Change it Up

What you thought before has led to every choice you have made, and this adds up to you at this moment. If you want to change who you are physically, mentally, and spiritually, you will have to change what you think.

– Dr. Patrick Gentempo

So often people will suggest to me that they are so committed to their workouts, yet still they carry extra weight, so it must be where their bodies are supposed to be.  I have seen people, day after day, year after year, doing their intense treadmill routine without experiencing change in their bodies.  I think there is a quote that says something about the definition of insanity being doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.  You want to see change?  CHANGE IT UP!

During this month, which always finds us with less time to take care of ourselves, the best gift you can give yourself is to change up your routine!  If your energy is too zapped to do your usual kickboxing class, try Pilates or yoga.  If you don’t have time to do long runs, make them shorter, but kick up the speed.  Revisit childhood passions like shooting hoops, jumping rope or hula-hooping.  Just the other day I ventured out to run but couldn’t find it in me.  Instead of going home, I opted to interchange a minute of running with a minute of walking, followed by lunges in all different directions and then repeating.  After about 10 minutes I was dripping in sweat, came home, did some push-ups, crunches, stretched and called it a workout.  In less than 20 minutes I had gotten in some good exercise and finished, feeling my mission was accomplished as opposed to feeling defeated by my inability to run.

For some of us, routine works best.  For others, routine becomes tedious and time consuming and if we can’t do “our routine” we don’t do anything.  Expand your mind to the endless possibilities.  Both your mind and your body will thank you.