Part 1: Something Has to Go!

You have to look at your life in between the lines. You have more time than you think. Most people plan their lives on a day-to-day basis. Try a week-to-week basis. Wash the dishes every other day and use that time to workout. Iron two days of clothes and use that time to workout. Get up one hour earlier. Take a light lunch and walk the remainder time. Your goal is to rearrange or double your output to your priorities so that you can get at least three days in per week to workout. If your week is filled with other priorities, then what about the weekends? Friday, Saturday, and Sunday counts as days of the week too. You are programmed to think that the weekend is a time to unwind and relax. No pick up the pace! Use your time!

Fridays! T.G.I.F. Yes, you are tired! The week is over. The boss has you pulling twelve- hour shifts to get the account secured. All you want to do is flop on the couch. Wrong! Leave that couch alone! How much time do you spend on the couch watching T.V.? I am challenging you to unplug the T.V. for thirty days and sacrifice that time and workout. You can rent the entire season of a TV show on DVD if you have to see your favorite program. What a novel idea! I’ll reward myself for sacrificing TV by buying the whole season of what I would like to watch and take a day and watch it non-stop. Schedule a Saturday evening to yourself and enjoy!

Fridays! T.G.I.F. The week is over and the crew is going out to get a drink. I’ll join them for happy hour and start this baby off right! Wrong! I am not promoting nor condemning anyone who uses alcohol. Just think for a second. Happy hour is the biggest waste of your money and I’ll show you how I go out and get my workout in at the same time. The average get home time with traffic is between 5 and 6:30PM. Why go straight to a happy hour to drink? You just killed your evening that fast. You shot your evening because you are too buzzed to do anything else. Get home and get settled in. Tell everyone at work to meet at 9:30PM. That gives you time to get a quick Friday workout in, get home, get changed, and then head out. If you friends can really hold down the liquor like they always claim, they will be there when you arrive. They will be so sloshed, you can probably drink on their tab! You didn’t get that idea from this column. Now you are drinking and feeling good about yourself because you got the workout in. Now don’t get so trashed that you ruin Saturday too. Make it home safe. It’s not worth the gamble of a D.W.I. is it? I get a bigger kick watching everyone else drink themselves silly.

Saturdays! Sleeping in late because I don’t have to go to work! Yes! I’ll get up about ten and cook the family breakfast. Wrong! Just like the army, you can get more done before 9AM than most people in their entire lifetime. Get up while the sun sets and go walking while the kids are still sleep. Single moms please wake the kids up! It will really feel bad that first couple of weeks, but mark your progress and you will be fine. If it is really a sacrifice during the week, quit making Saturdays a day to run around and schedule some ‘you’ time. Pay a babysitter. That seven dollars you are being stingy with won’t multiply into a million dollars so why not invest in living longer? Buy no-name foods at the store and use the savings to pay that neighbor’s daughter to watch your seedlings. Why not get the neighbor on a plan to watch them while you workout and switch off so she can get her time in. Saturdays are a useful tool if you don’t sleep it away.

Sundays! I will get the most resistance to this day than any of the other ones. Yes it is a day of rest like the bible says, but let’s really examine this commandment that has everyone wasting a day. Rest in this case means a break from your normal routine. Just like a car, you can not run nonstop or you will eventually overheat. I do believe that this is referring to your careers and Monday thru Saturday obligations. Carrying those over into the “Sabbath” will eventually overheat you. You will get burned out. Utilize your Sundays to do what you would like to do, and this year it will be getting into your sister’s dress you gave her! Get away from everyone. Visit relatives every other Sunday or get home before 6PM so you can workout before dinner, and make preparations for the upcoming week. Walk in the park, go to the gym, ride a bike, do the exercise tape. Rest from that twelve-hour job that’s killing you. Refresh yourself and get ready to plan your next week because it is coming at you like a runaway train.
So I wasted five hundred words telling you to give up what you normally do and use this newfound time to meet your fitness goals of the year. If you can consistently program this time to exercise, you will eventually adapt. You don’t forget to take a bath or brush your teeth do you? Keep yourself motivated by keeping a consistent time. Sacrifice normal activities except taking a bath and brushing your teeth. Phew! Ask yourself:

1) How much wasted time do you spend?

2) Do I know someone who can help me meet my fitness goals i.e. neighbor, babysitter, or a relative?

3) What can I do to rearrange and plan my weeks and weekends to help meet my Fitness Goals?

4) What can I sacrifice to make this happen?