Making Exercise Fit into Your Busy Life

We all live very busy lives—and it's hard to fit everything we need to do into 24 hours in a day. I know this. I experience this every day, juggling my family and my work and my own needs.

But without exercise, all the other parts of the healthy beauty and longevity equation can't work as well. So, this is one part you can't skip.

Here are some of the tips that I give to my patients when they need advice about fitting exercise into their schedules:

√ Do what you love. Haven't found your fitness love yet? Explore and try new things; you'll find something—even a workout class you never thought you'd love—that's a passion. Once you find that passion, you'll find yourself wanting to exercise—and after doing it, you'll be happier than ever.

√ Mark it on your schedule—as you would a meeting or a big event. We schedule meetings and can't cancel them—exercise is just as important. In fact, I would say it's even more important because it's critical to your health and your life. Book it, make it non-negotiable, and you'll have a better chance of doing it.

√ Establish goals. Figure out what you hope to gain from exercise—weight loss, improved health, reduced anxiety—and write it down, so when your motivation is waning, you can look at this and have renewed inspiration.

√ Change things up. Even if you love what you do, if you do it day in and day out, you'll get bored. It happens to even the most motivated among us! Change the course you're running, change the music you're listening to, and most important—change up your workout throughout the week.

√ Do just 5 minutes if that's all the time you have. You'll feel better having done something—and who knows, you may want to keep going after that!

Be fit & you will be happier and healthier!