My Second Baby Step: Exercise (February 1st - 7th)

"I have to exercise in the morning before my brain figures out what I'm doing."  ~Marsha Doble

I am not great about exercise. It is either feast or famine for me. Either I am working out consistently or I am not working out at all, with nothing in between. My approach to exercise has been less than desirable because exercise is just important as diet when it comes to health.

So, I am adding exercise as my second healthy habit because it is very important to achieving health. I am also adding exercise as my second healthy habit because it could take a while to actually become a habit (not just a thing I force myself to do). According to a recent study, it can take anywhere from 18 to 254 days to turn a new activity into a habit. With exercise, I need all the help (and time) I can get.
                                             
The CDC recommends that adults get 2 1/2 hours of moderate intensity (walking fast) aerobic exercise a week so, starting today, I will do 30 minutes of exercise a day, 5 days a week. Yuck.                                     
                                                                                                                                                                 
Tip:
What is interesting (and by interesting I mean discouraging) about exercise for me is that it has a negative effect on my weight. No, you didn’t read that wrong. I actually tend to gain weight from exercise. As you can imagine, this is very discouraging (and by discouraging I mean a deal breaker). Now, I doubt any of you have this problem but, if you do, one thing that has helped me is working out in the morning instead of the afternoon/evening. For whatever reason, if I work out before breakfast, exercise has the intended effect on my weight.