Interesting Article!

10 Ways to Find Time for Exercise Busting the #1 Exercise Excuse: Lack of Time -- By Jennipher Walters, Certified Personal Trainer and Fitness Instructor What's the No. 1 excuse for not working out? Lack of time. Sure, we're all busy handling multiple priorities and rushing around from here and there every day. However, I promise that no matter how busy you are, someone even busier than you are is working out right now. If you look closer, you'll discover that you do have the time to work out—and you deserve to use that time for yourself. Squeezing in just a few minutes of physical exercise a day has huge benefits on your health, gives you energy and perks up your mood. In fact, a new study published by The Lancet found that if inactive people increased their physical activity by just 15 minutes per day, they could reduce their risk of premature death by 14% and increase their life expectancy by three years. Also, remember that "working out" doesn't have to happen in the gym or last for an hour! Short 10-minute bursts of exercise, accumulated over the course of the day, can add up to big fitness and health gains, too. Still not convinced that you have the time to exercise? Here's how to start fitting fitness into your busy life today! 10 Practical Tips to Fit Fitness into Your Busy Life 1. Wake up earlier. Sleep is definitely important for overall health and weight-loss, but could you hit the sheets just 30 minutes earlier, so that you could get up and work out before your day starts? Working out in the morning has numerous benefits including regulating appetite, boosting energy and—perhaps the biggest benefit of all—an A.M. sweat session ensures that your workout is checked off first thing each day! Because really, how many times have you had the best intentions to exercise in the evening, only to have to work late, help your kids with a project or generally just feel too exhausted to get off the couch? With morning workouts, the time problem is solved! 2. Cut down on media. For just a few days, record how much time you spend surfing the Internet, checking personal email, watching tv and playing video games whether it's on your computer or your phone. You just might be surprised at how much time you spend on Facebook or playing Angry Birds. Just a few minutes here and there can add up to an hour or more each day. Cut out just some of that screen time and, voila, you suddenly have time to squeeze in at least 10 or 15 minutes of exercise into even the busiest day. 3. Be an active TV watcher. It's unrealistic to never watch TV or to shun the Internet forever (how would you get your Spark points fix?). So when you do, try to incorporate some physical activity. When watching TV, make it a point to do some jumping jacks or push-ups during commercials. Doing a little exercise during the commercial breaks can add up to almost 20 minutes of fitness for every hour of TV you watch. And instead of sitting in a chair when on the computer, try sitting on a stability ball or stack your computer up on some books so that you have a standing desk to surf from. No matter how you do it, try not to sit for more than 20 minutes at a time! 4. Try an active commute. One of the best ways to fit exercise into your life is by incorporating it into your school or work transportation routine. If you live close enough, consider biking to work, If you take the bus, walk to a bus stop that's an extra block or two away, or get off the bus a stop sooner than usual and get a few more steps in. And if you drive to work, park as far away as you can—even a few blocks away, if possible. 5. Make it part of your routine. One reason it's so challenging to fit exercise into a busy schedule is because we're not used to doing it. Heck, it takes time to brush your teeth in the morning, but you do it, don't you? You brush your teeth every day because it's important and because it's almost second nature to get up and do it. Start making some form of exercise—whether it's walking the dog, doing 10 minutes of yoga or going for a bike ride after dinner—a daily tradition, just like showering, brushing your teeth or hitting the coffee shop on the way to work. It's easy to fit in exercise for a few days here or there, but by incorporating it into your daily routine like you would your hygiene, you take the process of working out away from willpower and into habit. Need help getting into the habit? Try SparkGuy's Daily Workout Streak Challenge! 6. Mix socializing with exercising. Do you normally spend time with your family or friends by going to dinner, watching sports on TV or going to movies? Make your social time more active by planning events that get all of you moving. Go for a family hike on a beautiful Saturday morning, play a game of tag football with your buddies during halftime, or make a date with your significant other or best friend on the treadmill. There are so many options for squeezing more activity into your social calendar! 7. Turn chores into exercise. While cleaning might not be the most fun activity, it's something we all have to do, and it can definitely be a workout if you want it to be. Set a kitchen timer for 20 minutes and see how much of the house you can clean. Try to be as efficient and quick-paced as possible, and I guarantee you'll work up a sweat. If you're doing lighter housework that is harder to get your heart rate up (like laundry or organizing), throw in some lunges or push-ups every few minutes to start feeling the burn! 8. Schedule an appointment. If you had scheduled a doctor's appointment, you wouldn't miss it would you? How about that important business meeting? Of course not. Working out is actually as important as going to the doctor or any other obligation that you prioritize, because it helps you perform better as a worker, parent, student or volunteer, and keeps you in tip-top shape. So whether it's scheduling in an hour to go to that group exercise class, investing in personal training sessions or even making a date with yourself to do that workout DVD over your lunch break, write it in pen in your calendar and treat it like any other appointment you can't miss! 9. Find an activity you love. Think of your favorite hobby or pastime. Do you have trouble finding time to do it? Most likely, you make time for it because you enjoy it so much. It's the things we don't enjoy that we put off and don't feel bad about missing. That's why it's best to choose a physical activity that you actually enjoy and look forward to. Not only are you more likely to do it, but it also adds more fun into your life. And we all could use some more fun in our busy lives, right? 10. Say no. If you've gone through this entire list of tips and don't think a single one will work in your life, then it's time to look at your priorities and responsibilities. Do you really have to bake cookies for that fundraiser? Babysit for your sister? Take on that extra project at work? Attend that wedding shower of your second cousin? Remember that there's nothing wrong in saying no. Yes, we all have obligations to others, but don't forget about the obligation you have to yourself to take care of your body and your health! Remember, exercise gives you energy and keeps you healthy to keep going in that busy life of yours! So don't think of exercise as another to-do to squeeze in on your already busy schedule. Instead, think of it as maintenance for your health and a way to de-stress and do something for you!

