Maintain Exercise in the Heat of Summer

Second to the importance of getting good nutrition from whole foods and getting in 9-13 cups of fruits and veggies of all colors every day is exercise!  Make a commitment to yourself to get at least 30 minutes of sustained activity that gets the heart rate up at least 5 days a week. The best kind of exercise to do is what you enjoy. It can be a challenge though if your activity of choice is outdoors and it’s getting to be the hottest time of the year.  Here are some tips to keep going despite the weather.

• Mind set. Listen to how you talk to yourself and keep it positive. Say things like: I get to exercise. It gives me energy and endurance. I will get a surge of endorphins (happy hormones). I want to lower stress. I want to look better. I want to improve muscle & bone strength, balance & coordination, and burn fat. I want to sleep better. I feel so good afterwards. I want to sweat out toxins.   If you don’t feel like exercising, get dressed to exercise.  That is usually enough to get going. play some energizing music for a warm-up.
• Make a plan. Do you love walking, biking, hiking? Add to it the pleasure of watching the sun rise and take advantage of the coolest time of the day. Give yourself a good spritz of water that can help you feel cooler as you move. Bring a water bottle with cold water that you can pour on yourself too if you’d like. Perhaps you can change to swimming laps in the summer. It is good to switch up types of exercises to use different muscles. You may want to invest in home exercise equipment if you don’t want to go outside or to a gym. You can walk at a mall which often will open their doors an hour before the stores open.
• Schedule it. Put it in your calendar and make a date with yourself. It is good self-care! What is scheduled, gets done. Something as simple as putting an “X” every day on a calendar after you exercise can be visually motivating to fill each day. You can set up rewards if you like, e.g. if I exercise for xx days in a row, then I get a massage.
• Make it special. Use it as a time to think, pray, to listen to a podcast or an audible book. Some people create a music playlist.
• Get an accountability buddy. Tell someone your fitness plan, your why, and commitment. Tell them how to help you be accountable, that you will text them at the end of each workout, and how they can help if you don’t text by (time). Some people make social media their accountability buddy! Others have their dog that will learn the routine and insist it’s time to go exercise! Train them that it is nonstop movement for 30 minutes and then the last 5 minutes is a stroll that they can sniff or do their business. If it is too hot for your dog, there are stores that allow people to bring their dog to exercise such as Home Depot. Lowes, and some local malls. Check for their policies.

For extra motivation, what if you could raise money for a favorite charity for each mile? Remember the days of getting pledges? Now it can be super easy! There is an app called, Charity Miles, and you can choose which charity to raise money for, and they have sponsors who will make a donation on your behalf in return for showing you an ad.

Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; For the LORD GOD is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation. Isaiah 12:2

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