Discussion about this post

User's avatar
Patty's avatar

To stay motivated and stick to a regular exercise program, which is more important than ever, now that I am in my sixties, I started an exercise challenge with a good friend who also wants to get in shape and stay fit. We live miles away from each other, and neither of us likes to go to a gym; we both work out at home using light weights and exercise videos from YouTube and/or on DVDs.

We created a Google Sheet for a full year, with each month and 31 days for each month, and we put formulas in to add up the totals for each month, and one grand total for the year. Whenever we exercise, we log the "number of minutes we worked out" on the spreadsheet, and since we shared the Google doc with each other, we can both see how many minutes each of us has exercised for the day, month, year, etc. We are now in our 4th year of this exercise challenge, and I can tell you that this REALLY WORKS!!!

I never thought I was competitive, but this challenge has motivated me to work out on so many days when I was tired, depressed, or too busy, etc. I don't want to fall too far behind my friend, so I check her minutes every day, and this has pushed me to work out almost every day of the week. Sometimes I do 60 mins., sometimes 45, sometimes just 30, but I try to get up and move to a workout as many days as I can.

At first, we made a deal that whenever we met for lunch, the person who was behind the other at that time would pay for lunch, but now we just keep up the challenge for the sake of staying in better shape. That seems to be all the motivation we need to exercise regularly. I recommend this for anyone who likes to work out at home and who has a friend who also wants to get fit.

Expand full comment
Dionne's avatar

I’ve always loved dancing and a bathroom disco (!) music is a big stim, and I’ve been practicing yoga, embodiment and somatic movement modalities since the 90s, (i also teach) and this has probably had the biggest impact on my life, helping me stay with myself day to day. Especially the hard ones. I try to take a daily walk outside if possible, trying to access a little nature in the day (or to say hello to dogs/cats) is a big motivator! I coincidently shared some related tools in a post yesterday in case they’re useful, so love that you’re prompting this question and giving some perspective of your experience. Also love Patty’s comment above! 🙋🏽‍♀️💜♾️✨🌱🌈🌺🦋

Expand full comment
2 more comments...

No posts