Organize your Self Care: 10 Tips for Success By Bettina Neumann, PT, CST, LLCC
It's your choice to exercise, or not. It's your choice to take care of yourself, or not. One of the most common (if not THE most common) new year's resolutions is to exercise more.
That was January -- now it's July and time to re-evaluate your goals and your reality. Have other activities moved into the time you allotted to take care of yourself? Has life gotten in your way and interrupted your routines?
No-one can take care of you as well as you can and exercise is a proven tool to stay healthy, strong and vital.
Use these 10 tips to help you get back on track.
1. Re-evaluate your program:
What are your goals? Was exercise once a part of your lifestyle, and now moved to non-existence? If so, try to determine what happened that displaced your fitness plan.
2. Plan time to exercise:
Treat your exercise time as the most important self time of the day. Do you floss your teeth every day? Well, exercise is like flossing your joints and muscles. It needs to be part of your healthy routine.
Schedule time to exercise. Guard that time as though it was a meeting with your boss.
Remember: if you don't take care of yourself, who will?
3. Keep track of your exercises:
Download our free exercise tracking sheet here. Post the sheet in the area where you exercise. Track the type of exercises you do each day, how many repetitions of each, and how long you exercise. Use this record to monitor your progress and remind you to work out consistently.
4. Organize your equipment:
Keeping track of your exercise equipment can be challenging, especially if you compete with children or dogs for the chance to use it. Keep your exercise tools handy, somewhere that you can access them easily, but out of reach of your "competitor." Doing so will reduce the time it takes to get everything together each time you plan to exercise.
5. Organize your exercises:
Create a routine where you do different exercises on different days.
For example:
- Walk on Monday
- Pilates on Tuesday and Friday
- San Francisco Stair Walk with a friend on Wednesday over lunch
- Swim with your kids on Thursday
- Yoga on Saturday
- Hike on Sunday with your friends
- Plan small changes for each day, things like walking to work or taking the stairs instead of the elevator.
Mix up your routine and vary your activities to give you the opportunity to socialize with your friends and family at the same time. Stay happy!
6. Organize your exercise by body part:
Try devoting one day a week to working on your legs and abs. Another day you can concentrate on working out your arms, back and neck. Devote some days to stretching, other days to strengthening. Mix up your aerobic exercises with biking, walking, swimming, and stair climbing.
7. Know your fitness level:
If you've followed my newsletters this year, you may already be familiar with how to find your exercise level. If you missed it, or want to review it, and can't find the article any more, please let me know. I'm happy to email you the link.
8. Relax!
Avoid overextending yourself with too many planned activities. Relax and enjoy the extra daylight you have to spend with your family or friends.
9. Eat a balanced diet and drink enough water.
This can be challenging when you're juggling a busy schedule. Pay attention to what you eat. Try to consume plenty of veggies, stick to lean proteins, and drink lots of water.
10. Try something new:
Sign up for the upcoming Rehab Pilates Classes at Rising Sun Physical Therapy to help you start, stick to, or restart a healthy routine. For more details, see the schedule below. You can always call me 415-282-4083 or email me at [email protected].
The information above is based on my long working experience with patients. These are only general tips. If you have any health issues or specific problems, consult your physician and/or your physical therapist, or call me for personalized tips.
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Stay tuned for our August issue - Common mistakes in a Pilates work out!
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of fruit. The juicy red flavor of the plums reminds me of the incredible power of the summer sun. Now I just have to go out and harvest nature's surprises, reaping the benefits of what was planted many years ago. 
