Maintaining Exercise Motivation

1. Start with realistic expectations.

2. Identify barriers to your motivation (Example: I am tired if I come home first)

3. Create a reasonable plan for each barrier. (Example: I bring my workout clothes with me to work and go straight to my karate class after work.)

4. Schedule your workouts in your calendar/day-timer.

5. Keep a journal.

6. Use positive affirmations for health and wellness.(Example: I feel healthy; I enjoy my karate class; I feel more alive when I exercise)

7. If time does not permit a full workout do half your workout that day.

8. Make it fun. Do exercise that you enjoy. Try group exercise like marshal arts, yoga, pilates. The group pushes you to go on.....

9. Get a buddy.

10. If you are working on your recovery from an eating disorder or health problem, please consult you doctor, nutritionist, and/or your therapist for a healthy exercise plan.

Love & Money

Surveys indicate that up to 75 percent of married couples identify money as the primary cause of marital conflict. It is important to realize that lots of money does not guarantee relationship bliss nor does lack of wealth doom a couple to a lifetime of hostility.

Severe financial battles are more often a symptom of overall relationship problems as opposed to the cause of them. Money becomes the focal point of so many couples’ battles because relationship strife tends to stem from struggles for power and control. Money is the universal symbol of power in modern society.

There are three common, yet unhealthy behavior patterns that demonstrate the role of money as “power”. First is power spending. Power spenders spend money to prove that they can. The power spender often feels as if their partner is trying to control them and they spend in order to prove their autonomy. Revenge Spending is another unhealthy pattern. The revenge spender spends money to “get back at” their partner for a real or imagined betrayal. The third unhealthy tendency is for one member of a couple to assume all responsibility for financial issues within a family. This is often due to a person’s need to feel “all powerful” and to have greater control or dominance over their partner.

Tips for not letting money tear you and your partner apart include:
1. Understand and respect you and your partner’s individual views of money.
2. Comprehend how your fiscal behaviors impact your partner.
3. Find ways to share fiscal responsibilities and decision making.
4. Know your motives for spending and making certain financial decisions.
5. When faced with financial stressors look for ways to support each other and solve problems together.

Jeff Jabick, LMHC , PTC

Women- A Tool For Balancing Your Life

Managing multiple tasks, continually balancing priorities and maintaining healthy relationships is a challenge for even the most capable person. Doing this requires skills, tools, and tricks that most people have not mastered or do not know exist. Here is a self-assessment tool to assist in creating better balance your life.

Write the number 24 (this is 24 hours a day) and start subtracting each part of your day. Start with the areas where you utilize the most hours. See the example:
-----------------------------------24-hour day

SLEEP--------------------------- 7
WORK--------------------------- 8
COMMUTE----------------------3
HYGIENE------------------------1
EATING/MEAL PREP----------2
FAMILY TIME-------------------3
--------------------------------- ____
------------------------------------ 0

0 time left for wellness activities/household chores/friends/other activities

This example validates what many women are currently feeling. After using this assessment tool, this woman identified commute time as one area that can be changed. After changing her work hours (non-rush hour), she increased her available hours. With this additional two hours, she incorporated exercise, light mediation, and household chores into her daily life.

Witness your specific juggling act. Is your health poor? Finding no “me time”? No energy for significant others? This self-assessment tool can help to identify where your time and energy is spent and what in your life is being neglected (exercise, eating well, food shopping, journaling, friendships, relationships, and any wellness activity).