As you think about how to build in more movement in your life, here is my list so far of possibilities. Feel free to email me additions to the list at janet@exercisereminders.com.

Class Reunion Panic!

Uh oh! Class reunion time. Nothing like a little pressure! What better time to obsess about our appearance? Forget about having fun. This is a test!

Will they see who we always were, and they missed the first time? Will we be able to Show Them? What if we not only don’t dazzle, but observe pitying glances and murmurs of “Oh! Hasn’t he/she changed!” Oh no!

Of course in these anxious fantasies we rarely remember that everyone will have changed. These common panics are seldom reasonable.

Anyway, you’re in the midst of major self-attack, wanting to make yourself over NOW!!!! You can schedule a haircut, shop for clothes that support your confidence, but oh, that body, those extra pounds, the chin!

Old option: You try starving yourself and working out vigorously every day, boot camp style. I know you’ve thought of that! It’s too bad that approach usually makes most people so hungry they eat everything in sight and so sore they never want to move again!

Different option: Instead of harsh self-punishment, focus on taking such good, gentle care of yourself between now and then that your inner self will not be buried under shame, self-judgment, or the need for external approval.

Increase your level of physical activity, gradually. Exercise can help your energy, sense of well-being and aliveness. Not to mention your confidence! Then watch funny movies. Relax. Spend time with people you love. Remind yourself how to play.

Instead of trying to please people you haven’t seen in a long time, make it your goal to be pleased with yourself. Happiness is more inviting than shame, and before you know it, you’ll be irresistible!

Weight loss plans and exercise go together like cake and ice cream. Unlike cake and ice cream, weight loss plans don’t usually look like fun. Exercising regularly–that’s the hard part. Oh, and eating differently. That’s the other hard part.

These reminders focus on how to get moving, keep moving, and enjoy the process. If you Move More, More Often®, it is extremely likely you’ll also find your clothes fitting differently. Some subscribers report significant weight loss, though that is not the main focus of these reminders.

Finding ways to move that are enjoyable, energizing, relaxing, stress-reducing, sustainable and enlivening will ultimately do more for weight control than the most stringent daily program in the world. Having fun works a lot better than anything that feels like punishment!

I’ve had difficult times in my life when I felt like I was crawling up a mountain, hand over hand. Many people have such times. They aren’t fun. Anything legal, without negative side effects, which can help make things easier, appeals to me!

When I remember to Move More, More Often®, I notice what I would describe as an Upward Spiral. It is the opposite of the uphill crawl! Many studies show I am not alone in my experience.

Especially when I am in my best groove, and am consistently making room for physical activity, I have more energy, I feel better about myself, I am happier, more effective and efficient…and the good energy generated by this way of taking care of myself seems to take on a life of its own.

So the easier it gets, the easier it gets. The better I feel, the better I feel. And the more I stick with my plan to exercise consistently, the easier it becomes to want to do it. Exercise stops feeling foreign or forced and becomes something that I look forward to.

Physical activity even becomes something I find myself missing on the days when I am too busy or too tired or too something to do it. After a few days I notice that some good element is missing, and I want to get back to it. Reaching the point where I miss feeling more alive is a real sign of change!

See if this happens for you, too. If you start out small enough and gently enough, is there a point where the energy of well-being picks you up and carries you over some of the bumps in the road without your having to work at it? A point where you feel better so you want to Move More, More Often®, for the joy of it? This is the Upward Spiral.

My viewpoint differs from much conventional wisdom. I have watched so many clients, as well as myself, try to follow conventional wisdom without success.

I encourage you to pay attention, to listen to yourself, to experiment. You may be expecting reminders that scare or threaten or guilt-trip you into exercising. It is possible I will slip at some point and a little of those flavors may leak into a reminder from time to time. If so, my apologies. It is not my intention.

In my years of working with individual clients, I have consistently seen the negative results of the fear-threat-guilt-and-punishment approach. My reminders help you own your life and your choices, help you pay attention respectfully to what works for you and what doesn’t. They help you reach for a gentle, appreciative, collaborative relationship with your body and with exercise. It doesn’t have to be an ongoing battle. It can become a delight and a treat in your life!

If you’re tired of feeling bad about yourself because conventional advice doesn’t get you moving, please give these reminders a try!

Baby steps work better than huge, ambitious leaps on any endeavor where you are trying to move out of a rut.

When we do some version of the New Year’s Resolution, when we envision some big dramatic change, we are filled with hope. We will suddenly transform ourselves! Wow!

However, our inner self often talks back: “Not on your life! I like those entrenched habits! You just try and make me give them up! In fact, I think I’ll put my feet up and have a snack till I feel better!”

To avoid this battle, sneak under the radar. If you are a reluctant exerciser, set your goal to be a small baby step beyond where you are now. No big makeover, no big resolution. Just a tiny little change. You decide what is the right small step.

You’re aiming for something just big enough you’ll notice it a little, but just small enough you won’t have to think much about it. Small enough that you say “Oh, of COURSE I can do THAT!!” and you do! And you do it again. And again.

Set the goal for change in micro-units, not big leaps, and you can sneak up on change without getting into a draining and discouraging tug of war with yourself.

Or you could always continue to wait for that magic moment when you suddenly have a personality and habit transplant, and the change you want happens. And wait, and wait, and wait, and feel bad all that time.

As my turtle friend would say, “Slow and steady wins the race!”

My approach may feel too easy and gentle to have a chance of working. There is so much advice that suggests we have to be very strict and force ourselves into activity.

The only problem is that it doesn’t work! We don’t force ourselves, for good reasons. According to the latest data I read, only 20% of Americans exercise regularly.

Oh, that. Yes, that pesky little fact that all the advice in the world is of no benefit to your body if all you do is read it and think that you really should, really really should, I mean REALLY SHOULD follow it. Tomorrow. Any day now!

Unfortunately the well-intentioned expert advice has helped many of us see regular physical activity or exercise as major effort, struggle, strain, stress, trying, trying, trying to “be good” and “do what we should.”

Of course this doesn’t make us run for our sneakers! Too much sense of virtue or self-improvement, too much effort, can make the best of us resist the activity we know would be good self-care.

If you have tried shoulds, forcing, and effort and you’re still not an enthusiastic and consistent exerciser in some form, maybe it is time to try something different.

Experiment. Try being gentler with yourself, moving from kindness to yourself instead of from a place of self-attack, and see what happens. If you’re not exercising already on a consistent basis, you have nothing to lose! Why not give it a try?

There are a lot of experts out there on how you should exercise! God bless them, they mean well. They have come up with all kinds of formulas to be helpful. And they make it sound so easy. “Just” 12,000 steps a day. “Just” 3 weight-training sessions a week…

The problem with formulas and external advice is that we tend to blame ourselves when they don’t fit us. Instead of questioning the expert advice, and becoming our own authority, we bow to the conviction in the voice of the expert and assume there is something defective in us.

If this is the case for you, I give you official permission to congratulate yourself on your mental health, instead of assuming there is something wrong with you because you couldn’t follow someone else’s formula or advice!

You are the best expert on what works for you, what is sustainable and enjoyable, what helps you feel most alive—and what allows you to keep the rest of your life going as you need. There are a lot of ways to get there from here, and you get to figure out your own way! My reminders can help.