Phil's thoughts

Here we go! I'm very excited for the direction this goal setting has started going and I feel like if we stick with it we are going to accomplish some amazing things. I honestly could see us looking back in a few years and agreeing that this is one of the best things we have done. A couple of thoughts: We both are wanting to do more physical exercise so I had a few ideas. Maybe we could do Insanity together, start doing a few runs a week together, both get memberships to aspen, look into maybe doing farrells or I think it would be fun to do the Living History Farms race as a house. We should really push hard to do coffee one morning of the weekend and if we don't do it on the weekend then that next week we should grab coffee together one morning or get up an run. We both mention Christian community in our goals so I think we should start going to a church consistently. Grieser said he was interested in the new Hope campus which would be fine with me. I think it would be really cool if we came up with a shared goal or two. Like something we have to do together. So maybe a project around the house, the living history farms race, some type of community service, working on our cooking skills, or house book club. It doesn't have to be any of those but I think it would be really fun to have a shared goal or two. I also think it would be really cool to spend some time talking about our relationship and different ways to grow and strengthen that. We need to come up with some different "incentive" ideas to go along with some goals. I think it will be really helpful to have incentives as well as making sure we celebrate some successes. Pray to start and end goal setting. I think it is somthing simple that would add signficiantly to our time together. Well I went to lunch and lost my train of thought. I was also going to make this my goal entry but this turned into something different so I will upload my goals tonight on a new post. Phil

New Beginnings?

Alright Phil and future Charlie... Ima be real honest right now. Starting this blog brings back a muriad of memmories of such endeavors when I've been real ambitious about documenting my life and writing out everything I'm experiencing in hopes of some therapuetic release of thoughts and internal strife, or perhaps for the benefit of one day looking through all my posts or old journals and gaining some sort of enjoyment through a retrospective look at my life and trials of the past. At this point I know myself well enought to have figured out two things as fact in regards to blogging, journaling, writing, etc... 1. Writing is definitely therapeutic for me, I enjoy it immensely and it helps me organize my thoughts in a way that gives me a greater confidence for the future. However, I have a tendency of neglecting the things that are in my long term self interest and therefore usually end up failing to follow up on any commitments I make to myself in terms of investing the time to organize my thoughts and life. 2. I really have no interest in re-reading my own self-recorded documentation of the past to this point...

All that being said, I want to try and use this as a tool that isn't aimed at recording the various events of my life, but rather just an organizational device that allows me to hone in and focus on things that I desire and establish as goals. I will write what feels important to write, and I will be honest to myself and with Phil.

