rollerblading (though I don't have a great place to do this right now), walking (fast pace/long distance), and biking. Like OP, I love swimming, but it's not realistic right now either.
*Having a "buddy" - I don't like working out with other people, but it's extremely helpful to me that DH gets up to workout at the same time as me in the morning. We do it separately, but both getting up together is so much easier. Same with times when we used to go to the gym together -- we didn't even use the same parts of the gym usually, but knowing the other person was going makes it so much harder to just decide to skip for no reason.

The two biggest benefits I find from exercise is that my mental health is better, and my nighttime sleep is also better.

[okinawama]

For me, the secret is working out in the early morning. Everyone takes a piece of my time as the day progresses, and even with the best of intentions, inevitably, something creeps into the time I had reserved to work out. If I get my workout in while everyone else is asleep, I dont worry about someone else taking that time.

[wendibird22]

For me, the secret is working out in the early morning. Everyone takes a piece of my time as the day progresses, and even with the best of intentions, inevitably, something creeps into the time I had reserved to work out. If I get my workout in while everyone else is asleep, I dont worry about someone else taking that time.

Yea this! I do yoga M-F at 5:15am and the run with a friend at 8am Sat and Sun. The rest of the day can go sideways but I’m assured of having gotten my workout in. And my yoga is 30mins max and my runs are an hour. I don’t spend hours upon hours. So it need not occupy a significant amount of time to have health benefits.


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[smilequeen]

I’ve been this way since dental school, we used to go as a group and it became routine and a way to burn off stress. There were some lapses during pregnancy and newborn stages, but I generally look at my week and come up with a rough schedule. I’m not going to beat myself up if a day turns out differently, but I know, for example, that this week I had lots of time today...cardio, very little time tomorrow...strength, etc. When my kids were remote, I bought a bike so I could bike with them on days when the remote schooling didn’t give me much alone time.

[essnce629]

I totally read the title as "if you exercise secretly!!!" [emoji23] [emoji23] [emoji23]

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[bisous]

I totally read the title as "if you exercise secretly!!!" [emoji23] [emoji23] [emoji23]

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OK this makes me laugh because I think making exercise "secret" IS kind of my secret! I do it at 5:00 and until recently (like today) I didn't realize that I do it in the dark. I didn't even think about it. It just feels natural--it is dark and my family is asleep. I use my phone so I don't need to put on any lights... Woke up this morning and started working out. Heard a horrifying loud nose and figured out it is my neighbors generator. Apparently the storm last night knocked out power out! It didn't even register for me until I heard that. Only then did I notice that it was darker than usual!