What do I mean, plan to exercise. Isn’t plan the same as try? And all geeks know that Yoda said, “Do or do not. There is no try.” Maybe I should have said make an appointment with yourself to exercise. Or perhaps, make a date with someone else to exercise? Whether you make an appointment with yourself or a date with someone else, decide now what you are going to do for the next ## days. For me it’s the next 26 days. And here’s why.
When I don’t make a plan, then 9 times out of 10, I end up not doing anything. With a plan, I am more likely to get it done. In the past diet-bets my ‘plan’ was always a seven day plan. And I did really well for ….. seven days. However, the next 7 days were always a bust. This time I will make a plan for 26 days.
Be specific with your plan. I am not saying, I plan to exercise everyday for 26 days. I am saying, My plan is to walk/jog around my block, which is exactly ½ mile, once a day minimum, for 26 days. The day that I can jog the entire ½ mile, I will increase to 2 laps a day and so on. I also plan to do a Leslie Sansone indoor walking workout everyday. I will start with the 15 interval that I found on YouTube and work back up to the one hour five mile dvd. I plan to do at least a 15minute indoor workout daily. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlEVVzbwnQI)
BTW, here’s a fun fact about the step craze. If you walk 10,000 ‘extra’ steps a day you burn about 500 extra calories a day. If you don’t eat those extra calories then in one week you should burn 1 pound of weight off. (http://skinnyms.com/how-to-walk-10000-steps-a-day-5-can-do-tips/) Oh but it’s not easy. It will take around 5 miles of steps to make that 10,000 step goal! Running is just stepping really fast. ;-) The nice thing about the new pedometers out there and the Fitbit type devices, is that every step you take while wearing them count.
Make a plan to park farther away. Maybe this month you will try to be the last car in the parking lot at the grocery store! Or plan to lap the store before you start shopping!
Whatever you plan to do for daily exercise, make it attainable.
As I said a couple of days ago. I could plan to run a 5k this weekend, but that’s not attainable for me. However, with my plan to walk/jog (walk mostly, jog downhill) just around my block each day, that is attainable. It should take less than 10 minutes, so time isn’t a factor. And I am not saying I am going to jog the entire block, so I can walk it and still have stuck with my plan. Make your plans, and make them flexible and attainable.
Get a calendar (download a blank one from the internet). Write or type in some activity or exercise for everyday of this dietbet. Make a plan to win at losing.