New Year's Day Column: Welcome, 2012

It's New Years Day!   New Year.  New day.  New beginnings.

So what are you going to do in 2012?  What are your resolutions?  Is this the year that you do everything right?

Like exercise regularly?   Regular exercise may be the best thing you could do for yourself and it is the solution for so many of the things that plague us.  Everything from the obvious (obesity, heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure) to the subtle (depression, anxiety, fibromyalgia, glaucoma).

Staying fully engaged in an exercise program isn't easy.   To use a cliche, if it were, everyone would do it.   But with proper motivation and commitment, you can do it.

I'd like to give you a few hints on how to make it work for you.

First, find an exercise partner.   Being accountable for your exercise is huge.    If you rely only on your own will power, you will occasionally fail.   If you are meeting someone for a run, workout, or bike ride, you will find fewer excuses.

And excuses are everywhere and easy to find.   More on that later.

A partner also makes it more fun and if it is fun, you are much more likely to do it.  And whether you want to admit it or not, everyone has a competitive nature, which means an exercise partner will make you work harder and get more out of your exercise. 

I highly recommend exercising in the morning.   Yeah, yeah, I know...you're not a "morning" person.  But remember that thing about excuses?  Exercising in the morning takes away lots of excuses.

As the day goes along, you find more and more excuses.  You planned to exercise during your lunch hour but you forgot to pack your lunch so you've got to go get something to eat.  Or you don't really have time since you will have to shower and all.   I mean, you can't go back to work with a wet head. 

Or maybe you plan on working out after work.   But then you work late or forgot to pack your clothes or you are really tired and just need a break or there are a million things that your family needs from you.

See?   As the day goes on, the excuses just get easier.    So exercise at the first of the day.  Get it done and minimize the excuses.  Besides that, morning exercise will bump your metabolism up, helping you burn more calories throughout the day and will make your day much more productive (it's been thoroughly proven).

To stay engaged, you've got to have some element of fun to your exercise.  Or at least make it interesting.  Just how many hours can you spend on a stationary bicycle or treadmill?  

The joy of sport engages some.   Bicycling on our beautiful country lanes.   Running the Greenbelt.  Hoops with some buddies.  Tennis, swimming, hiking...we live in an area that gives us incredible options.  For some, it is all about competition, even if the competitor is yourself.   Trying to beat your best time in a 10K?   Or win the league championship?

You've got to have variety in our exercise program.   The same thing, day after day, cannot be sustained.

You can't wake up in the morning and try and decide when you might exercise that day.   Your exercise program has to be a part of your daily routine.   If it's 6 AM on a Thursday, you know that you are going to be in the gym (or whatever schedule works for you).

And your commitment cannot be for a finite time.   You can't say "I'll do this for 3 months and see what happens."  No, it must be a part of the lifestyle that you adopt.