My Secret Revealed

3 minutes at a time - get there

One of my favourite tricks for sneaking in a couple of minutes of fitness here and there is to use my toothbrush. Now I've got your attention…right? Here's the thing.

My battery operated toothbrush has a 2 minute timer on it to help me make sure I brush long enough. Believe me, when you're drowning in toothpaste it's a long time. If you don't have one you can use a 3 minute egg timer or a nearby clock. It's a rough guide.

All I do is use that timed period to do squats, or lunges or simple steps up and down on a stool or fitness step. Or you can just march in place. Sometimes I break it up into different moves and sometimes I walk or run up and down the staircase next to my bathroom. If you are brushing your teeth 3 or 4 times a day that's an easy way to squeeze in 6 – 8 more minutes of calorie burning activity.

If you don't want anyone to see you then shut the door and stay in the bathroom. You can do squats with front kicks, side kicks. You can go up and down on your toes to do calf raises.

At our house my husband and I often use TV commercial time to do push-ups or crunches. You can do anything, just get up and move…not to the kitchen for junk food!

You can do it…2 minutes at a time…all the way to 30 minutes a day at least.

Fit Kids through Play

I am one of those daycare providers who is a bit fanatical about healthy food and old fashioned outdoor playtime. Here, we go out for playtime (exercise for the children) in most any weather, except lightening and -20 Celsius or colder. The children who come here are fit kids, co-ordinated kids who learn to walk on uneven surfaces, active kids who learn to jump off a dock and climb up onto and swing on a big, old tire hung from a pine tree.

Today, we awoke to find that spring was just teasing us and winter had returned. There was just enough snow to hinder the operation of push toys for the one-year-olds and make the tricycles impossible to peddle for the older kids.

What was a great puddle to play in yesterday was filled with wet snow this morning. Needless to say there wasn't a lot of running around or tag or hide and seek today. It was perhaps their last day to create anything out of wet snow and their favourite creation seemed to be "cooking up tasty snow meals" and using the old tree stump for a work surface. This is conveniently located beside yesterday's puddle. The depression that was a puddle yesterday became the serving platter for today's "healthy snack". Between the puddle that became a serving platter, the stump that was a work surface and the two tricycles stuck in the snow they had a very efficient kitchen work triangle.

The creek which is running in places was like a magnet for all but the youngest. She has yet to discover it. The 15- month- old is drawn to it like a moth to light. That ought to be "fun" in the coming weeks.

By the afternoon the snow was all gone and it looked a lot more like spring again. Tomorrow will be a new and different day outside, no doubt, and we will be back out there getting fit through play…and they won't even know it.

10 Steps To Make Change Stick

No matter how we look at it or approach it change is hard.  Why?  Because we are creatures of habit.  That premise naturally leads to the question "How does something become a habit?"  There are all kinds of resource articles available that answer this question and the answers vary depending on the habit you are trying to form or change and how the research is done.  I've read 14 days and I've read over 200 days.  Below are some of the highlights of the reading I have done.

1. Commit to 1 Month – For most of us the average amount of time required for our efforts in change to become automatic, which indicates success, is 3 – 4 weeks.  Since a month on a calendar is an easy time frame to block out, plan for and imagine, one month is an ideal time frame.
2. Find a Buddy – This increases your likelihood of success, not to mention making whatever you are doing more fun, less difficult and a source of motivation and inspiration.  If, for example, you are agreeing to walk every day with your daughter and you have arranged to meet somewhere, you're not likely to leave her standing alone somewhere if you have committed to being her buddy.
3. Make it Daily – Daily consistency is critical for your success, for the first month at a minimum. And if possible do it at the same time every day.  If you think that it takes 30 repetitions for something to become even close to automatic, doing it only twice a week is going to take several months, and you have committed to one month to get the ball rolling so to speak.
4. Write it Down – Use a calendar or day planner of some sort, electronic or otherwise to ensure that both you and your buddy have blocked out the time.  It is a scheduled appointment you have with yourself and your buddy, just like the doctor or work or an evening date.
5. Make it Fun – Even though change can be difficult and challenging just remember that if you were being forced to do it, like moving your family for a new job or making a change because of a threatening illness, you would do it without question and you would keep telling yourself that soon it will seem natural. You would also work fun into it whenever possible to make it more palatable.  And so it will be with this chosen change, but if you can find a change that you consider fun then you are easing the burden of the task for yourself.
6. Replace Lost Needs – For many individuals this is huge, such as in the case where you are giving something up, particularly an addictive substance like some food, alcohol or drugs.  For others it might be simple habits like biting nails, or for kids, sucking thumbs. It might be something you need to put in your mouth or something you need to do with your hands or something you need to do to fill time, but fill your need if you have to with something that is not harmful or annoying to those around you.
7. Deliver Us From Temptation – Why make this any harder than it needs to be? For heaven's sake restructure your environment to make this as easy on yourself as possible.  It may be removing certain foods or substances.  It may be putting your annoying alarm clock across the room so you have to get out of bed to turn it off. It may be changing your route to work to avoid a tempting detour.
8. K.I.S.S. – Keep It Super Simple – Again, set yourself up for success.  Make the change you are planning small and as easy as possible.  If you are inactive and you want to run a marathon in a year, you don't start jogging several kilometres the first day, week or month just as babies don't run before they walk.
9. Expect Bumps in the Road – Know that you're likely to find some days harder than others for any number of reasons.  Understand that for some it takes several attempts to make something stick.  People trying to kick addictions often say it takes many attempts to experience true success.  Don't give in or give up.  Resolve to take another stab at it and make it happen. This is one of the reasons having a buddy for support is so helpful.  You are less likely to give up if you are committed to someone else.  Why is it we let ourselves down so easily but not others?
10. Trigger It – Or Make a Ritual - Many of our habits have triggers.  A smoker might reach for a cigarette when the phone rings or right after a meal. A morning walker might leave walking shoes and clothes by the alarm clock they had to get out of bed to turn off.  A competitive athlete might wear a particular piece of clothing. Someone who goes to the gym every day might listen to a certain song on the way there or while doing their workout.  A walker or runner might load their MP3 player with just the right songs to get them from their door to a particular spot.

Each of these things might seem very trivial but added together they can give you exactly what you need to succeed at forming a new habit or making the lifestyle change you wish to make.  Why make it any harder than it has to be? 

Commit to yourself, plan your course and your success.  Then plan month 2 and 3 and so on.