1 00:00:03,480 --> 00:00:10,080 Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning, 2 00:00:11,480 --> 00:00:17,200 Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's 3 00:00:17,200 --> 00:00:22,280 Speaker 1: tip is to try a holiday exercise streak. It can 4 00:00:22,320 --> 00:00:25,599 Speaker 1: be easy to feel too busy to exercise over the holidays, 5 00:00:26,480 --> 00:00:29,160 Speaker 1: or perhaps to feel like it is not worth the bother, 6 00:00:30,480 --> 00:00:33,320 Speaker 1: but a little physical activity can do a lot to 7 00:00:33,400 --> 00:00:39,760 Speaker 1: ease stress. Committing to exercise every day between Thanksgiving and 8 00:00:39,880 --> 00:00:45,199 Speaker 1: New Year's will help you start the new year off rite. 9 00:00:45,880 --> 00:00:48,080 Speaker 1: So I know a lot of us are staring down 10 00:00:48,120 --> 00:00:50,760 Speaker 1: the next six weeks or so with a little trepidation. 11 00:00:52,200 --> 00:00:55,280 Speaker 1: Work is often busy as people try to get ahead 12 00:00:55,280 --> 00:00:59,000 Speaker 1: of vacations and any end of your deadlines. If you 13 00:00:59,080 --> 00:01:05,039 Speaker 1: have kids, they no doubt have extra concerts, pageants, class parties, 14 00:01:05,440 --> 00:01:09,840 Speaker 1: and the like. You may be hosting family, or you 15 00:01:09,880 --> 00:01:13,560 Speaker 1: may be traveling, and then there are all those presents 16 00:01:13,600 --> 00:01:17,759 Speaker 1: to buy and wrap. If you are an adult managing 17 00:01:17,800 --> 00:01:21,360 Speaker 1: a lot of responsibilities, it can be hard to feel 18 00:01:21,440 --> 00:01:26,720 Speaker 1: merry and bright, so fitting in exercise too might not 19 00:01:26,800 --> 00:01:30,600 Speaker 1: seem like the most appealing idea, but there is pretty 20 00:01:30,600 --> 00:01:33,959 Speaker 1: solid evidence that even a short amount of physical activity, 21 00:01:34,360 --> 00:01:38,920 Speaker 1: like less than twenty minutes, can completely change your mood. 22 00:01:39,640 --> 00:01:47,240 Speaker 1: Life suddenly feels doable. You feel more energetic. Some people 23 00:01:47,319 --> 00:01:50,400 Speaker 1: think of exercise in the context of burning off the 24 00:01:50,440 --> 00:01:53,720 Speaker 1: extra calories from all those holiday foods, but I personally 25 00:01:53,760 --> 00:01:56,880 Speaker 1: find it kind of hard to care about that. Instead, 26 00:01:57,400 --> 00:02:02,200 Speaker 1: to me, exercise is about ten tapping into your superpowers 27 00:02:02,720 --> 00:02:05,440 Speaker 1: so you can do all the amazing things that you 28 00:02:05,560 --> 00:02:09,919 Speaker 1: are capable of doing. To that end, I am planning 29 00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:15,600 Speaker 1: on undertaking a holiday exercise streak. I plan to do 30 00:02:15,639 --> 00:02:19,639 Speaker 1: at least fifteen minutes of physical activity every day between 31 00:02:19,680 --> 00:02:23,160 Speaker 1: Thanksgiving and New Year's I invite you to join me 32 00:02:23,200 --> 00:02:26,560 Speaker 1: in this. I usually run a couple days a week, 33 00:02:26,600 --> 00:02:29,359 Speaker 1: and I work out with my trainer once and I'll 34 00:02:29,360 --> 00:02:31,320 Speaker 1: make sure to add in a brisk walk on any 35 00:02:31,360 --> 00:02:35,880 Speaker 1: other days. Think about what kind of exercise works best 36 00:02:35,919 --> 00:02:39,080 Speaker 1: for you, and feel free to switch it up to 37 00:02:39,120 --> 00:02:42,880 Speaker 1: be more appealing. Maybe two days a week you go 38 00:02:42,960 --> 00:02:46,240 Speaker 1: to an exercise class at your gym, one morning a 39 00:02:46,240 --> 00:02:49,200 Speaker 1: week you do a yoga video, two days you walk 40 00:02:49,200 --> 00:02:52,280 Speaker 1: with colleagues at lunch, and then two other days you 41 00:02:52,320 --> 00:02:56,000 Speaker 1: lift weights. Or maybe you've got an indoor pool where 42 00:02:56,000 --> 00:02:59,520 Speaker 1: you swim laps three mornings a week. The other days 43 00:02:59,520 --> 00:03:01,440 Speaker 1: you go for a brisk walk around the block with 44 00:03:01,480 --> 00:03:04,880 Speaker 1: your