Week 5 C
Guidelines and Assignments for you
For best results:
Do these assignments on the last 5 days of Week 5 after you’ve read through the material in section A and B
DAY 1
I hope I got you a little excited about Exercise and not too scared:)
Today: Let’s find out what will work for you
We’re going to do a little self discovery. Spend some time thinking about your personality and preferences, especially in the area of exercise.
Maybe you can’t think of anything yet and unfortunately I don’t know you, so I can’t tell you what you like and don’t like. But if you wonder, I’m sure you can just ask the people in your life some questions that might prove to be very helpful. Such as:
“Son, would you describe me as a morning person?”
“Are you kidding me Mom, you’re like scary in the morning”
It might help to have a look at the list of things I mentioned in Section 1, and ask yourself:
- When is the best time for me to exercise?
- Would I like to have someone to talk to, or would I rather listen to music?
- Could it help if I distract myself with something else like prayer or reading?
- Could I somehow kill two birds with one stone by doing something I never get time for?
- Do I want to be inside or outside?
- Do I feel too embarrassed right now to be around other people?
- How can I work around having little kids and no baby sitter?
Also: What kind of exercise would you like to do?
Go have a look at the list I gave you, or go type in the word “exercise” in Google and see what other options you can find. Maybe ask yourself:
- What would I like to do?
- What would be something I might do consistently?
- What can I afford?
- What can I do without laying out any money?
- What can my kids and I do together?
- What can my husband and I do together?
- Where can I fit it into my schedule so that I can realistically keep doing it ?
- Who can I ask to join me?
- Am I just making excuses?
- Do I tend to procrastinate?
Please think very seriously about these things and try to make a decision as soon as possible. It is crucial that you start to exercise as soon as possible. You can always try out a few things, and you can change your decision as many times as you like. The most important thing is to start with something!
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Tips:
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PLEASE STOP! DON’T GO ANY FURTHER TODAY!
To get the most out of this course, please apply it to your life in the bite-size pieces that I recommend. Take AS LONG AS YOU NEED, but be sure to take at least ONE DAY.
DAY 2
FIRST: PLEASE SEE A DOCTOR
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WARNING: I know I’ve been bugging you about the doctor-thing for a while, but I have to say it again: You need to be under the care of a physician, especially if you are starting a new exercise routine. There will always be those times when your body “hits the wall” and you might think that there is something seriously wrong with you, especially if you didn’t first check with a doctor to make sure that you were in good physical health. People with Eating Disorders tend to have depleted bodies that needs some medical attention before starting an exercise routine. So don’t skip your doctor’s appointment! |
Something else:
If your doctor advise you against the specific activity you picked for exercise, you might feel disappointed and discouraged.
Please try and see this as probably God nudging you into the right direction. The sport you picked might have caused you an injury and immobilized you for months. How do we know why obstacles come our way? One thing we do know is that our God knows our future, and the Holy Spirit knows how to guide you to the right exercise that will keep you going and not overwhelm you.
Why don’t you pray about it?
I remember being disappointed and just tired of trying at one point. I prayed and asked God to show me a way to not hate exercise. A way that could be bearable, and if possible even enjoyable. And He did. He opened my eyes to the right exercise (coupled with reading) for me.
There is an exercise for you, something that will keep you motivated. I know that the Holy Spirit will help you find it. Keep asking and looking 
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Tip: EVER THOUGHT ABOUT COMBINING EXERCISE WITH PRAYER? Kick some dust into your enemy’s eyes by combining these to crucial things. Please read this post on my blog to give you some ideas:
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PLEASE STOP! DON’T GO ANY FURTHER TODAY!
To get the most out of this course, please apply it to your life in the bite-size pieces that I recommend. Take AS LONG AS YOU NEED, but be sure to take at least ONE DAY.
DAY 3
Start immediately! Don’t procrastinate!
Do you tend to procrastinate and use the following kind of excuses?
I don’t have money right now to join a gym
I don’t have money right now for the right shoes and outfit
I have to first lose a few pounds
I can not appear in public like this
If I can just convince my husband/friend to do it with me I will go
I will wait until summer, it’s too cold now
I will wait until winter, it’s too hot now
I am just not an athletic kind of person
I just have to deal with this crisis in my life first
I simply hate exercise, it’s just not me
I will start tomorrow…
Please hear my heart on this one:
I am not minimizing your excuses at all, on the contrary, my heart goes out to you and I know it’s not easy. I have gone through times in my life when my excuses were real, difficult issues: For the longest time I didn’t have any money to join a gym, buy gym equipment or even buy decent sneakers. I had little kids at one point with no family or baby sitters around and a husband who worked at least 12 hours a day.
