Get On Your Feet and Make It Happen!

Have you ever heard the song by Gloria Estefan that includes the lyrics “Get on our feet…..You can make it happen”?  It is one of those songs when you hear it you want to get up and move.  So for our healthy lifestyle habits, let’s get off the couch or comfy chair, get on your feet and make it happen!!

Here’s five tips to get you moving:

1.  Get up.  The mere act of getting up from a stationary position can be the hardest but they are the most important.  Once you make the decision and get up, you’re more than halfway there.  We can come up with all sorts of excuses and reasons to avoid the act of getting up.  Once we’re up – we’re on our way to making it happen.  Also applies to working out in the morning – get up?  Get up out of this comfortable bed and get moving before my day has to start?  Yes!  Absolutely.  Again, once you’re up, you’re in the positive momentum to make it happen for yourself and your day.  Make up your mind that your health is as big of a priority as sleeping in or watching mindless television.  Instead of grabbing a bag of chips or cookie, grab the door handle!

2.  Start slow.  Fitness doesn’t happen overnight.  You don’t go from being inactive to becoming Lance Armstrong on a bicycle or running a marathon.  Start out with a short walk, add intensity and distance gradually.  You’ll enjoy it more, stay with it longer, and build a healthy foundation for a habit of fitness.

3.  Make it your daily routine.  Do you brush your teeth?  Do you have to think about it or is it just something you do?  Brushing your teeth is a given as part of your routine.  You can make exercise the same way.  Brushing your teeth makes your mouth feel great.  Think of exercise in the same way.  Exercise makes your body and mood feel great.

4.  Make activity fun and make a game of it.  Rather than have the family look for the closest parking space, cheer when they find the farthest parking space.  By taking the stairs rather than the elevator, get to the floor that you need and cheer at the top of the accomplished staircase.  Enjoy the outdoors by taking a nature walk and give family members a disposable camera to record things they see on their outing.  It is fun to review and relive what each family member found to be meaningful to capture by a photograph.  Children are more productive and are shown to do better in school when they are active.  Do you want to know what is going on in your spouse’s life or the lives of your children?  Get away from the distraction of television and video games by participating in an activity together.  Family members open up when spending time together in an activity. 

5.  Mix it up.  Go for a walk one day, go swimming the next, shoot hoops, play miniature golf, etc.  Variety keeps boredom away.  Participating in different activities is better for your body.  It will help you use different muscles in ways you wouldn’t in another activity.  Learn from your kids – if it isn’t fun, you’re not going to do it.  Kids love to play.  Adults need to learn the same love of play.

Do you remember what show you watched last month during the evening of the second Thursday?  What lasting benefit did you obtain from watching it?  As an alternative, if you’d spent that same time being active with your family, you’d receive the benefit of losing or maintaining weight plus good times shared with family.  The biggest step of all in being active is the first one in getting up and making it happen.  Once you’re up, you’ll be glad you did. 

All the best,
Cathy