dog. Maybe a friend would be willing to join 45 00:03:04,919 --> 00:03:07,560 Speaker 1: you in this streak so you can hold each other 46 00:03:07,600 --> 00:03:12,440 Speaker 1: accountable and maybe work out to gather too. It might 47 00:03:12,480 --> 00:03:15,240 Speaker 1: also help to think through each week and think roughly 48 00:03:15,440 --> 00:03:19,960 Speaker 1: about when you will exercise each day. For instance, you 49 00:03:20,040 --> 00:03:22,480 Speaker 1: might see that Tuesday and Thursday are going to be 50 00:03:22,600 --> 00:03:26,120 Speaker 1: go go go all day long, which might motivate you 51 00:03:26,200 --> 00:03:29,000 Speaker 1: to set the alarm a little bit earlier and run 52 00:03:29,040 --> 00:03:33,080 Speaker 1: on your treadmill before the craziness begins. But maybe your 53 00:03:33,080 --> 00:03:36,320 Speaker 1: Fridays are more relaxed, so you and a friend could 54 00:03:36,360 --> 00:03:41,320 Speaker 1: meet for a walk mid afternoon. Now, for many things, 55 00:03:41,400 --> 00:03:44,920 Speaker 1: I do believe that often is as good as always, 56 00:03:45,720 --> 00:03:49,360 Speaker 1: and that is generally true with exercise as well. There 57 00:03:49,400 --> 00:03:53,040 Speaker 1: is no real upside to exercising seven days a week 58 00:03:53,160 --> 00:03:57,720 Speaker 1: versus six, But given that the holidays can get hectic 59 00:03:57,800 --> 00:04:01,920 Speaker 1: and we are often diverging from our use schedules, I 60 00:04:02,080 --> 00:04:06,080 Speaker 1: find that the idea of a streak helps with cutting 61 00:04:06,120 --> 00:04:12,400 Speaker 1: down on excuses. When you commit to doing something absolutely 62 00:04:12,840 --> 00:04:19,360 Speaker 1: every day, you stop asking should I exercise today? Instead, 63 00:04:19,400 --> 00:04:25,200 Speaker 1: the question becomes when will I exercise today? That is 64 00:04:25,279 --> 00:04:29,839 Speaker 1: not a question of motivation. It is just a matter 65 00:04:30,120 --> 00:04:34,279 Speaker 1: of logistics, and I believe that even during the holidays, 66 00:04:34,279 --> 00:04:39,000 Speaker 1: it is almost always possible to find fifteen minutes. If 67 00:04:39,000 --> 00:04:41,799 Speaker 1: you have to break that up into three five minute chunks, 68 00:04:42,279 --> 00:04:45,520 Speaker 1: that is fine too. Whatever you can do is great, 69 00:04:46,720 --> 00:04:49,479 Speaker 1: and by laying the groundwork for finding the time to 70 00:04:49,600 --> 00:04:53,560 Speaker 1: exercise and all kinds of crazy circumstances, you'll have no 71 00:04:53,680 --> 00:04:58,200 Speaker 1: problem keeping the exercise habit into the new year. You 72 00:04:58,360 --> 00:05:00,719 Speaker 1: know that even on a go go go day, you 73 00:05:00,720 --> 00:05:03,560 Speaker 1: can wake up twenty minutes early and jump on that treadmill. 74 00:05:04,600 --> 00:05:06,440 Speaker 1: You know that one of your friends has a pretty 75 00:05:06,440 --> 00:05:10,800 Speaker 1: free Friday afternoon and is generally up for meeting. You 76 00:05:10,880 --> 00:05:15,280 Speaker 1: will be able to continue with these discoveries well into 77 00:05:15,320 --> 00:05:20,920 Speaker 1: the new year. So consider trying an exercise streak from 78 00:05:20,920 --> 00:05:25,520 Speaker 1: Thanksgiving to New Years. The energy and mood boost just 79 00:05:25,720 --> 00:05:31,440 Speaker 1: might make the holidays feel better than ever. In the meantime, 80 00:05:32,240 --> 00:05:36,520 Speaker 1: this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making 81 00:05:36,560 --> 00:05:46,919 Speaker 1: the most of our time. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast. 82 00:05:47,480 --> 00:05:51,200 Speaker 1: If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach 83 00:05:51,279 --> 00:06:00,960 Speaker 1: me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast 84 00:06:01,000 --> 00:06:05,280 Speaker 1: is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia, 85 00:06:05,320 --> 00:06:09,359 Speaker 1: please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 86 00:06:09,400 --> 00:06:10,680 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.