I wasn’t the kind of kid who played organized sports or even kickball in the street. I did take some dance classes, but at the time no one thought of them as exercise. Plus I was oh-so-uncoordinated … Of course I took phys ed class at school but I would have just as soon gone to the library. I never took pleasure in physical activity.

When I was in my mid-twenties, I discovered exercise as a feel good activity. I learned that it wasn’t all about building muscle, although that was a lovely side effect. My office was in the same building as a small gym, and it was free to belong. My girlfriends went up to the gym on their lunch hour, and I thought I’d try it too. I started to think about burning calories and “getting in shape.” I also discovered that it made me feel energetic and even happy!

Since then, I have done a lot of different things to gain all of these benefits – lifted weights, used cardio machines, taken yoga and water exercise classes, walked sidewalks and nature trails, and even bicycled a few miles. Now I can’t imagine my life without some sweaty, heavy-breathing, heart-pounding exercise every week. Whenever possible, I integrate exercise into my travel schedule as well. One of the benefits of my recent vacation was having time to catch three yoga classes during the week!

Here are some ideas I’ve gathered over the years. I hope they help you get moving towards adding exercise into your life!

Seven Tips for Getting the Most from your Exercise

1. Sweat: Make sure that when you exercise, it makes you sweat! When you exercise, you gain access to endorphins, a chemical produced by your body that can make you feel fantastic. Sweating intensely or even somewhat can contribute to detoxification of your skin and body. It makes you glow!

2. Switch: Switch up your exercise during the week, month or year. Don’t expect the same benefits forever from your routine. I find that learning something new is great for my body and my mind. Plus my muscles get bored doing the same type of exercise all the time. Every time I switch it up I gain momentum and strength. It’s also a great way to meet new friends and even do some networking!

3. Schedule: Incorporate exercise like it was another important appointment in your calendar. Put it in the calendar, and reschedule instead of cancel whenever you need to adjust your schedule. Commit to keep the appointments with yourself – you are worth it! If you are exercising with a health goal in mind, you can even write yourself a “prescription” that reminds you why you make the time to move more.

4. Experts: Schedule a few sessions with a personal trainer or coach who is an expert in the exercise you are practicing. Learn the best way! It will keep you from injuring yourself and maybe even motivate you to go further.

5. Hydrate: Make sure that as you exercise you are getting the water-based hydration you need. If you aren’t hydrated, exercise and lots of sweat can make you feel worse. There’s nothing more de-motivating than that! Experiment and discover what types of fuel work best for you – and what timing works best for you too. For example, I wouldn’t want to eat for at least 3 hours before a yoga class. But with other types of exercise I generally want some healthy carbs for fuel within an hour of starting.

6. Get dressed – Here’s a crazy idea from Dawn Jackson Blatner — get all dressed and ready to exercise, then go to the gym/studio/pool and don’t exercise! Walk around a bit and see what everyone else is getting to do, but go home before you do anything. After just three days of this you may be dying to actually exercise!

7. Listen to your body – Sometimes when we start something new, we push ourselves pretty hard. If you’re starting to hurt instead of feel energized, remember to back off based on how you feel not what someone else tells you is possible. Sleep if you need to. Find that fine line between listening to your body’s needs and being lazy. Don’t cross into lazy, but don’t hurt yourself either!

Maybe you’ve heard that physicians typically take less than one nutrition class in their entire pre-med and medical school curriculum. But did you know that the typical family physician expects their patients to learn all necessary nutrition from advice on a Post-It Note?

This is an actual test result mailed from an actual physician’s office to an actual patient – my darling husband. He’s lucky to have a Health Coach living in his house, because we can work together on a realistic, achievable plan to address this important health matter.

If you aren’t lucky enough to be living with a Health Coach, what would you do with this advice? How would you know what steps to take to put it successfully into practice? Do you have any idea about the “low-fat” marketing ploys used by food manufacturers to prey upon your fears after receiving a test like this?

I know that my certification in Holistic Health Coaching has benefitted my clients. Now I have a chance to help the most important client in my life … so I can keep him around to see our grandchildren grow up and get married.

What can I do to help the most important client in YOUR life?

Here's a photo board to give you an idea of how many people attended HLS '11. Can you find me over on the left?

I’ve just been to my first blogger conference, the Healthy Living Summit, which was held in Philadelphia this year. Truthfully, it was a spur-of-the-moment decision made easier by the conference’s proximity to my hometown. And I don’t regret a darn thing about the decision!

I’ve been to gazillions of conferences in my career – mostly pretty heavy on boring content and business suits. What fun it was to see conference attendees in yoga pants and ponytails! And never have I received such fantastic swag (that’s giveaways for the uninitiated). Many thanks to the event’s sponsors for their generosity!