A few weeks ago, after spending time with Phil, I was able to come up with a list of goals. It's always difficult for me to just start making lists of anything because my mind has a tendency to wander untamed for hours down various and irrelevant paths that yield little as far as progressive and insightful ideas. Phil suggested with me that it might be easier for me to set some goals for a period in the future that might force me to think only of large over-arching aspirations and then work backwards towards specific and relevant goals to employ in my day-to-day life. I found this approach to be helpful as well as challenging and set out to develop 5 goals for the next year of my life that coincide with several different aspects of my life. They are I. Professional
II. Physical
III. Spiritual
IV. Financial
V. Social/Communal

The 1-Year Goals I've identified for these categories are:
I. Have a new position with Hotsy. Be spending more time in oversight of the company versus being in a day-to-day sales position. I feel this is vital for my long term vitality as I have spent so much of my time in the past year living as I work... Spending day after day putting out fires and only addressing things that are the most problematic in life. I want to be in a position where my concerns are not that of the current day, but rather of the long term sustainability of the company.
II. I want to be ready to run another marathon. I love running. I miss running. I miss being in shape. I miss living a disciplined life. I want to make it my goal to lose some weight, spend time treating my body like a temple, commit myself to a routine that focuses on investing in myself the time and energy to be healthy.
III. Be plugged in with a faith based community. This goal is somewhat abstract. I don't know what I really mean by it, however I want to be surrounded by true believers in the God I know and love. I love the community I'm currently in, however, without the reassurance of like-minded believers I feel as though I'm not standing for anything and ready to fall for everything. It is important to me that I find a group that I am comfortable enough with to worship and acknowledge the many blessings I've recieved and where they truly came from...
IV. I want to invest my money in things that will result in a positive yield, and use them to support things that really matter. The accumulation of wealth has become an endeavor of mine, however I'm worried that it might turn into the mere accumulation of money. I want to be a steward of all the resources I've been given. I want to take what I have and make it grow into a multitude of sustainable resources, however I want to make sure I am using money as an avenue to provide wealth of relationships, of ministries, and of passion. I want to stay grounded in using my money to provide love for as many people possible, not just material items.
V. I want to develop new and deeper relationships. Again, rather vague, but it is something that is extremely important to me. I want to be intentional with people. Weather it be with new friends or with room mates or with a potential girlfriend/spouse. I want to be unsettled with the current state of all my relationships and strive for true community amongst my various social circles.

Taking these goals, and narrowing them down to a 6-Month period, by March 25, 2012, I want the following things to have been accomplished:
I. Have a clear vision of my professional future. I want to have a plan, and a timeline, and a good idea of the steps I need to take to enact said plan in a timely manner to take the next step with Hotsy.
II. I want to be exercising regularly, and paying attention to my diet.
III. I want to be meeting with faith mentors regularly. Identify older people that have advice and experience I respect investing in me and my life.
IV. I want to have a clear budget established in order to know how much I should be spending on a monthly basis, and how much I can afford to invest in other peoples lives and missions.
V. I want to have an idea about the timeline of the house I'm living in, evaluate its current state and the exit strategy for moving out of it while maintaining close relationships.

Getting more specific, by October 25th, I want to have accomplished the following:
I. Discuss with my father my future at Hotsy and establish goals for the future.
II. Develop a plan for regular exercise and healthy habbits.
III. Talk to Dave Applegate about establishing regular meetings.
IV. Monitor spending habbits and determine how to lean out expenses.
V. Determine community goals, and develop healthy habbits around the house. Have some projects and goals lined up to accomplish before winter.

Every Week I want some things to keep in mind. I could call them goals or just monitoring metrics that will help me evaluate my progress. For each category I'm going to try and think of three practical steps that I can shoot for to try and track my progress.
I.
1. Talk with Dad and tell him about my goals.
2. Reflect on how I've done at Hotsy, and try to identify ways my skills can benefit the company in a greater capacity.
3. Create goals for myself from week to week and share with Phil.
II.
1. Determin a reasonable start date for gym
2. Stop smoking habitually.
3. Figure out way to buy groceries and stop eating out so often.
III.
1. Read my bible
2. Pray (talk with God)
3. Find a good audio book to listen to on the road.
IV.
1. Email Dave
2. Gather information on who I'm currently contributing to and Why
3. Talk with Phil about ways to best utilize money.
V.
1. Spend time being thankful for house and room mates
2. Have house meeting planned.
3. Pick weekend to landscape

So that's that. I hope I can follow through with all this, I already feel better about a lot of things.

Phil, please share your thoughts, or post your goals and we can get rolling.