Resolution? What Resolution?

It's almost March, so chances are that thoughts of New Year's resolutions have been nearly washed away. You might be noticing that it's almost light when you go out the door to work, or maybe even -- depending on where you live -- when you leave the office. (Not true yet for me in darkest London.) You might even be turning to hopes of getting outdoors again at some point, or thinking about spring getaways or summer holidays.

But because I have a public blog where I talk about my New Year's resolutions, I remember. In my list of blog ideas, which still includes some weird ones, like "celebrities getting in shape for movies", there's a note for a follow up on my resolution for 2016. If you don't remember what it was -- most of us probably can't even remember our own resolutions -- here it is: to find an exercise routine for 2016 that fits into my life and helps me cope, not something that will be a chore or take away from the other things in life that I want -- or love -- to do.

So how is it going?

Not to be smug or anything, but it's going pretty well. However, we need to get some perspective on this. It's not like I'm working out all the time or training to run a marathon or anything. I think the reason it's going well is that I've been super realistic about this resolution in the first place. Let's break it down.

First, I decided that I was already getting some exercise, mainly walking, since I live in a city, don't own a car, and so most days get at least 20 minutes of walking in. Ideally, I'd like at least a 30 minute walk per day, but hey, sometimes you have to be happy with good enough instead of perfect.

Second, I thought about what it was I wanted to add in and decided on something for strength, as keeping muscle tone gets even more important every year older we get. (Not that I'm getting older, I mean for other people!)

Third, I thought about the times when I did have a regular exercise routine and what worked to keep it in place. I realized that Sundays were good days for me to exercise and that weekdays -- no matter how hard I tried -- don't work at the moment. So wherever this exercise was going to happen, it needed to be closer to home than work. I've since cancelled my gym membership near my office and am now attending a weekly class with the somewhat ridiculous name of "Body Pump". It's essentially an hour-long weight lifting class to music where you work all the major muscle groups. It seems that suddenly, all those years in physio, working on my posture and core strength, is now paying off in other ways. I've got Super Physio to thank for giving me the base to make it possible.

But the best part of my new routine is that the gym is more or less a 20 minute walk away, so I get even more exercise by just showing up to the class, and even better, more time to listen to podcasts (see last week's post for this exciting "temptation bundling" technique).

I hope your New Year's resolution(s) worked out, or if not, it's never to late to make a better one. Fellow blogger Rose had a great one: Go out to the movies! (It's probably the best resolution I've ever heard, too bad that that's almost all the Hub and I do, so I can't use it.)

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Photo credit: 3rd avenue walk via photopin (license)