Making fitness a HABIT

I am no fitness expert; hence, please do not think this post as any kind of fitness advice. My focus in the next few paragraphs will be on the importance of having an exercise routine in our lives, and it completely depends on you regarding what kind of exercise you would like to perform. In other words, I am going to share some tips and tricks which I follow in my life to be fit.

Everybody understands that fitness is very important. In other words, everyone wants to be fit and healthy. However, most of the times people complain that they cannot wake up early, they do not get time to do exercise, they get bored after sometime etc. etc. When people know and understand that fitness is very important then why is that the last priority? Everybody loves to eat but when it comes to exercise, why most of the people are hesitant. Valid questions. Right? Through the medium of my post, I would like to share few things with my readers regarding how we can make fitness a habit in our lives, and how I manage a fitness regime in my life.

What is a HABIT?

I have taken this concept of habit from one of my favorite books known as “The Power of Habit”. This was an eye opener for me, and I recommend this book to everyone.

If you really want to do something on a continuous basis then you have to make it a HABIT. What is a habit? In very simple terms, a habit is something in which your brain behaves in an automatic manner. While performing a habit, our brain does not think much because the entire process has been automated through n number of occurrences.

For example: when you wake up in the morning, you know that you have to brush your teeth, and you perform that step automatically. In this case, your brain does not think much because you perform this step everyday, and your brain has automated it. I still remember that some times my sister used to start brushing her teeth in the evening after the afternoon nap because her brain has created a habit where you wake up and brush your teeth. This is a perfect example of a Habit.

Interestingly, there is something known as a HABIT LOOP. If you want to create a habit in your life then you need to create this habit loop which is as follows:

1. Cue: A Cue is a stimulus and a reminder to do something; hence, it is very important for you to find something which will trigger your habit. In the above example, the habit of brushing your teeth triggers whenever you wake up in the morning; hence, this is a cue.
   Another example: If you would like to trigger your habit of running every morning then you can do any of the following:
   Keep your alarm clock really far from your bed so that you have to walk in order to switch it off. Most of the times when you are out of your bed, the chances are that you will not sleep again and will go for the exercise.
   You can also keep your shoes next to your alarm clock so that once you walk to switch it off, you know that you have to do the exercise.
2. Routine:  Once you have triggered your habit, you need to identify that what are you going to do in this process. For example: You can go for running, can do Yoga, can go for a walk etc. These are known as routines. In the example of brushing teeth, your routine is applying the toothpaste on your toothbrush and then you brush your teeth.
3. Reward: Finally, you need to tell your brain that what will be the reward from your habit. This is very important as this step acts as one of the biggest motivation factors. For example: you can make a deal with yourself that if you exercise regularly then you can allow yourself to indulge in a Pizza or a burger where you can enjoy your meal without any guilt. Also, you can imagine yourself to be very fit in the near future which will definitely make you feel very happy.
   In the example of brushing teeth, the reward is the feeling of the freshness, and the routine will also protect you from any cavity.

This is how we create habits with the help of habit loop.

Making fitness a HABIT

In a similar manner, if you want to include fitness regime in your life, you have to make it a habit by creating a habit loop. You can pick any fitness regime like walking, running, yoga, aerobics etc. So let’s see how we can create a habit loop for a fitness habit.

The cue for your exercise will be keeping your alarm clock quite far from your bed so that you need to walk in order to switch it off. As already mentioned, in the aforementioned case, most of the times people do not go back to sleep again, and they do go for exercise. Also, keep your exercise clothes and shoes next to the alarm clock so that your brain knows that you need to do exercise.
The routine of your exercise can be anything. You are free to choose from running, walking, yoga, aerobics, gym, swimming etc. It completely depends on you. A very important point to note that please choose a routine which you really like doing. For example: if running is fun for you then go for it. As you are just starting your fitness regime, it is very important for you to select something which is fun for you.
Again, you are free to think about the reward which you will get from your exercise. Do think of a reward as it will be the biggest motivating factor for you everyday. Whenever you wake up and wear your shoes, think about this reward which will help you in performing your fitness routine.

In order to make exercise a fun activity, you can take someone with you whenever you go for exercise in the morning. I agree that it is difficult to start this routine all alone, but when you have a company, things become easy. I go for running with my husband, and it is so much fun. I never go alone because I know that it will not be fun for me. We humans look for social interaction in everything and this is something which is in our DNA. We like to have a social connection with someone in whatever we do. I would like to share one example here which is one of my favorites. A person started a gym for both men and women. He also hired very good staff; however, in spite of being very efficient, the staff was not warm enough in making the connections with the people. When people come to Gym, they like interacting with the staff so that they can motivate their customers and give them proper fitness advise; however, this was not the case over here.  As a result, there were hardly any new customers, and the existing ones also started leaving. After some research, the owner understood the problem and gave a training to his staff where they understood the importance of making social interactions. And boom!!! The customers doubled.

The gist is that we definitely like a company in whatever we do; hence, try to take someone along with you whenever you go for exercise.

My routine

Yes, I have made running a habit because I simply love doing it. I am following an exercise routine from the last two years, and now I can very proudly say that it has become a part of me. I wake up at 5:00 AM in the morning five times a week and go for running on the beach. Your body needs some rest as well; hence, I take a break for two days in a week.

I do not want to give any advice on the nutrition aspect as I am not a nutrition expert. I would just like to mention few things which I follow at my end. I do not follow any diet because I do not believe in dieting; however, I always keep a check on my oil intake. I am a vegetarian, and I do eat foods which have fat. For example: I eat desi ghee, lot of Paneer, butter, paranthas five times a week etc. I do not like to refrain myself from food because I am a big foodie.

However, I do follow some healthy practices: I use Mustard oil instead of refined oil for cooking; I do not eat rice much as I do not like them, but I eat lot of wheat; I simply hate burgers; I do eat unhealthy Pizzas but once or twice a month; I dine out a lot, but I am always careful regarding what I order.

Conclusion

Most of the people start with the goal of reducing weight, and that is their primary reason for exercise. Please do not do that. It is more important to be fit, and you need to build up your strength first. If you focus on fitness and build up strength, your weight will automatically come down. Also, please be patient as it takes time to be fit. Do not lose your morale in between in case you see your weigh machine showing the same weight again and again.

Choose any exercise routine which is fun for you because your goal should be to make your body active as far as the fitness is concerned.

So what are you waiting for…… Pick some exercise, make it a habit and start your exercise routine from tomorrow. There is never too late for anything 🙂