Really, 1-a-day?
We often make ‘it’ more complicated than ‘it’ needs to be.
Why 1-exercise a day? Why not start with 10 minutes or 30 or the recommended 60 a day from the NFL? What is up with one a day, you think that’s going to make a difference?
In one day no…but in 365, yes.
By doing 1 exercise a day, you will have built the habit of daily activity. Your brain feels success.
Building the habit in a doable chunk is vital to success. You will have found that when you do something that is 90% doable and show up and do it, you can do it! You win every time! It feels good to have a win, even if it is small. Those small wins over a week or a month feel like, “Hey, I got this, it isn’t so bad.” I can keep up with this new habit. You get instant rewards and build that brain confidence. Instead of waiting for your brain to say, “Hey, today let’s exercise, you are doing the active part, and feeling the reward each time, you do your 1-a-day. You build the habit of success with activity. You have taken the brain captive, and gotten past the excuses of too much time, I have done exercise in the past and ended up sore or unable to maintain the 30-60 minutes. Or you lay in bed, waiting for the day that you feel inspired, motivated, and ready to go. Put in the time, do the 1-a-day, and build the habit.
Before you know it the cue or reminder to do your 1-a-day isn’t really needed. It’s part of your routine, and you can do it once a day, maybe even some days you do 2 or have thought about doing even more as the habit build. You feel accomplished, you feel good and that you can add activity to your life. You have been building the daily habit of showing up. Even if it is for 2-5 minutes, you did it and are building the habit and lifestyle of an active person. Your brain catches up to what you are having your body do.
You can have positive self-talk- “I did it!” Celebrate that 1-a-day every day and keep the momentum moving forward. When you miss a day, your body will crave that movement, and your mind will say “We better get back to one-a-day to feel that energy, win, and that feeling of gratification. “
You can then create the “I am” statement that defines your character. “I am an active person.” The more you say this to yourself, the more your brain believes that you are an active person because you have been active with your body. It has felt the good chemicals, sensed the accomplishment, been rewarded for finishing the exercise. You see the days on the calendar as a streak and want to keep going!
You then start making choices that are active person choices. I am going to exercise before I do something else, or I need to get my workout in, then I can hang out. Or you start to invite someone to be active with you and realize that time together can be active time, and that it feels good to have a walking or workout buddy. It feels good to have someone like-minded to be active with, and it also offers support on a day that you may not feel as ready to keep the streak going. You may even be an inspiration for others wanting to start, but don’t know how or feel I cannot do 30-60 minutes, I will never make it or be able to keep that up! By doing it once a day you can help someone else create the habit of activity. Then after time, they can take that feeling of accomplishment and link up with other like-minded people. Priorities change, you feel your mood is better or have a healthy way of working off the stress. You prioritize your health because you realize how good activity feels.
That quick win of doing 1-a-day has a long-term payoff. Pick the low hanging fruit, feel success, and let that feeling drive the activity.
Change what you think, change what you do, change who you are! YOU can do it!
So…now do you get why my Spring Fitness Bingo challenge was a call to do 1 new exercise a day? Even if you missed out on the challenge, you could start doing your own 1-a-day routine. If you need the structure of knowing what to do and need instruction and ideas on exercises, I’d love to help you out! You can start the challenge anytime! Message me or email me and I’d be happy to get you started with your one-a-day challenge!
1-a day… you got this!