Exercise has no mistress. . .you cannot have your cake and eat it. .

There has been a lot of cheating going on. . .cheating with wine, cheating with cake, cheating with chocolate, cheating with sleep. . .I am guilty of some of these. . .but I know I am not alone.
Working out, being active, exercising, it does not demand fidelity, in fact, it is the best 'partner' you can have. No demands whatsoever.

But it is clever you see, it knows once you embark on a journey with it, you cannot consistently cheat and expect results. You cannot have a 'here today gone tomorrow' relationship.
So how do I keep this relationship healthy? Ensuring that even my little infidelities here and there are forgiven?

1. Make time - The biggest excuse in this very fast paced life we lead is time. The time it would take to work out, shower and then continue with one's daily routine is too much. I have a friend who runs a very big and successful company. He is a family man who believes in having a personal relationship with his children. He also exercises six days a week. How? He wakes up at 4 am and heads to the gym knowing that if he puts it forward, he will not have the time to do so later on in the day. It is not easy, I have to wake up before everyone else, leaving my husband in bed and tip toeing out when I want to run in the morning, or doing my house chores before everyone wakes so that I have time in the middle of the day to do a serious workout. Without these small sacrifices, it would be near impossible to be consistent which is key in achieving results.

2. Be conscious - Yes, I know, you're conscious right now, you're reading this, right? What I mean is, be conscious of decisions you make throughout your day that affect your health. The most obvious is being conscious of food choices. You also have to be conscious of what kind of drugs you have been prescribed, how these affect and interact with other drugs, conscious of how much sleep you're getting, too little sleep has been associated with gaining weight, conscious of your stress factors and how to reduce these. It is easier to remain healthy if we know what is making us unhealthy.

3. Be accountable, have measurable, time bound goals - Most women I know who want to lose weight and ask me for advice have the same sort of questions they ask...How long will it take me to lose weight, what should I eat to lose weight, I don't want to become muscular (I find this hilarious now) -should I avoid weights? e.t.c. The more specific questions should be, what should I do to lose x number of kilos in x number of months? Is it possible? The expectations should be realistic, having a set date on goals helps one in working towards it and in monitoring progress so that control measures can be taken if it seems progress is not being made. My current goal is to reduce by 1/2 an inch my hip measurement by the end of January so that my body can be one size (I am between sizes right now, which is irritating).

Okay....that's it for today, I can run my 'mouth' off if unchecked. Here's to a healthy relationship with activity this year!

Have an active day!