Others had to deal with much more: Some of the ladies in my support groups told me about devastating trials they had to endure in their bodies and in their lives. I felt so bad for them, I wanted to let them off the hook, thinking that surely God can not expect anything from them in this season, let alone expect them to get active. Yet, these ladies amazed me with their testimonies of how God showed them a way to get moving, in the midst of their difficult seasons, and how it made all the difference.
I told you how God helped me lately to couple walking on the treadmill with reading a magazine. But there were other seasons where this would not have worked at all. I remember a season when I prayer-walked in the evening behind a stroller. I remember another time when I went on walks with a friend and we had long talks that enriched both our lives. So, I guess that I am beginning to get the picture: God wants to guide me and give me answers, in every new season of my life.
Life is hard, but God is faithful! He will meet you wherever you’re at, and show you a way to get your body healthy and moving. Just ask Him.
- Please let go of the excuses
- Please let go of the procrastination
- It doesn’t have to be perfect, you don’t have to do it perfectly
I WAS THE WORLD’S BIGGEST PROCRASTINATOR, BUT I’M STARTING TO QUIT THAT NASTY HABIT.
So, my dear friend and mighty woman of God on the other side of this screen: ARE YOU READY TO QUIT PROCRASTINATION WITH ME?
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Tip: KICK PERFECTION/PROCRASTINATION BY SIMPLY SHOWING UP A great tip to get you out of the procrastination rut is to LET GO OF PERFECTION. Many of us still have the all or nothing mentality. If we can’t exercise perfectly, we will rather procrastinate. Shake this off by telling yourself that “it does not have to be perfect at all, it can only be ten minutes, I just have to show up” Please read this post on my blog to encourage you:
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PLEASE STOP! DON’T GO ANY FURTHER TODAY!
To get the most out of this course, please apply it to your life in the bite-size pieces that I recommend. Take AS LONG AS YOU NEED, but be sure to take at least ONE DAY.
DAY 4
How long and how often?
Most professionals indicate that you should do aerobic exercise at least 3 times a week for at least 30 minutes at a time. Adding strength training to this is highly recommended.
My personal take on this: Opt for at least 5 times a week. Things always come up, life happens and if you opted for 5 times then you have that 2 day cushion to absorb “life”.
It can be very discouraging and demoralizing if you keep on making it only once or twice a week. This is one of the reasons people quit. They then have the excuse that it’s not worth it and once or twice makes no difference.
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IMPORTANT: If you just start out you have to take it slow. If you only get there once or twice a week, it is a huge victory. Compliment yourself! Build onto it at a pace that feels comfortable to you and that will keep you motivated. And the most important part: Do it consistently, every week, come rain or sunshine! |
SO THE KEYWORDS ARE: SLOW AND CONSISTENT
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Tips:
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PLEASE STOP! DON’T GO ANY FURTHER TODAY!
To get the most out of this course, please apply it to your life in the bite-size pieces that I recommend. Take AS LONG AS YOU NEED, but be sure to take at least ONE DAY.
DAY 5
Keeping an Exercise Log
I would strongly recommend that you keep an Exercise Log purely for the sake of Motivation
I find that the enemy will present me with every excuse in the book to not exercise.
Something that always come up is the issue of “Oh what does it matter, I didn’t get to the gym once this week and it’s already Friday. I’ll try again next week”
Now if you have an exercise log, this excuse won’t stick, because you have evidence of how many times you have exercised during this last month and you know that it all counts together towards better health for you. The whole “I will start next week” mentality is part of dieting and eating disorders, and you need to break away from it.
If you still struggle a lot with this old mentality, I will recommend that you get a calendar and put it up somewhere that you can see it every day. Use this as your exercise log so that you can see what you have done for the whole month, not just the past week.
I did this at one point, and it helped me immensely. It helped me realize that even if I don’t exercise exactly 3 times every week, I’ve exercised almost half of the month. That really got me excited, and I could pick exercise up again, even on a Saturday.
If you have joined Weight Watchers, you can use their Exercise Tracker to keep track of how you’re doing.
THE MAIN IDEA: EVERY DAY YOU EXERCISE, YOU SHAPE YOUR FUTURE!
SO NOW THERE’S ONLY ONE THING LEFT TO SAY:
GET MOVING SISTER!
YOU’RE A DAUGHTER OF THE KING!
OF COURSE YOU CAN DO IT!
see you next week
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Tips:
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Scripture quotations are from the following versions with corresponding abbreviations:
AMP = THE AMPLIFIED BIBLE, EXPANDED EDITION.
Old Testament copyright © 1965, 1987 by the Zondervan Corporation. The Amplified New Testament copyright © 1958, 1987 by the Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. Words in brackets [ ] and parentheses ( ) are those of The Amplified Bible translators, not the author.
NIV = NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION.
Copyright © 1973, 1978 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.
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