Weekly Ponderings #13: 6 tips to working out consistently.
Happy Monday y'all. This email is a day late this week because I got carried away last night updating my website. Still a work in progress but I hit publish because why the f*ck not. Progress over perfection.
If you're new around here, I started this biz in 2017 selling clean beauty and wellness lifestyle products. I still do this, but this year I pivoted to focus on integrative health as a whole, not just clean beauty. My plan is to launch an online course in Jan 2020 (name TBD), so I decided to get my shit in order, starting with my website.
We're all friends here, so check out the new site and reply to this email with any feedback!
Wellness
I've spent the last few years figuring out how to incorporate regular exercise into my life. I've tried different apps, classes, time of day, at-home workouts, and gym workouts. It's still something I work on actively, but here are 6 tips that have worked for me:
1. Figure out what you ENJOY doing. What makes you feel good?? Lifting? Running? HIIT workouts? Spin class? Yoga? If you're always dreading the workout, you'll need some ridiculous motivation and habit building skills to do it every day. Don't do Barry's because all your friends are doing it but you hate it and makes you feel awful. Find something you love. For me, it's hot vinyasa yoga.
2. Minimize as much friction as possible. For me, this is keeping my workout clothes packed in my bag at all times. Leaves me with no excuses. For you, this could look like keeping your sneakers by the door so it's easier to go for that run. Or keeping your workout clothes easily accessible in your closet. Or leaving your water bottle filled on the counter so it's a quick grab and go in the morning. Or making sure your AirPods are fully charged so you don't have to workout with no music.
3. Find ways to hold yourself accountable. Are you internally or externally motivated? If you need that external accountability, sign up for a class or make workout plans with a friend (love this move because you get to hang with a friend AND get a workout in. win.). If you're internally motivated, be proactive about scheduling it into your calendar. If you like tracking progress, find a way to track each workout that brings you joy (e.g. whiteboard, notebook, google sheet).
4. Change it up. If you start getting bored with your workouts and aren't feeling it anymore, try something new. I'm currently doing a mix of yoga classes and Melissa Wood at-home workouts. If I want more high intensity, I may do a spin class even though I'm terrible at it, or a HIIT workout on the Studio app. If you're not into what you're doing, spice it up.
5. 5 second rule (by Mel Robbins). Read more about it here, but the gist is if you have an instinct to do something (whatever is is), count 5-4-3-2-1 GO and physically move towards the action. I do this if I'm lying on the couch stuck in a SVU marathon and want to move my body. I countdown from 5 and when I get to 1, I GET UP, get dressed and go to the gym. There is a window that exists between the moment you have an instinct to change and your mind killing it -- it's a 5 sec window. This move is all about taking physical action to start the momentum before your mind starts working against you.
6. Be compassionate with yourself. If you miss a workout, or a few, don't beat yourself up. Feeling guilty over it or bad about yourself doesn't help. It's just adding more stress on your body. So you haven't moved your body in 3 months. So what? You can always start now.
Let me know if any of these tips resonate with you! If you try any, tag me on insta @jessiandco so I can follow along!
Have a great week friends. ❤️