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.