Goodbye Summer, Hello Life Habits

We’re saying goodbye to summer and hello to the infinite number of possibilities that the rest of the year can bring and if we start this new phase right, what can result is a whole new body with a new positive mind-set on how we choose to live our lives. Most of us like the idea of having a workout as a part of our daily lives, but we don’t know where to begin. We see images, pictures and stories of everyone going to train and we can’t seem to figure out how it is they get themselves to get up every single day. It’s important to first understand that everyone’s body is entirely different. We all have different capabilities and interests and we can’t compare ourselves to anyone, only to our own selves and where we were yesterday as opposed to where we are today.


Photo Courtesy Deana Shaaban

Know yourself. It’s important for you to understand why you want to train. It’s all good and well for us to aspire to train every day, but most people start out strong and then go back to their old habits before they truly begin to see results. The first step to changing your habits and starting to work out is to understand yourself and why it is you really want to work out. If you can do that then you can understand how you can turn your old habits into new ones then lay down a plan to make it happen.

Have realistic goals. It’s all about baby steps. We can’t expect to change the direction our life was heading in one single step; slow, gradual improvement tends to stick for a lifetime.

Once you reach a goal, make another. Try to incorporate working out in your life by exercising twice a week for the first two weeks. Once you’re able to do that comfortably, start incorporating exercising three times a week for another two weeks. If you can see your goals materializing in front of you, it will motivate you to push a little more every day.


Photo Courtesy Deana Shaaban

One slipup is just a slipup. If you have an off day and go on a bingeing spree, don’t let that one slipup upset your routine. You’re a human being, you’re going to have cravings, you’re going to have momentary weaknesses. Collapses often come from feeling deprived of what it is you psychologically and emotionally need. Lead a well-balanced, deprivation-free lifestyle; give yourself small quantities of what you feel you need. One moment of weakness, is only that, one moment. Nothing more, nothing less.

Move your body at home. Stretch it out. You don’t have to be a yogi, or even into yoga to stretch your body out. We’re conditioned for bad habits: we sit too long at a desk or a computer, our backs arched, necks hunched over. We bend over to pick things up without bending our knees for support, we carry things too heavy for our backs. To counter that, try and give yourself 5–10 minutes every morning to stretch your body out and then 5–10 minutes at night to do the same thing. No matter how busy you are, you can also put aside 20 minutes of your day to take care of yourself and your body. et