For many years, exercise was a weekly routine that only happens whenever I feel like it. For the longest time, I was not motivated enough to keep to my new year resolution — which is to live a healthier lifestyle. I didn’t take good care of myself for I was neglecting the wonderful benefits that regular exercise brings to my physical health.

In my late teens and early twenties, public transportation was my best friend to commute around the city. The walk in between transits worked wonders. I definitely felt fitter to have walked at least several thousand steps a day as I made my way through the city.

Eventually, my lifestyle changed when I decided to get my first car. I ended up spending more time in traffic and lesser time walking around, rediscovering the city. And with that, additional weight started to catch up with me.

One day in April, it finally dawned on me that my lifestyle is in clear need of a reboot. I would feel groggy in the morning and at times I didn't feel like I was emanating a positive self image.

As a first step to change my lifestyle for the better, I made living a healthier life my primary goal and began by committing myself to 10 to 15 minutes warm-up exercises in the morning. To achieve that I push myself up earlier from bed every morning to get the mind and body accustomed to the habit of exercising. A few weeks later, I extended the workout session to 30 minutes.

The result? I felt amazing. I have been keeping at it and it has now become a daily routine before I head off for work.

Two and a half months ago, I branched out a little more by introducing a new routine into my life — running. It is the one activity that I have spent a lot of time thinking of doing and yet have been repeatedly delayed due to a lack of discipline and motivation.

Even as I started running, I knew I could have easily fallen back to my old routine if I were to slack off. Hence I started running by setting sight on disciplining my mind and body to get used to the activity. Since then, I have been running a minimum of 2 kilometres followed by an additional 1 kilometres of brisk walking, two to three times a week in the evenings.

If you are still in doubt of whether you should start taking up regular exercise, studies have shown that you have more to gain by committing yourself to one. Take running for example. It can help prevent obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, and a host of other health problems. It has also been proven that moderate exercises help to reduce stress and anxiety, no doubt beneficial to urbanites like you and I.

If you ask me what motivates me to stay consistent with my exercise? I will tell you that to achieve anything in life, most of the time it has to do with self-discipline and our attitude towards the goals we have set. My goal is beyond a short-term goal of slimming down in months; I want to make regular exercise a habit that will stay on for the long run.

"The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” — Agatha Christie

It can be difficult to make changes to our lifestyle, especially when we live in the city and tend to get engrossed with the robust food and entertainment industry and culture. You’ll have to agree with this though: what is life in the absence of health?

For the sake of your physical well being, make your health a priority this month.


This video will show you some steps to start with for a 10 to 15 minutes daily exercise routine.