1. Buy a pedometer. This was the first thing that got me to really pay attention to my daily activity level. I have to thank Kaiser for this one. They sponsored a "Walk Across Italy" race at work. Last year they walked across Cancun and I thought the whole thing was pretty silly, but for some reason, this year I got into it. I was even a team captain! In teams of six, we all tracked how many steps we walked each day for six weeks with the goal of all our steps adding up to some huge number of miles which is the distance from the north to the south of Italy. Or something like that. Anyway, being accountable to my team members motivated me a lot, and I really enjoyed tracking my daily steps. I continued doing it for months on my own after the race was over. It really makes you very conscious of the level of activity you have built into your regular routine and makes you look for simple ways to increase it. It's fun to see what your average daily steps are and then see if you can increase that average by 10% each week. Or something like that.
2. Set goals. People scoff at the goal setting routine I proposed earlier, but it really worked well for me. What's your long term goal for your regular activity level? What would be a small, simple goal that could be achieved in the next week? What could you do in the next 24 hours to increase your regular activity? If I had set a specific goal for the week I was much more likely to actually get up and do some sit-ups or take a quick walk after lunch. It changed the conversations I had with myself when I was lying in bed in the morning. You can get up and meet your goal, or you can lie in bed and fail to meet your goal. Hmm. It was a matter of pride. It was a way to make myself accountable to myself. There's something about that proverbial gold star on the chart that still holds power. Like the pedometer, it's really fun and easy! Using a pedometer is a really easy way to set and track goals, too.
3. Sign up for a race/Exercise with friends. A week from today, I'm running my first 10K--my first race ever, really, and a trail race to boot! If you'd told me a year ago I'd run a 10K this year (or write a blog about weight management), I'd've called you crazy, but here I go. Ten women signed up together and we're renting a house for the weekend. It's something I'm really looking forward to. Four of us have been meeting once a week to train. I can't believe how much farther I can run with friends than by myself! And running on a trail is much more fun than on a treadmill. I've never been so motivated to exercise regularly in my entire life. It's actually fun! Plus it's a great excuse to spend an hour with my friends each week, which is as good for my health as the running is! I look for opportunities to run during the week and I'm disappointed when I don't find them. I actually miss running if I go for more than a few days without it. Don't get me wrong, I'm a naturally sedate person, and the actual running still feels like torture, but now I want to do it anyway! Agreeing to run a 10K with friends has changed my life! (Incidentally, it is this to which I attribute most of the gains on my self-assessment.)
4. Toys make it fun. We got a Wii Fit Plus for Christmas, and it is so much fun! It's not all cardio-driven, but any of it is better than sitting on the couch and watching TV. It's fun for the whole family! I also splurged and spend an extra $30 on a Nike-ipod set-up when I bought new trail running shoes for the race. There's a sensor in the shoe and a gadget you plug into your ipod when you run that tracks your time and distance. I haven't tried this yet, but I guess you can upload it to nike.com and track your training and do all kinds of fun things with it. I usually steer clear of things like this, but both of these have helped motivate me to MOVE MORE.
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