I will be enjoying (and reviewing!) these goodies for DAYS!!

But don’t let the casual dress and goodies fool you – the conference content and connections have been terrific as well! I learned how to write a better recipe from Stepfanie of SparkPeople.com and the upcoming SparkPeople Cookbook – including my favorite part, the “anatomy” of a recipe. Guess why I loved that part? Maybe my massage and bodywork training? ;->

Here's Stepfanie telling us there is "nothing proper about chicken breasts!"

I also learned about “action mantras” from Dawn Jackson Blatner who wrote The Flexitarian Diet, which you will be hearing more about soon! These are fantastic 3-4 word sayings that motivate us from a standpoint of positivity. They are so catchy that you’ll find yourself saying them over and over … and committing to healthier habits with hardly any effort.

Dawn says, "25-25-50!"

And I now have some lovely new friends and bloggers-in-crime … Uhh, I meant bloggers-in-health … Boy is my Twitter feed full of great ideas and healthy fun, not to mention my Google Reader! Here’s Lynda from Healthy Hoboken Girl and Toni from Running, Loving, Living.

Say Cheeeeezzzeee ...

Have you ever been to a business meeting or conference where all the food seemed to be designed for picky children? You know – turkey on white with a side of chips? Well, this conference featured some of the most truly healthy food I’ve ever seen. Choices included gluten-free, dairy-free, vegetarian and vegan. Plus some more standard all-purpose pleasing healthy options. Wow!!

We had so many choices ... including lots of whole foods like fruits and veggies!

The other amazing thing I noticed … an entire ingredient list was printed and posted for our lunchtime salad dressing. This kind of information should be available at every event, not just one focused on healthy living. So many of us have both requirements and preferences regarding food that event planners and venues can’t afford not to be accommodating.

I can’t say for sure if I’ll attend Healthy Living Summit ’12, but I would sure love to experience the inspiring energy again. The organizing team will have a lot of work to top this year’s Summit, but since they are so passionate about both healthy living and this event, I’m sure it will be fanTAStic!

I’m also looking forward to being in Center City Philly for a brief visit. Many years ago, I worked in the city not so far from where we will be staying. In fact, one of my dearest friends from that time is now a Holistic Health Coach just like me. She and I are meeting up tomorrow night for dinner with our husbands. So excited to catch up and hear all the good things in her life!

On a funny note … I am pretty sure I’ll be one of the oldest attendees at HLS. And easy to spot with my silvery gray hair! But what the heck, I don’t feel old so maybe some of the attendees will say, ” … when I’m 46 I want to healthy and happy just like you!” LOL

I’m traveling with my camera too … so I’m expecting to be inspired to shoot some great photos to share with you all.

What are you doing on this beautiful summer weekend?

I’d say it was some combination of both. I think the funniest part is that I was heavily using my technology right up until midnight Saturday. And that I began again at 12:02 a.m. just following Sunday midnight! So it was not easy for me to separate myself from all this. Once I got about 15 hours into the sabbatical, it did get a lot easier though. I thought a whole lot less about email and Facebook … really I promise!

One thing I did notice is just how focused I was able to be. Normally I have a touch of ADD … or what some people would call mastering multi-tasking. Frankly, I find this exhausting sometimes. During the digital sabbatical I didn’t feel like I had to check Facebook, Twitter or email. It was freeing to only think about one task at a a time!

I’d love to say that I spent the day in the woods reflecting on nature. But by now you may realize that’s not entirely my style. My day was pretty much a normal Sunday, just narrowed down to non-technology activities. I spent the majority of my day in the kitchen cooking and canning. And spent time with family – completely focused on them instead of “time-sharing” with my iPhone or iPad. And took a terrific yoga class.

Next time I’m going to the woods … I’m exhausted from 9 hours standing in the kitchen.

So starting tonight at midnight, I am taking my own 24-hour digital sabbatical. Or as my friend Heather (who is going to join me) calls it … a Techno-Fast!

Care to come along with us on this journey?

However, when I make a smoothie I tend to use some pretty un-lovely glasses from the cabinet. They are the biggest glasses I have and just the perfect size for a hearty, healthy smoothie. But they are ugly …

Yesterday a friend and fellow health coach inspired me to hunt down my long-time favorite glasses. I didn’t have to go far … just over to the dining room cabinet. But sometimes the simple choices just add so much to our day.

Here’s my lovely afternoon break … a rare soda in my favorite Mexican glasses. They bring back wonderful memories and feel so great in my hands!

(I also love this brand of soda because they flavor with stevia instead of sugar or chemicals.)

Why not consider your next glass of water, smoothie or other healthy beverage in your favorite beautiful glass?