How I Made Fitness A Part Of My Everyday Life

I was forever procrastinating fitness in my life, with no real excuse for doing so. Sure I'm as busy as the next girl, but putting your health off because of a few scheduling conflicts is just lame. Here's how you can get fitness higher up on your list of priorities and finally make getting in shape a reality, just like I did! Make sure though, that anything you do is okay with your physician, especially if you have any re-existing health issues.

You Make A Date With Fitness

I'm serious: Mark a date on your calendar when you will start your fitness routine on a regular basis. Don't mark yourself down for tomorrow, because you really need to plan this out and make sure you will adhere to the program. Pencil it in at least two weeks in advance and hype yourself up to look forward to it.

Prepare In The Best Possible Way: Shopping!

This was easily my favorite part about getting ready for fitness in my life, and a prime motivator too. Go shopping wherever your budget allows and get some good cross-trainers. Find a pair that fit and support you well and you will be all set for any physical activity. Add to that a few sets of workout clothes, appropriate for outdoors or in, and throw something in that's absolutely gorgeous. If it's something exclusively for fitness and you can't wait to be seen in it, you will make sure it really serves its purpose!

Become Educated About Your Program

I did a little research to find out which workouts would benefit which areas of my body and made sure the exercises were something I could get into. You don't want to set yourself up for failure by setting unreasonable expectations: If it's not something you will enjoy, you know you will never do it! But, the good news is that there are so many different avenues toward fitness that there are sure to be plenty for you.

Set Some Achievable Goals

I chose to start small, because I really was afraid that an unexpected meeting or event with the kid's school would interfere, so I set small chunks of my schedule into fitness motion. Say you have an extra half an hour Thursday morning, go ahead and plan to exercise! Little by little, as I accomplished what I'd set out to, I realized that incorporating fitness was no different than anything else in everyday life, so long as I kept it a priority!

Use Warm-Ups And Stretches Wisely

I now know the importance of warming up my muscles, but I've also adopted some of the stretches as actual exercises. Since working out means changing and showering, which eats a lot of time on the clock, I've made a habit of doing the easy, but effective warm-ups two times during the day, sometimes more. For example, I break up the all day affair of sitting at my desk with a mini stretch routine. I like to start my day by stretching too, and sometimes that's a great way to end it if it's been very stressful. Of course, I stretch and warm-up before exercising every time too, but fitting this pattern into everyday life is actually pretty easy and such an important part of getting fit.

While it took me a few months to even make a marginal difference in how I look in a swimsuit, as I saw the changes I just became more and more psyched. Finally, I was doing the right thing for my body (and health) and balancing it all in with everyday life. Now, fitness is as much a habit as brushing my teeth and I have no intention of stopping, even after I look really good in that swimsuit. I mean really, really good.