Bethenny's blog

Bethenny talks honestly about keeping in shape and your options. For more Bethenny blogs check out her site HERE.

Realistic Exercise
by: Bethenny Frankel
Most people’s issue with exercise is mustering the motivation to go to the gym, start running and show up for a trainer on time. Everyone knows how much better they feel afterwards, but that still doesn’t always get us off the couch and into our workout clothes.Obviously, we need to find out what works for us. Can we wake up in the morning? Will we be too tired after work? These things are no news to anyone. However, we are going about the whole process in the wrong way.Like dieting, if exercise becomes something “we have to start tomorrow” or we have to drag ourselves to do because the doctor said so or to be thin and in shape, we’ll never incorporate it into our lives on a long term basis. No one likes “having” to do something.The answer is to do exercise for the sole purpose of feeling better. Don’t make it something about counting calories or counting minutes on a treadmill. Find something that you can manage and that makes you feel better. Wouldn’t we all love to live on a beach so walking every day would be joyful instead of something we dread.Like eating, exercise can’t be your best friend or your enemy. You weren’t “good” because you worked out, and you weren’t “bad” if you didn’t. Somehow, find a healthy relationship with exercise so you are happy to have it in your life. For me, yoga is my salvation. I used to spend hours on the treadmill or spinning class which made me manic, anything but relaxed, and I ate much more than usual because of the intense workout. Many people gain weight when they are working out like this because the increase in calories consumed exceed those burned.This isn’t to say not to do cardio. It is only to say that what works for one may not work for another. Perhaps you enjoy swimming or walking to work. If you can commit to that a few days a week, you are bettering your life and not stressing because you can’t do something 5 days a week.This week I did yoga almost every day. I’ve been under a lot of stress lately, and I actually crave it. Yoga is an inexpensive massage that gets your body leaner and more healthy than anything else I can think of. I like that I do it as a gift to myself and not a chore.After a year of not getting on a bike, I took a spinning class the other day. I had so much extra energy, wanted to enjoy dance music and simply felt like it. Although it isn’t my exercise of choice, on that day it gave me what I needed. On vacation, I sometimes surf, snowboard or hike. Some weeks I’ll do nothing at all and let my body rest. I can handle these breaks because I have a healthy relationship with exercise and will always go back.Find what works for you, makes you happy, isn’t a chore and that you can really incorporate into your life long term.Most people’s issue with exercise is mustering the motivation to go to the gym, start running and show up for a trainer on time. Everyone knows how much better they feel afterwards, but that still doesn’t always get us off the couch and into our workout clothes.

Obviously, we need to find out what works for us. Can we wake up in the morning? Will we be too tired after work? These things are no news to anyone. However, we are going about the whole process in the wrong way.

Like dieting, if exercise becomes something “we have to start tomorrow” or we have to drag ourselves to do because the doctor said so or to be thin and in shape, we’ll never incorporate it into our lives on a long term basis. No one likes “having” to do something.

The answer is to do exercise for the sole purpose of feeling better. Don’t make it something about counting calories or counting minutes on a treadmill. Find something that you can manage and that makes you feel better. Wouldn’t we all love to live on a beach so walking every day would be joyful instead of something we dread.

Like eating, exercise can’t be your best friend or your enemy. You weren’t “good” because you worked out, and you weren’t “bad” if you didn’t. Somehow, find a healthy relationship with exercise so you are happy to have it in your life. For me, yoga is my salvation. I used to spend hours on the treadmill or spinning class which made me manic, anything but relaxed, and I ate much more than usual because of the intense workout. Many people gain weight when they are working out like this because the increase in calories consumed exceed those burned.

This isn’t to say not to do cardio. It is only to say that what works for one may not work for another. Perhaps you enjoy swimming or walking to work. If you can commit to that a few days a week, you are bettering your life and not stressing because you can’t do something 5 days a week.

This week I did yoga almost every day. I’ve been under a lot of stress lately, and I actually crave it. Yoga is an inexpensive massage that gets your body leaner and more healthy than anything else I can think of. I like that I do it as a gift to myself and not a chore.

After a year of not getting on a bike, I took a spinning class the other day. I had so much extra energy, wanted to enjoy dance music and simply felt like it. Although it isn’t my exercise of choice, on that day it gave me what I needed. On vacation, I sometimes surf, snowboard or hike. Some weeks I’ll do nothing at all and let my body rest. I can handle these breaks because I have a healthy relationship with exercise and will always go back.

Find what works for you, makes you happy, isn’t a chore and that you can really incorporate into your life long term.