Starting From Scratch: How I Made Exercising a Part of My Daily Routine

 The hardest part of working out is getting in the habit. Good habits are so hard to form and so easy to break, but this is one that is worth the work. Stay tuned and I'll tell you my motivations for exercising in a later post! But for now, I want to focus on the how, because I think most people already have their why for this particular habit.
I'm not a sedentary person by any means, but when I'm pregnant or just had a baby, I tend to spend way more time resting and way less time exercising, if I spend any at all. And sometimes, I just get out of the habit of exercising regularly and get distracted by other things, pregnant or not. This particular time, I got out of the habit because of pregnancy and the aftermath of pregnancy: two babies. It had been over a year since I'd exercised regularly this time so I was really, really out of the habit. After months of thinking to myself, "Man, I really should be working out," or "I would really like to lose a few pounds," I finally got my butt off the couch and get some actual results--that stuck--by using these small tricks:

• Look good, feel good. This may seem shallow, but it's actually really important for me to feel cute when I'm working out. It makes me want to get up in the morning and put on my cute workout clothes and it makes me feel good about myself when I'm exercising. I know that by the time I'm done working out, I am no longer cute. But exercising in a baggy t-shirt and unflattering sweats doesn't make me feel great about the situation. This is obviously not a must, but it definitely helps me be motivated.
• What I Did: I had no cute workout clothes when I started. So, after about a month of regular exercise, I rewarded myself with some new clothes! Since we don't have a huge budget for that kind of thing, I shopped outlets and slowly built my exercise wardrobe over time.

• Workout buddies are amazing. There's nothing that motivates me more than an obligation to another person. If someone else is relying on me, I'm ten times more likely to show up. The only trick here is to not be each other's buddies in failure. Sometimes a workout buddy can turn into someone you relate to when it comes to laziness because you both decide more and more to not do your workouts that day. If your buddy starts slacking, be the person who motivates them. Then maybe if you start slacking, they will return the favor.
• What I Did: I signed up for a gym membership with my friend and we went early every morning for a couple of months. We enjoyed each other's company and looked forward to our trips to the gym every morning. When she couldn't go, I went by myself. Eventually, we moved on to other routines, but those two months were fantastic for helping me form a habit. I was even completely used to waking up at 5:45 every morning by the end of it.

• Tell someone, not everyone. It's good to have someone to keep you accountable when you set fitness goals, but if you announce them to everyone you know, it can just be too much pressure.
• What I Did: I told my husband. He is very supportive and I felt guilt when I wouldn't follow through on my goals because he always knew about it. Not that he was mean, but just having him know made me realize when I was just being lazy and that I needed to get my butt in gear. Not only that, but when I did follow through, he was proud of me and would let me know. That is great motivation!

• Workout in the morning. Even if you think you're not a morning person, exercising in the morning is the best way to get into the habit of exercising! For one thing, you get it out of the way. For another, if you sleep in, you've got the rest of the day, whereas if you plan to workout at night and don't, the day's over. You've missed that day and there's no going back.
• What I Did: When my husband was working in the morning, that was when I got my gym buddy and woke up at the crack of dawn to go. You do what you gotta do. Now, I have most of the morning to workout, but I still do it first thing. It's just a part of my routine now.

• Stop thinking about it. The less I think about working out, the more I do it. Stop it from being a daily decision. The more times you make a decision, the more chances you have of making the wrong one. Just decide once. You will exercise every day in the morning (or whatever your goal is). And then just do it. 
• What I Do: If I ever find myself trying to justify not exercising, I just stop thinking and go do it. It's simple and will make your life so much easier. Nike had it right all along.

• Don't underestimate the power of a good workout video. Seriously, home fitness is not your mom's aerobics videos anymore. There is amazing and effective stuff out there! Jillian Michaels, P90X, and 21 Day Fix (the workouts I'm doing right now) are just a few. They will kick your butt in the comfort of your own home. 
• What I Did: I've tried all these things. Currently, even though I'm not on the diet anymore, I'm using the 21 Day Fix workouts most days of the week.

• Workout everyday. This is a big one for me. If I don't do something every day, it's harder for me to do it on the days that I do. At least at first, for habit-forming purposes, working out every day will help you so much! It will more easily become a part of your life this way.

• Start small. Every time I make an effort to start working out, I picture myself as some sort of hard core, ripped bikini model and go at it hard. This is a mistake and I'll tell you why. 
• If you push yourself to your limits at the beginning, you'll be expecting faster results, which won't necessarily happen. It usually takes at least a couple of weeks, if not a month or more, to start seeing real results. And it can get really frustrating if you are killing yourself and not seeing immediate results. 
• Another reason this is a mistake is that if you work so hard that it hurts every day, unless you're into that kind of thing, you will likely dread working out the next day, which will decrease the chances of you doing it.
• Your body will thank you for starting small. It's not used to being put through the ringer and needs time to recover. Listen to your body. It will tell you when you've done enough and when you can do more. If you're looking to make this a habit, you'll get where you want to be. Just have patience.
• What I Did: I started out doing 10 minute exercise videos on Xbox Fitness (which is awesome, by the way). At first, I just did one a day when the kids were otherwise occupied and eventually, I wanted to do two and three and eventually took it to the gym.

• Don't force the intensity. This goes right along with the first tip, but the reasoning is a bit different. In my experience, after doing a certain routine for a while, your body will tell you that you can do more and you'll actually want to do more. If you force the intensity from the beginning, you're less likely to invite it when you're ready for the next step. Do what you can do and you'll eventually want to take it up a notch and your body will be ready for it.
• What I Did: When I added running to my exercise routine, I ran two miles my first day. It was too much for my body. I was fatigued and almost passed out afterward. I took a step back and started at one mile. Then I worked my way up slowly, until I was able to regularly run six miles at a time. My body wasn't overworked and I didn't dread going to the gym. I was even able to increase speed by taking baby steps!

Good luck! It will be worth it, I promise! What are your best motivations for getting back in the habit of daily exercise?