Helen Ho, the mother to a toddler who loves everything Spider-Man, shares her personal strategy and simple approaches for making moving through parenthood a breeze at healthherway.com. Join her email list for a free energy-boosting course, exercise guide, or daily stories with more healthy tips to help you feel good.
Tortoise won the race against Hare.
We know that Tortoise is no competition for Hare. Hare ran much faster than Tortoise who can’t even run.
But a key difference led Tortoise to cross the finish line first. Hare focused on speed. Tortoise focused on the finish line.
You see, Tortoise “raced” to the finish without care for his speed. Tortoise was set on crossing the finish line and relied on his steadiness to get there. He knew the finish was more important than the pace in a race.
What does this have to do with health?
This is not about exercise or any particular way to boost energy. What matters more than exercise or sleep is your ability to show up and do whatever it is you do to get healthier.
Exercise is the fastest, most convenient, and cheapest energy boost. But once again, it’s not about having energy. It’s about you showing up.
What having energy will help you with is giving you focus and physical strength to help you show up, day in and day out, so you can establish the best routine for yourself.
Health Her Way’s Strategy for Breaking The Tired Cycle, Get Healthier and More Energy
What I’m going to tell you now is important. It’s simple, but it’s a huge deal.
For most parents, the first thing you should do is set up an exercise schedule and consistently show up until increased energy levels become a natural routine.
The amount of time you move each day is less important than consistently showing up for exercise every day. Each day you exercise helps you learn more about your limits and what factors affect your ability to show up, even if you stumble along the way.
Why should you bother using energy for exercise?
When you move your body, it gives you more strength to keep moving. This helps boost your energy levels immediately. Sometimes, other ways to get energy like taking a nap or reducing stress are not things parents can control with kids and work.
Once you establish a consistent exercise routine, you have that boost of energy to tackle other aspects of your health:
- Water
- Diet
- Sleep
- Stress
- Relationships
- Supplement
You see, items 1–6 take longer to instantly boost energy and some are less controllable than exercise. Get it right with exercise first, where you have total control. Then drink water, eat well, and go to sleep earlier. Keep your body active and you’ll have more energy to do these other things. Once you’ve got exercise down, you can work on improving the different parts of your health. Then, you’ll likely figure out how they all work together best for you.
Of course, knowing if something will work is by trying it until you get it right.
Here are some tips that will help you not start from zero:
- Are you showing up at the most convenient time to move?
- Can you move at home as you do anywhere else?
- Can your child move like how you’re moving?
- Does moving fit in with your changing day-to-day?
- Are you adapting to your strengths and weaknesses?
- Are you moving at the level you are now?
- Are you trying to move throughout the day?
- Do you like the way you move?
If you can answer yes to all those questions, you’re off to a good start in getting to the finish line.
I cannot stress enough how impactful this is. Usually, the energy you gain from exercising is immediate but short-term on its own. However, it can provide bursts of energy in the moment. When you do the other 6 items, you can have enough energy to get through the entire day with ease. And you no longer need to search for motivation to start a healthy habit.
This is exactly why Health Her Way designed the free course Get Your Energy Back in 5 Days—to help you have enough energy to accomplish what you want with minimal effort.
Get a little energy or a lot of energy back in your day. You can use it the same way Tortoise prepared for a race, slow and steady but straight to the win.
I hope you find an exercise routine that sticks and positively impacts your overall health. There are endless tactics to maximize the benefits of exercise while having little energy to start. You just have to show up.
Sponsored content sponsored by Health Her Way.
Top image: iStock
This sponsored content article was originally published in March 2023.
