Now you're exercising again, and it feels great. Of course, it felt great last year, too, when you went to the gym every morning for almost the entire winter! If it feels so great, why do you keep quitting? You may be able to make your physical activity more consistent by using some of these tricks.
1. Exercise beyond the gym. All movement is exercise. People need to give themselves more options. Take the dog for a walk, bike to the store, take five-minute stretch breaks. If you don't count something as exercise unless it happens in the gym, you're missing some of your best opportunities to stay active.
2. Creativity matters. This advice can be hardest for people who expect the most from themselves. Why bother walking around the block when you should be running your usual four miles? Because when you don't have time to do all four miles, a brisk hike can keep you from feeling that you've failed.
3.Set an agenda. Set a goal, such as increasing the speed, frequency or duration of your activity. Maybe it's time to train for a marathon--or take a walk up the hill in the backyard without getting winded. A personal trainer can help you determine appropriate goals.
4. Try something different. Have you ever tried snowboarding? Bowling? Swing dancing? Body surfing? Chi kung? How about reversing your power walk route? Exercising at a different time of day? Physical activity isn't boring, but how you participate in it can be.
5. Fool the brain. If you're new to exercise, diversionary tactics, such as listening to music, watching TV or playing computer games may help you stick with it--but stay aware of sensations that could signal injury or overdoing it. As you become more experienced, associative strategies, such as focusing on your breath or concentrating on the movement of your body, can help you enjoy exercise more.
6. Find a mentor. Locate a friend, workout buddy, mentor or coach to keep you honest. You can either exercise with your buddy, or simply check in with him or her to report your progress.
7. Use work as workout challenge. Plan to park farther from the office and put your walking shoes in the car the night before. Plan to take that new yoga class next week, and call the babysitter now.
8. Face your challenges. Does vacation throw your exercising schedule out of whack? Do projects at work overtake your activity time? Do injuries sideline you? Boredom? Fear of success? Fitness foes can be beaten once they've been identified. You can change your vacation style, set work limits, get guidance for injury-free activity, find new challenges, or face your fears with counseling and support.
9.Be sociable. Choose places and times to exercise where there will be other people who are actively involved in exercise.
10. Follow a script. Use images of past successful experiences to remind yourself of how good exercise makes you feel. Or repeat a simple phrase to yourself, such as, "Every little bit makes a big difference" or "Inch by inch, anything's a cinch." If you use planning, flexibility and imagination, you won't ever need to feel like a dropout again.
