Old habits die hard, and once again as September pops up on my calendar, new projects spring to mind. I love the cooling breezes, the shrug of my jacket, and the boundless energy that seems to well up this time every year.

Most of my September projects are successful. I can schedule time, and my little guy is back in school and having his own rush of productivity, so there’s lots of opportunity to get stuff done.

Career projects are crucial, of course, but you can do some personal spiffing as well: a new sport, a new exercise regime, some new fitness gear, and a whole new attitude.

In fact, a new fitness attitude can help you with all of your endeavors. Working out regularly will keep your creativity high, your mind calm, and your focus on tasks to be accomplished. There are dozens of studies that back this up. Here are some ideas for inspiration…

Pick something fun

Don’t choose an activity that will just be a slog to you. Think about a type of exercise or sport that you’ve always wanted to try, then take a deep breath and do it! There is no law that says you can’t have fun while you get fit.

Pick something hard

Test yourself a bit; stretch … and see how far your body will go. Push yourself a little bit (just a little bit) beyond your reach and see if you can get there. You’ll have to work at it, plan how you’ll get there, and maybe get some coaching; all of these activities will stimulate your brain and your body and keep you engaged in that thing called life!

Do it with friends

Include your friends on your fitness journey. Find some like-minded individuals to play with. You can cross the finish line together or boogie and giggle in the back of the dance class. You’ll be deepening relationships and expanding the sphere of people you know who are living healthy lifestyles—both keys to longevity.

So what do you want to do this September? What fitness tweak or adventure would you like to take? Share it with us; we’d love to hear.

I read lots of fitness information, studies, the latest workouts, journal reviews, and so on. I find it rare that people talk about fitness in terms of integrating it into a lifestyle. We are often just looking at evaluating one small piece of a much bigger pie.

I had the opportunity to go to a hiking retreat recently and they looked at the big picture. They wanted us to move, lose weight, and eat healthily, but they also wanted us to address other things such as sleep, stress, spirituality, and community.

Coming back on the plane I felt so, well, balanced. I got it! For a shimmering moment in time the whole concept of wellness was distilled for me. I was going to meditate more, work out with friends, be in bed early, ditch the laptop in the evenings … it was going to be amazing!

The reality is I walked back into a dirty house, an impending dinner party, a family who missed me and wanted me back, and a 56-item to do list for work. Balance? What’s that?

A week later I’m realizing I have to pick a couple of things at a time. I need to get my exercise in, but my downtime too. I need to eat healthfully but I can squeeze in girlfriend time over lunch or a workout. The 56-item to do list got delegated and executed down to 30 or so (still scary), and meditation is haphazard but a work in progress.

A lot of people treat fitness as a short-term fix. If they can just work hard for the next X weeks, they’ll have the body they want and go back to their lives again. It just doesn’t work that way.

If you need to put your life on hold to lose a few pounds you’re doing it wrong and you’re destined to fail.

Instead, look at the big picture, see what you’d like to add into it, and try to slide it in gracefully. You’ll be much more likely to make and keep the change. You might even inspire somebody else to change, too.

What new holistic fitness thing would you like to bring into your life? Do you have a plan to do it? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Exercise is effortless for some. They glide through parks, down trails, and along to gyms as if they’ve always been that way. A few are, but I’d bet you’d be surprised that a lot of them adopted this lifestyle, and you can too.

Inertia is the devil in this case. The first 30 seconds are crucial! You can buy the cute athletic gear, sign up for a class, take the bike in for a tuneup, all to prepare for your fitness launch, but you need to actually get off your butt to initiate the exercise part. And as we all know, your laptop, your TV, or your great read might be a lot more enticing than the sweating, huffing, puffing, and possible pain that await you.

Tips to get started

• Schedule it. Put it in your calendar at the very least—you’ll feel horribly guilty if you don’t go.
• Pay someone to train you. If you hire a trainer you’ll get great advice but that’s not why I’m adding this here. A trainer will still charge you if you blow them off (we’re used to this…) so you’re much more likely to go instead of throwing your money out the window.
• Remember the long term benefits. Exercise is always the long view while the short view is frequently a lot easier and more pleasurable. Like a smoker putting a picture of his kids in his cigarette pack, find a way to remind yourself of the long term benefits of exercise. Maybe a picture of when you were slim and healthy, or a goal dress you’d like to fit into. Perhaps you can find a reward that you earn as you exercise more and more regularly—say a favorite activity for accomplishing ten runs. Besides, you can always watch TV later.

Let me know your thoughts. I’m interested in hearing how you motivate yourself into a fitness plan so you too can be the envy of others as you glide through your workouts!

I’m writing this as I sit in a Pilates studio. It’s what I do for a living—teach Pilates—and I love, love, love the work. I’m addicted to it, really. If something happens and I go a week without, my whole body starts to kink up and I get rather cranky. But I’m not like everybody (I write a fitness blog) so I understand that a lot of people have never tried any form of mind/body exercise.

It can seem a little hokey from the outside looking in. Plinky-plink music, soft-spoken voices, woo-woo types stretching languidly. It can’t possibly be useful for the average person, right?

You should try it

Here’s why you should try mind/body movements—anything from yoga to Pilates to tai chi (the big three): you will move your body in ways that your muscles aren’t used to, and you’ll feel so much better when you’re done.

