I Can't Exercise Today, It's...

I hate to exercise. I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels that way. I know it's good for me in general and will help me shed the extra 25 pounds I'm currently carrying around. I can come up with excuses such as I can't walk today, it's raining...snowing...too hot...windy...  It doesn't seem to matter that I have a perfectly good treadmill that I can use on those "I can't walk outside" weather days. Although I haven't gotten as bad as a friend who called me up to cancel our scheduled mile walk around the neighborhood - She couldn't walk that day because she had a hangnail on her index finger and it was too painful to do anything but sit home and read. A year later and I still tease her about this "excuse." She laughs and blames the author of the book she was reading at the time. She says it was too good to put down.

My day job consists of working in office which means I'm sitting on my backside during those hours more than I'm not. I work in a small office so even if I am up and about, I don't have far to go (about 10 feet) to get to the photocopier/printer and the file cabinets.

When I get home I try to write for 2 hours which means I'm sitting once again. One of the main things experienced writers tell newbies is the best way to ensure you finish writing a book is to "put butt in chair and stay there" until you reach your work count or page count for that writing session. Since I'm working hard toward my goal of having two books completed and ready for submission by the end of the year, this is a perfect reason why I can't exercise. Right?

No, not really. I do want to lose the 25 pounds that I need to. My knee (that was rebuilt with pins, screws, cadaver bone and such because I'm "too young" for knee replacement) would definitely not bother me as much. So that being said, lately I've tried to incorporate some movement into my writing sessions. When I'm working on dialogue, I pace back and forth between my dining room and the living room, stopping every few minutes to type. When I'm editing, I clip the pages I'm working on to a clip board and prop it against the read out panel of the treadmill and walk while I'm revising. Though I do sometimes have to pause the machine if I need to write out something substantial instead just a few words.

Am I getting the recommended 150 minutes of exercise per week? Probably not. But until school starts back up in the fall, I'm doing what I can. It'll also be easier to exercise when it's not 90 degrees and so humid you feel like you're breathing through a wad of cotton. Not to mention the best way to cool off on those days is to dive into a bowl of ice cream. ;o)

How do you fit exercise into your busy day?

100 Days

A little over a week ago, I met a friend for a quick coffee on Saturday afternoon. As we caught up on what was going on in each other's lives, she happened to mention starting a new 100 day challenge the next day. In case you're like me and don't know what that is, it's where you challenge yourself to do something you want to make a habit for 100 consecutive days, or at least attempt to. When you miss a day, you have to start over from day 1. She said there's even an official website for it along with a bunch of other ones.

My friend's challenge is exercising for 30 minutes every day. When I asked her how well she did. She admitted this was her third attempt. The first time, she only made it 40 days, the second time 67 days. She said she's never felt like she failed because she's working out more than she was before and as long as she keeps getting closer to the 100 day mark, she's counting it was an accomplishment. She's also not giving up until she hits 100 days no matter how many times she has to start over.

I came home inspired. Wanting to increase my productivity on my current manuscript which is taking me much longer to write than it should, I started my own 100 day challenge last Monday. I have to write at least 125 words (about half a page) every day. So far, so good. I've written every day and over the required word count with the exception of yesterday. Yesterday I fought for nearly every one of those 125 words but when I finished, I was glad I stuck it out and didn't just put it aside thinking I'd write more the next day to make up for it (which isn't always the case).

15 Minutes

The other day I was bemoaning my lack of consistent exercise to a friend. Having her own busy life and responsibilities, she commiserated with me and then told me about a trick she just learned from her new personal trainer. (Her husband bought her 10 sessions with a personal trainer as a birthday gift per her request. She's hoping it will jump start her exercise plan.)

Amy, the trainer, said a lot of people think they don't have time to exercise because they think they have to do it for 45 minutes or more to get any results. That's not necessarily true. On the days my friend doesn't have a training session, Amy suggested she exercise 15 minutes a day every day with the goal being to exercise 100 consecutive days. Surely, she could squeeze out 15 minutes a day without too much of a problem.

Three weeks later, my friend has exercised every day so far. The first couple of days she watched the clock like a hawk and as soon as she hit the 15 minute mark, she was done but then she noticed she started going a little longer - 17 minutes, then 21 minutes. She's up to 25 minutes and she says she doesn't feel like she's sacrificing anything else to exercise a little longer than the original 15 minutes.

She marks each day that she's exercised with a little smiley face on her calendar and says she likes being able to see all those happy faces lined up in a row at the end of the week. It gives her a sense of accomplishment.

Needing to exercise on a regular basis as an attempt to stall having knee surgery, I'm taking the advice of Amy. Starting today, I've scheduled 15 minutes to walk on the treadmill every day this week. I don't know if I'll make it 100 days in a row, but I'm certainly going to try. I even went out and bought little smiley face stickers to put on my calendar.