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Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Jody Hedlund: Secret #11

Tell Me Your Story Tuesday

Welcome

Jody is awesome and I am so excited to have her sharing secrets with us today! Before we get to the juicy stuff, I absolutely have to recommend her latest book: 
I may or may not have devoured this book in basically one setting. I read the first two chapters on the treadmill and had every intention of only letting myself read it in the mornings while I was working out. Yeah, that night I stayed up until my eyes wouldn't focus getting it finished. So much for my reading-to-improve my thighs plan. 
But, the book was just that awesome! 
Enough about me!
Today is about Jody.

Secret #11: The area in my life I'm the most inconsistent.
By Jody Hedlund, @JodyHedlund

Overall, I count myself a very self-disciplined person. I  water my plants every Monday. I set my coffee maker every night before going to bed.  I always get up early. I write a certain number of words per day.  I pay my bills on time. I respond promptly to emails. 

Yes, I'm consistent and self-disciplined with most of my life.

But I'm terrible at being self-disciplined in one particular area. And that is exercising regularly.

I have good intentions when it comes to exercising. I always tell myself I need to exercise more and come up with plans. But for some reason, I can't seem to stick with those plans for very long.

Last winter, my goal was to walk with my Leslie Sanone DVD each weekday morning for approximately twenty minutes. I started out walking most mornings. But then occasionally I skipped because of an early morning headache or because I had too many emails to respond to. 

And once you get into the habit of skipping occasionally, it becomes all too easy to skip more regularly, until you're hardly doing it at all anymore.

Then I went in for a yearly doctor's visit and discovered that my blood pressure is borderline high. As I evaluated ways I could work on getting it down (without having to take meds), I learned that exercise was one way to work on lowering blood pressure. 

So, once again, I vamped up my efforts to be more consistent with exercising. Over the summer, I tried to take a twenty minute power walk every weekday morning before the kids woke up. And I realized it's a beautiful, cool time of the morning, with very few people out—mostly just me and my dog.

I realized it's easier to stay consistent with something if you plan it into your schedule for the same time every day, eliminate excuses, and just do it whether you feel like it or not.

Even with all my resolutions, I still find myself missing days now and then. But I'm getting better at becoming more consistent at this area in my life where I've always been completely inconsistent.
Maybe one day, I finally get there.

How about you? In what area of your life do you struggle to be consistent?

Publisher's Weekly calls Unending Devotion " A meaty tale of life amid the debauchery of the lumber camps of 1880s Michigan . . . exciting and unpredictable to the very end."

To celebrate the release of Unending Devotion, Jody is giving away a signed copy. Leave a comment (along with your email address) to enter the drawing. Valid only with US or Canadian addresses. Giveaway ends Friday, Sept. 21st. A winner will be chosen on Saturday. 
For more secrets about Jody and additional chances to win her newest release, visit her Events Page to see where she'll be next in her "Fun Secrets About Author Jody Hedlund" blog tour.
Also join in the Pinterest Photo Contest she's hosting. Find more information about it on her Contest Page.
Jody would love to connect with you! Find her in one of these places:

8 comments:

Shelly Daum said...

I think in a way we all struggle with being consistent when it comes to our health. We know what we should be doing but don't always follow through with that knowledge. Exercise in particular can be hard to keep up with consistently. But one thing I probably struggle with the most is drinking enough water every day. 8 glasses a day, sounds simple, right? Apparently not for me. I fight with myself every day trying to accomplish this simple task. And with working in the medical field, I know how important this is to our health. But I still struggle.

Shelly Daum said...

Forgot my email address...

shellclem@hotmail.com

Unknown said...

Wildly raising hand and agreeing with the exercise consistency problem. I'll go through times when I am 100% with my exercise. Plus, I always feel so much better and maintain weight when I do. But then I start missing a day here and there, and before long, I'm back to square one. I, too, am working on getting back to being consistent EVERYDAY. Great post!
Blessings,
Amy O'Quinn
oquinn1(at)windstream(dot)net

Beth said...

Oh, dear, I am so there on the exercise. I set goals to exercise at least 3 times a week and sometimes don't even do that. But I'm doing better :)

Thanks for the chance to win!

Beth
bharbin07[at]gmail[dot]com

Jody Hedlund said...

Hi Everyone!

Whew!! I'm SO glad to hear that I'm not the only one who has trouble being consistent with exercising!

And Dawn, I think you had a perfectly good excuse for not being consistent on the treadmill! ;-)

Stacey said...

Exercise is one of those things that, if we fall off the wagon, and everyone does from time to time, we can get right back on and still reap the benefits. I gain a few pounds every time I start a new writing project, so this time I am vowing to make it a routine part of my day. Wish me luck!

redheadnews@gmail.com

Anonymous said...

Oh dear. I used to think I was a lot like you, Jody...until this post. I am just the opposite. I fly by the seat of my pants about 95% of the time, I water my plants when they start to droop, I make bread when I realize that the kids have to eat turkey tortilla rolls instead of sandwiches, I do laundry when hubby tells me he's not wearing any underwear and he's not making a pass. I don't take vitamins because I can't remember to take them! But I do remember to eat... why is that? And I write. Every day. E.V.E.R.Y DAY.

Would love to win a copy of your book!

beckydwriter@gmail.com

Jody Hedlund said...

Stacey, gaining a few pounds per writing project is part of the job! :-)

And Becky, your comments always make me laugh. "I do laundry when hubby tells me he's not wearing any underwear and he's not making a pass." Totally cracked me up! Thanks for making me chuckle! :-)