I'm going to explain something to you.  Your exercise routine has NOTHING to do with exercising.  I'll say it again.  Your exercise routine has NOTHING to do with exercising!  

The Routine

Your exercise routine is a ROUTINE so it's got everything to do with HABITS.  If you want your exercise routine to stick, you need to improve your ability to maintain habits.  So, in other words, if you want to improve your consistency with your exercise routine, you need to learn everything there is to know about habits, not exercises!

So, let's talk about habits!  What is a habit that you have?  Do you drink coffee everyday?  Do you brush your teeth everyday?  Think of something you do everyday. 

Ok now imagine if you would only drink coffee 3 to 5 days/week.  Or imagine you would only brush your teeth 3 times/week.  Who does that?  No one does that!  People do those things every single day!  Most people wouldn't even be able to stop drinking coffee if they wanted to!  Talk about a habit that sticks!!

Linking Exercises with Coffee and Brushing your Teeth

If you want your exercise routine to stick you have to treat it like all your other habits that stick and do it everyday! 

I know what you're thinking: but working out everyday is bad, right?  NO.  Exercising everyday is not bad!  Not if you alternate your workouts and keep it under 1hour. 

I'm telling you, exercising everyday is easier than exercising 3-5 times/week.  If you do it everyday (even if only for 15-20 minutes) you will build a habit loop -- an actual routine that will be much harder to quit!  

If you think you brush your teeth everyday because it's easy, you're wrong!  When you were a toddler and you were learning to brush your teeth you didn't like it!  You didn't want to do it!  Now imagine if your parents would've told you to only do it 3-5 times a week.  Do you think you would still be brushing your teeth everyday now?  NO you would've done it maybe once or twice week for a while and then you would've quit!

Same thing with coffee.  It's not that easy to drink it everyday.  You have to make sure you have enough coffee at home to make it (that means making sure it's always on the to buy grocery list), and have to make sure you remember to make it, and you leave yourself enough time to actually make it in the morning before you head to work - and that's if you make it from home.  If you buy your coffee everyday, you have to drive somewhere, make sure you have enough time to wait in line, you have to make sure you have enough money to buy it (and enough patience to deal with the other people around you).  It's not that easy!  

You Like Rewards

You like how your freshly brushed teeth feel when you leave the door, and you love the feeling coffee gives you when you take that first sip.  That's why you do it everyday!

Exercise can be the same!  If you can get over the few days/weeks it takes to build the habit of doing 20minutes of exercise/day - you will LOVE the rewards: weight loss, better sleep, less stress, more focus, more confidence, etc. etc. etc.

Exercising everyday is EASIER than exercising 3-5 times/week.  

Doing anything 3-5 times/week is NOT how you build a habit!

If you want to know 3 other mistakes people make when it comes to weight loss, you should watch my FREE online masterclass.  Click HERE to Register!

With Love,

Julie Richard (certified Health Coach)