Today is Tuesday, which, if you’re like me, can feel very “Monday-like.” I had an awesome, but eventful weekend and entered Monday less refreshed than I’d hoped for. I needed my morning cup of coffee even more than usual, but what I realized I really needed was an extra Sunday. It’s like when you get back from a vacation and feel like you need a vacation from your vacation before you’re ready to face the world.

This weekend I was a bridesmaid in a wedding, so needless to say, I ate, I drank, and I was merry. And all that merry-ness went on way past my bedtime and led me into the pinnacle of my self-induced lethargy. But because, as I mentioned in my last post, I’m not sweating that — I do balance.

And with that balance, comes promises I make to myself. Promises of daily (or semi-daily) workouts that level me out, mentally and physically. Promises of consistency. Promises of being “Longterm-Fit.”

With my background in fitness modeling and competing, it’s taken about 8 years for me to finally grab hold of what any of that even means. Consistency? Longterm? Yes, in the grand scheme of things, these concepts are fairly new to me. Anyone can follow a crazy diet plan and two-a-day workouts if there’s an end goal in sight, but not only does that set you up for a rebound, but it burns you out. And man, does that burn hurt.

Like I said in my previous post, I eat very well, but it’s because I’m not obsessed with food anymore. Chocolate is no longer forbidden, and if I really want the pizza, I’ll have the pizza. Despite my nutty school and homework schedule, I workout 3-4 times per week and it’s not because I feel obliged to. Gone are the days that I consider myself a failure for “skipping leg day,” and if I’m too busy or tired, I listen to my body.

And I feel peace, not guilt.

I’m simply no longer setting myself up for that burn. Instead, I’ve introduced a lifestyle I can adhere to. One that makes me feel rewarded as opposed to handcuffed. One that’s healthy in more ways than just physical.

I’ve introduced myself to the lifestyle mantra of “Longterm-Fit.”

And Longterm-Fit isn’t hours of gym-workouts that nobody can actually manage longer than a few months. Instead, LTF is the saving grace to all working women of any kind: short and effective workouts that don’t exceed 15 minutes. 

Now that’s longterm livin’.

You don’t have to spend hours in the gym in order to consider your workout effective, and in fact, your workout is probably going to be more effective if you hit it harder and more often.

This week, make a promise to yourself. Make a promise to workout 4 times this week, in your own home. Possible? Absolutely. Why?  Because, you’re LTF and you only need 15 minutes per workout.

Consistently elevating your heart rate with interval training like this is going to work your muscles, train your cardiovascular system, help you shed fat, and it’s going to cleanse your mind.

And the magic doesn’t come from a special workout program, a juice cleanse, or a diet pill. It comes from the word consistency.

Let me know. Can you do it?

T