Is It Okay to Take a Break? Your Questions Answered!

Good morning and Happy Wednesday my friend!

Today I just want to take a minute to answer a question that gets asked frequently. Once you've started a program or a routine, is it okay to take a short break in the middle or should you just push through?

The first thing to evaluate is this: why do you want to take a break?

• If it's because you think it's too hard, then instead of taking a break you need to look at modifying some of the moves, or taking more frequent "pause breaks" during the workout.
• If it's because you don't think it's working, you need to persevere and look at other things in your life that may be sabotaging your success. How is your diet? And be honest with yourself about it. Are you drinking enough water? Are you still drinking sugary sodas? Are the people around you being supportive? If not, get in touch with me and I will add you to an accountability group! I am also here to help you with anything else: exercise questions, food and nutrition, etc.
• If it's because you're just feeling lazy... you need to push harder! =)

So, when IS it okay to take a break?

• If you are feeling very physically fatigued, or you are sick, it is absolutely okay to take a break. Listen to your body, it knows what it needs! And if it needs a couple days off and just to chill, then you need to do that. You can pick up where you left off, or you can start up where you are on the calendar and then just plan to extend a couple days at the end.

Does this mean you should "take a break" every single time you're feeling a little tired? Absolutely not. I'm sure you're not surprised by that answer! We ALL wake up some days feeling a little bit sleepy and not quite ready to push play and get our sweat on. However, you know that as soon as you get about 10 minutes into the workout and you see that you really don't have that much time left to go it's much easier to just persevere and get it done!

Change takes time, and it takes effort. If you think back to the person you were in middle school, all those things you used to do and the way you used to behave, are you that exact same person? Probably not! And has it taken time to transition from that person, to the high schooler, to the college student, to the person you are right now? Of course it has! We all know that Rome wasn't built in a day, and your health and wellness goal isn't going to be achieved in a day either!

Regardless of whether or not you work out today, the day is going to pass and you aren't going to get it back. So tomorrow, when you look back on today, are you going to look at it with, "Man, I should have pushed play! Now I'm one extra day away from finishing this program!" Or will you look at it and say, "YES! One day CLOSER to being finished! I can't wait to see what my results are!"

I believe in you.