WEBVTT - Try a holiday exercise streak

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,

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<v Speaker 1>This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

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<v Speaker 1>tip is to try a holiday exercise streak. It can

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<v Speaker 1>be easy to feel too busy to exercise over the holidays,

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<v Speaker 1>or perhaps to feel like it is not worth the bother,

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<v Speaker 1>but a little physical activity can do a lot to

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<v Speaker 1>ease stress. Committing to exercise every day between Thanksgiving and

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<v Speaker 1>New Year's will help you start the new year off rite.

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<v Speaker 1>So I know a lot of us are staring down

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<v Speaker 1>the next six weeks or so with a little trepidation.

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<v Speaker 1>Work is often busy as people try to get ahead

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<v Speaker 1>of vacations and any end of your deadlines. If you

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<v Speaker 1>have kids, they no doubt have extra concerts, pageants, class parties,

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<v Speaker 1>and the like. You may be hosting family, or you

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<v Speaker 1>may be traveling, and then there are all those presents

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<v Speaker 1>to buy and wrap. If you are an adult managing

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of responsibilities, it can be hard to feel

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<v Speaker 1>merry and bright, so fitting in exercise too might not

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<v Speaker 1>seem like the most appealing idea, but there is pretty

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<v Speaker 1>solid evidence that even a short amount of physical activity,

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<v Speaker 1>like less than twenty minutes, can completely change your mood.

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<v Speaker 1>Life suddenly feels doable. You feel more energetic. Some people

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<v Speaker 1>think of exercise in the context of burning off the

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<v Speaker 1>extra calories from all those holiday foods, but I personally

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<v Speaker 1>find it kind of hard to care about that. Instead,

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<v Speaker 1>to me, exercise is about ten tapping into your superpowers

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<v Speaker 1>so you can do all the amazing things that you

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<v Speaker 1>are capable of doing. To that end, I am planning

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<v Speaker 1>on undertaking a holiday exercise streak. I plan to do

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<v Speaker 1>at least fifteen minutes of physical activity every day between

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<v Speaker 1>Thanksgiving and New Year's I invite you to join me

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<v Speaker 1>in this. I usually run a couple days a week,

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<v Speaker 1>and I work out with my trainer once and I'll

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<v Speaker 1>make sure to add in a brisk walk on any

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<v Speaker 1>other days. Think about what kind of exercise works best

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<v Speaker 1>for you, and feel free to switch it up to

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<v Speaker 1>be more appealing. Maybe two days a week you go

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<v Speaker 1>to an exercise class at your gym, one morning a

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<v Speaker 1>week you do a yoga video, two days you walk

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<v Speaker 1>with colleagues at lunch, and then two other days you

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<v Speaker 1>lift weights. Or maybe you've got an indoor pool where

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<v Speaker 1>you swim laps three mornings a week. The other days

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<v Speaker 1>you go for a brisk walk around the block with

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<v Speaker 1>your dog. Maybe a friend would be willing to join

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<v Speaker 1>you in this streak so you can hold each other

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<v Speaker 1>accountable and maybe work out to gather too. It might

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<v Speaker 1>also help to think through each week and think roughly

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<v Speaker 1>about when you will exercise each day. For instance, you

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<v Speaker 1>might see that Tuesday and Thursday are going to be

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<v Speaker 1>go go go all day long, which might motivate you

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<v Speaker 1>to set the alarm a little bit earlier and run

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<v Speaker 1>on your treadmill before the craziness begins. But maybe your

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<v Speaker 1>Fridays are more relaxed, so you and a friend could

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<v Speaker 1>meet for a walk mid afternoon. Now, for many things,

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<v Speaker 1>I do believe that often is as good as always,

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<v Speaker 1>and that is generally true with exercise as well. There

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<v Speaker 1>is no real upside to exercising seven days a week

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<v Speaker 1>versus six, But given that the holidays can get hectic

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<v Speaker 1>and we are often diverging from our use schedules, I

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<v Speaker 1>find that the idea of a streak helps with cutting

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<v Speaker 1>down on excuses. When you commit to doing something absolutely

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<v Speaker 1>every day, you stop asking should I exercise today? Instead,

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<v Speaker 1>the question becomes when will I exercise today? That is

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<v Speaker 1>not a question of motivation. It is just a matter

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<v Speaker 1>of logistics, and I believe that even during the holidays,

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<v Speaker 1>it is almost always possible to find fifteen minutes. If

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<v Speaker 1>you have to break that up into three five minute chunks,

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<v Speaker 1>that is fine too. Whatever you can do is great,

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<v Speaker 1>and by laying the groundwork for finding the time to

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<v Speaker 1>exercise and all kinds of crazy circumstances, you'll have no

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<v Speaker 1>problem keeping the exercise habit into the new year. You

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<v Speaker 1>know that even on a go go go day, you

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<v Speaker 1>can wake up twenty minutes early and jump on that treadmill.

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<v Speaker 1>You know that one of your friends has a pretty

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<v Speaker 1>free Friday afternoon and is generally up for meeting. You

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<v Speaker 1>will be able to continue with these discoveries well into

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<v Speaker 1>the new year. So consider trying an exercise streak from

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<v Speaker 1>Thanksgiving to New Years. The energy and mood boost just

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<v Speaker 1>might make the holidays feel better than ever. In the meantime,

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<v Speaker 1>this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making

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<v Speaker 1>the most of our time. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast.

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<v Speaker 1>If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach

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<v Speaker 1>me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast

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<v Speaker 1>is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia,

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<v Speaker 1>please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you

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<v Speaker 1>listen to your favorite shows.