UNITED STATES—Commitment. It is a word that many of us fear. However, it is a commitment that pushes us to accomplish things that we sometimes ignore. One of the biggest commitments I wanted to make starting the New Year was to get more exercise in. Things were not great in January, and yes I can blame COVID-19 for that, but with that said, February is a new month and so far things have been good. Yes, I get exhausted from working so much, but I’ve made it a mission that no matter how tired I might be, I get in a tense 30-minute workout.

For me, it is all about staying healthy and alleviating stress. Exercise tends to do that for me. If I am stressed, after a workout, those things I’ve been stressing about, seem to stop occupying my mind. Yeah, I know it sounds odd, but it’s true. The more you think about something, the longer it tends to linger for most Americans. When you exercise it gives you the opportunity to focus on something, in particular one’s weight, mental state of being or the notion of remaining active and being healthy.

So many people say they need something to motivate them to exercise, and my response is that is simply an excuse as to why you don’t want to exercise. Either you’re going to do it or you’re not. It really is that simple, so commit to doing it or don’t, but don’t continually use the kids, work, stress and other issues as a reason you cannot exercise.

It is an excuse that will yield no results when it comes to your overall health. You are in the driver seat when it comes to your exercise regimen. Rather you do it in the morning, midday, evening or at night. I’m one that tends to do it after work. Why? Cause that is when I am most motivated to get it done. If I don’t do it, I won’t exercise; I don’t want to do it after a big meal because your body is not most responsive to getting that movement going after a large or hefty meal. It is also notable that you should set a specific time that you work out and stay consistent with that.

Changing that time from day to day causes inconsistency, that inconsistency can lead to you wanting to delay your workout to later times or focusing on making up that workout on another day. So if you’re used to a 30-minute workout and then you go to an hour or two-hour workout that changes the commitment of things. You do control your fate when it comes to the exercise world. How long your workout, the type of workout, where you exercise and who you exercise. The pandemic has totally forced many to start working out at home, which I prefer because my commitment level is stronger, it’s safer and I don’t have to worry about travel.

Make the commitment to get your health in order. Like they say, when you feel good, you look good and looking good improves that overall confidence for most people.