So you have probably polished off the last of the pumpkin pie and have hopefully awoken from your turkey coma. The mashed potatoes and gravy may still feel like they are sitting around your middle but you are determined to get a head start on a fitness routine. Why wait until the New Year? Why not get started now?
There is nothing wrong with looking at certain opportunities as the perfect time to start a fitness routine. The fresh start of a new year, the day after your big Thanksgiving feast, or the day you celebrate a birthday…no matter what the occasion, it is always a good time to begin exercising.
The problem isn’t in when you decide to start exercising. It is when your heart isn’t really in it. Because it doesn’t matter how “perfect” the timing is…if your heart isn’t truly engaged in making changes, it won’t happen.
Good intentions really won’t get you anywhere. You may have all the intentions in the world to start exercising after Thanksgiving. But they will quickly vanish once you realize how much hard work and effort is involved. What you thought in your mind was a great idea has now turned into nothing more than a pain in the-you-know-what.
So in reality, it’s really pointless to use these “special” occasions as a reason to begin exercising. No day is so magical that it will suddenly create healthy habits. Those can only be developed when they come from your heart.
I hate to sound like a downer…but I don’t have an answer for you, as far as how to get the idea of exercising from in your mind to your heart. I can’t move it there. I can’t change your heart. I can only tell you the benefits and try to encourage. But you have to be the one who is willing to embrace it, with all of your heart.
If you have had success in getting the idea of exercising from your head to your heart, please share.
Related Articles:
No Time to Exercise or Just an Excuse?
Do You Look at Exercise as Punishment?
Fitness Is Good for Your Health
Photo by Victory of the People in Flickr