Peace of Mind Organizing

Automating my exercise

13 August 2009

I’ve written about my infatuation with the Wii Fit I purchased in April. I built a routine of doing Wii Fit six days a week (I’d take Thursdays off) and was going strong. I was so enthusiastic about it that my friend Margaret Lukens of New Leaf + Company interviewed me about it and included me and my Wii Fit in a blog post she wrote about exercise this week.

Then I started to feel a little bored by the exercise choice, so I purchased EA Sports Active for the Wii, which takes a different approach to fitness. Where Wii Fit focuses on yoga, balance and stretching, EA Sports Active kicks your butt more and has an emphasis on aerobic activity. It uses stretch bands for strength exercises. I actually sweat while using it. I don’t like to sweat.

I’ve written here over and over about the importance of routines and making daily tasks automatic. Having a choice about which fitness program to use has thrown me for a loop. Exercise is no longer automatic; I have to think about what I want to do. In addition, the exercise break I took during my nine-day trip last month, made it really tough to get back into the swing of regular exercise.

But I’m newly motivated: my brother told me we’re going to the beach when I visit Australia at the end of the month. And I have a two-piece bathing suit. So at the very least I want to get my abs looking great.

The Wii Fit really helped my abs. So I think between now and my departure in two weeks, I’m going to focus on Wii Fit, 30 minutes a day, except Thursdays. Maybe I’ll throw in EA Sports Active as a bonus some days (though that doesn’t feel very likely).

It’s been an interesting lesson to me that variety can actually be detrimental when it comes to creating routines. I’m hopeful that by eliminating variety for these next two weeks, I’ll get some good exercise accomplished. When I return from Australia, I’ll figure out how to get back into the swing of it again.

Tagged with: exercise, margaret lukens, routines

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