You know that moment when you crash on the couch after a hard day’s work and you’re satisfied and happy and a big ol’ “Aaaah …” escapes your lips? That’s what it feels like right after a mind/body class. The only difference is the next day you’ll notice your butt is a little tighter and your arms a little more sleek.

First, do this

The cheapest, easiest way to start is to search online or through your cable TV provider. There are many options out there on the web or via OnDemand shows for good instructors with good cueing to give you brief ten- to 20-minute workouts. You could incorporate it onto the end of a workout you already do, or you could add it to your morning or evening routine as a way to transition from one part of the day to another.

If you get serious

After you’ve dabbled for a bit, if you’re really enjoying yourself then go and seek professional help. Take a yoga class at a studio or a Pilates mat class at a gym or join a tai chi class. These will cost you a bit, in the neighborhood of US$15 to $25 per class (or free if it’s part of your gym membership), but a good instructor will keep you safe, challenge your body, and push you a little harder than you would have pushed yourself. It’s totally worth the price you pay for the peace of mind and the sculpted body you’ll start to see.

For the hard bodies

For those of you who want the Adonis look, it is possible with mind/body disciplines. You should see the men and women sashaying out of my studio daily: no one thinks that these folks are wusses! That, plus I’d guess 50% of Hollywood does Pilates as part of their fitness regimen. It’s one of the go-to workouts for stars because it works so darned well.

Mind/body movement can be all you do for fitness or it can be part of a blend of different types of exercise depending on your preferences. At a minimum, the cross-training effect will help ward off injury and the Zen moments will help you combat daily stress. So dip your toe in the water and see how it feels. We’re a friendly lot, even though we are a little woo-woo.

Have you tried any mind/body exercise? Tell us about it!

I have a very unscientific study to share with you. I regularly ask clients, friends and occasionally total strangers to think about the happiest times of their life. I pause and give them a second to pick a moment. I wait for the smile to cross their face and then I ask them, what did you look like then?

Almost always the answer is a variation of “the best I ever looked.”

Does happiness make us thin?

My follow-up question is: what did you do for exercise then? I get a barrage of answers, and almost everyone was following some version of an active lifestyle at that time.

But first they were happy. The moving was secondary—it was just part of their lives.

When were you happiest?

Lets use this now. Go back to your happy place and your happy body image. Think about it for a second. Were you in college, running around campus? Were you getting ready for your marriage? Were you starting your first job in a new city, and collecting a circle of friends, hopping from nightspot to party?

You probably weren’t slumped in your seat staring at a computer screen…

The trick is to incorporate a bit of your old spunk into your life, have fun, and get fit while you’re doing it.

Go kayaking with a friend, actually play with your kid when you go to the park, plan a shopping day with a friend in a mall with a lot of schlepping (avoid the food court!). Take a walk with your family after dinner and see who you meet. Rescue a loveable dog. Even if you’re just standing on the sidelines of the soccer game and chatting with the other parents instead of sitting on your backside, that’s an improvement.

There are 168 hours in a week. The two that we spend doing “formal” exercise isn’t going to be enough to counteract the other 166. We have to constantly choose an active lifestyle.

So what would you choose as a talisman reminder of your happiest time? When were you happy and how did you feel about your looks then? How can you get back to that place?

January is an exciting time for fitness bloggers and Pilates studio owners alike! There’s lots of good energy, and lots of upbeat, hopeful people hoping to make positive changes in their lives. As a person who works in the industry, I love welcoming people into the fold and giving them the tools they need to live even better than before.

There is a pitfall, though: an “it must be perfect” attitude. Size 10 isn’t good enough: it must be a size 4. Pushups from the knees are only for wimps—you must do it from the toes. Not one crumb of “bad food” (whatever that is) has crossed my lips. And so on.

It’s a perfect way to set yourself up for failure.

If you’re on some sort of health journey, you’re thinking about food and fitness. Wherever you were, you weren’t happy about it and you’re incorporating new healthy aspects into your life. This. Is. Gold.

But remember: all the little changes add up. Walking up the stairs instead of taking the elevator is great. Signing up for a fitness class once a week is better than doing zero per week. Skipping the cream in favor of skim milk in your coffee. Having a smaller piece of cake instead of a slab.

These little things add up. Is this approach perfect? No. But it’s good enough.

It’s good enough to see gradual weight loss and smaller pant sizes. It’s good enough to feel stronger and have more energy. It’s good enough to want to be more social with friends and family. It’s good enough so that after a while it’s just habit—and then it’s time to add another little change. And that’s where the gold is.

If you just implement one little change per month, imagine how far ahead you’ll be by the end of the year. Here are some ideas…

• Swap one deli sub for a salad with dressing on the side once per week. Drizzle the dressing lightly.
• Drag your family to the park one day per week and play with your kids—don’t just sit on a bench.
• Sign up for yoga with your buddy.
• Change your protein portions at dinner from eight ounces down to five ounces.
• Add a vegetable serving per day above what you’re already doing.
• Buy a fitness DVD and commit to it once per week.
• Brown-bag your lunch one day per week.

Any of these changes is enough to knock ten pounds off your frame this year if you stick to them. Wouldn’t it be nice to effortlessly lose a dress size this year (about ten pounds)? How about two or three dress sizes? Wouldn’t that be gold?

If you feel like the perfectionism thing has really given you a hard time, just stop, give yourself a mental hug and begin again, fresh, today.

How do you beat yourself up when you’re not perfect? What negative thoughts do you need to delete from your mental loop? What positive things can you say to replace them? Share your stories here.