Prioritizing life and how we lead it is dependent on our core values. That imaginary pie of Family, work, Religion, friends, fitness, leisure and charity is definitely not proportioned in even slices. We sleep about a 1/3 of the time, often times fitness, charities and Religion don’t exist in a person’s World: which leave us with the usual. Family, work, leisure and friends.

We break that pie down and again, Family and work usually gobble up over half of THAT pie. Friends and leisure will go hand and hand, but rank in the lower hand when compared to our employment, wife, husband or children. At some point in the day, you WILL have a spare minute or 60. 8 to 12 hours of work, 4-8 hours of sleep, an hour of commute time each way. About 60-90 minutes of eating. (prep time included unless you eat fast food for every meal. There are some people who swear on it and will pay for it later on.)

You legitimately have an hour a day usually to do SOMETHING active. If you choose to be on your computer/smartphone for that hour, OR you are binge TV show watcher, that’s your option. Please don’t tell me you have ZERO time to jog, do a circuit of pushups, air squats or situps/planks. You can participate in a yoga class, bicycle somewhere if it’s warm or rollerblade/skate! Simply move!!

Most folks wait for the most opportune time to get started on a fitness routine. Simply put, when we have spare hours in our day, we execute flawlessly. 5 days a week at the gym, eating near perfect, drinking 60-100 ounces of water daily and avoiding alcohol/sugar/abundant amounts of salt. So during this time you challenge yourself. You run a half marathon, you try to compete in a fitness competition or finally get down to your high school weight because of the 90 day challenge run at work. If this is you, raise your hand…….. when it’s over, you neglect the lessons you learned and return to your former, unfit self who watches TV 2 hours a day with a beer and nachos in front of you. Why do people yo-yo so often??!

Take these lessons and apply them to your daily routine. Not a single person here is perfect with their regimen, both fitness and nutrition. We are NOT asking you to be, just be consistent. Take that extra step and follow through by eating a serving of vegetables every day if you skip them regularly. Or walk 10 minutes instead of being a couch potato, simply make an effort for 21 days and soon, your lifestyle begins to look a little healthier!

I will give you an example that’s contrarian. Suppose that you have a BIG interview at work coming up for a potential promotion. You have a newborn child at home and you tell your spouse.

“Honey, I’m going to check into an Air BNB for 4 days to focus on this interview. You’re going to have to watch the newborn for the duration of my time there and I’ll have my phone off the whole time to focus.” That’s an emphatic NO, you’ll end up being divorced with your belongings on the lawn. So what takes the backseat?? Leisure, fitness, friends. I’ll emphasize the fitness for this blog’s sake.

We ALL fall in the pause button mentality. Examples:

“I ate some pizza for lunch today, I’ll wait til Friday to get my food on track.” You proceed to eat horribly or skip meals the following couple of days. Or

“Shoot, I’m stuck at work for an extra hour. there goes my gym time for the next 3 days.”

My opinion: Go home after work, ride the bike for 20 minutes OR run/walk the amount of minutes. Do a quick 10 minute workout involving pushups, resistance bands and air squats. Get something in and keep a consistent fitness routine even if it’s minimal. Jumping jacks or mountain climbers when you hop out of bed, whatever it takes to simply exert some energy and increase your endorphin’s!

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