Live happy and exercise smart.

Do you ever just have one of those days? One where virtually nothing positive happens. For us, that's been today.  Unfortunately, part of today included some heart-breakingly bad news about a family friend. The sort of news that really makes you look at things differently. Makes you weigh the importance of situations differently and makes you appreciate all of your 'little' problems.

Tonight we are starting sleep training with our 6 month old. For those of you who don't know what this means, I'll just say that it involves very little sleep and lots of tears (not just from the baby!).  I have been dreading this for the past few days, but after our recent news, I find myself oddly appreciative of the opportunity to go through this little adventure with my 3 girls. It's guaranteed to be memorable!

This is what I WANT Olivia to be doing for the next 12 hours

Chances are, this is what will ACTUALLY be happening

For most of us, health is one of our 'little' problems. We all worry about losing a couple pounds.  We all feel somewhat guilty when a muffin or cookie finds its way into the car with the coffee. We are stressed about going to the gym, or maybe I should say not going to the gym. The fact is, when it all comes down to it, we aren't going to look back and wish we had eaten a few more carrot sticks, but we will all want a few more nights out with friends. We won't be wishing for more workouts, rather a few more movie nights with the family and of course some popcorn and Junior Mints. I guess what I am trying to say is that we truly don't need to worry about every little decision regarding food and exercise. As long as we make good decisions more often than not and try to minimize the damage of the not-so-good decisions, we can be healthy. It is possible to fit into your favourite jeans and eat chocolate EVERY day. It is also possible to have a drink (or two) a day and reap only positive benefits. You just have to know how to balance things out.

My brother Troy and his girlfriend Lisa enjoying a glass of vino

Feeling happy and healthy involves much more than eating well and being active. Live your life in a way that makes you happy, whatever that means, and then develop eating habits and a fitness routine that fits into your lifestyle. There is no need to dread your meals or your workouts.

For me, a happy life involves watching TV. I love TV. There are some awesome shows out there. If I need to balance out some less than good decisions from earlier that day with a little exercise, and don't want to miss a show on TV,  I combine the two with a series of '5 minute repeats'.

What does that involve? I'm glad you asked...

Set a timer to 5 minutes or keep an eye on the clock.

Start timing.

Do 10 squat jumps and 10 push-ups... that's it!

Repeat the 10 squat jumps and 10 push-ups every 5 minutes until you have completed 10 rounds. It takes approximately 45 minutes, but each set should take less than 45 seconds.

If by the 10th set you can still perform 10 good reps of each exercise, then the next time you try this workout, do sets of 11. If you couldn't manage 10 good reps at the end of the workout, stick with 10 repetitions until you can.

Kate and I will be doing the '5 minute repeats' tonight as we are watching Survivor, and keeping our fingers crossed that our girls don't wake up. Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Chad