How to Make Fitness a Habit and a Lifestyle

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Getting into a consistent workout routine can be really difficult.

Since the key to fitness is consistency, the biggest hurdle to overcome is finding a set of routines and perfect timing to ensure that you will stick with it long-term.

We’ve all been there, whether we are just starting out, trying to regain momentum after falling out of the workout habit, or recovering from an illness or ailment. I have been through all of those so understand the challenges in each that sometimes feel insurmountable. However…

It takes 21 days to form a habit and 90 days to form a lifestyle.

1. Your first goal is to get consistent about working out (3 times per week, 5 times per week, whatever you’re your schedule and fitness level) for 3 weeks.

2. Your second goal is to then extend this to three months. Having gone through this process, I want to share with you what helped me get into the habit and lifestyle of exercise (and trust me, after 3 weeks, you’ll be hooked on the endorphins and better sleep, not to mention the changes you see in your body)!

In this post, I am sharing the five reasons that working out at home can help you make fitness a habit and a lifestyle. Specifically, I will cover:

• The absolute easiest way to make exercise a consistent part of your life

• Benefits to working out at home

• How to find routines you love and will stick with

• The two biggest keys to boosting your metabolism and changing your body

• Essential equipment for effective home workouts that are affordable and space savers

So, if you are struggling to get into a routine, falling off the fitness wagon at the start of every new year, and never reaching your weight loss and fitness goals, then you’ve found the right place. All of that is about to change for good! In three months, you will see a different body and will actually crave your workouts.

I was athletic for my whole life, either playing sports or teaching fitness classes. However, at 39, I found myself in the hospital with a virus that almost killed me.

While I was so grateful for surviving and walking out of that hospital, I was depressed and stuck in bed for a month without being able to move much (even having to ask friends to walk my dog). I quickly developed a nutritional plan to help me rebuild my body, and that helped me to gradually regain strength. After a month, I was SO EXCITED to be able to add light workouts to my routine (this is one of my favorites).

Since it was during Covid, and I lived in Chicago, the gyms were essentially shut down (not that I was in any condition to go to a gym). That means I had to do them at home and build a home gym as a result. Living in an apartment, I was space-constrained but found a couple of affordable pieces that stored away easily. Whatever your current activity level, seeing even the smallest levels of strength gains is motivating! The one-two punch of proper food and exercise increased my energy exponentially, and I realized I was actually getting my life and health back.

A lovely added benefit is that suddenly my pants were way too loose, and I started seeing muscles in places I had never seen them before.

A year later, I am as strong as I have ever been, at 40 years old, no less. I am consistent about my fitness routine because it gives me a noticeable boost in energy and sleep quality…and I will never forget what not being able to move felt like.

Side note: please also remember that fitness is not in isolation. Nutrition is important, both to fuel your workouts and for weight loss, and the Mediterranean diet was my basis (it remains at the top of the US News and World Report best diet list for years now for a reason!).

So here is what I have learned, my top tip for making fitness a habit then a lifestyle:

Exercise at home.

The benefits to working out in your house are powerful.

No commute.
That means extra sleep time if you choose to work out in the morning. And even an extra 15 minutes is precious, especially on dark, cold January mornings. If you prefer to do so after work, you can throw dinner in the oven while you get your workout in, then just eat! If you work from home and prefer a lunch time workout (which I detail as my favorite in this blog post), you can get a longer workout in without having to walk/drive to and from a gym.
No excuses.

We discussed the commute part. You also won’t run into the snag of forgetting your running shoes or sports bra. You can set out your clothes and shoes the night before next to your bed so you can’t avoid them.

No waiting for equipment.

Let’s face it – New Year’s Resolution Season makes for a packed gym, and the less wait time you have, the faster you can get your workout done.

No watching people take gym selfies.

Because those are the worst.

The only sweat you encounter is your own!

Hopefully you are now sold on the idea of exercising at home! So let’s turn to how to find routines. I love barre (read about why here), Pilates, and indoor cycling (so I clearly recommend trying those). More than anything though, I like strength training because it fundamentally changes your body, so I urge you to focus on that!

The absolute most efficient tool for working out at home is the Body Gym.

To oversimplify it, it is essentially a bar attached to resistance bands that challenges your muscles in many ways. I rely on this for two BIG reasons:

It is portable – it easily snaps apart and can be transported or stored with little space or fanfare.
It is lightweight - it weight less than three pounds, so it can be stored under a couch or in a closet

For these two reasons, it is even a great travel buddy to throw into your suitcase to keep on track with your fitness goals on vacation!

Even better, the Body Gym works for any fitness level with different band attachments (from 10 – 80 pounds), so you can continue to use it even as you build strength!

If you want a fitness plan that challenges your body, increases your energy, and is easy to stick with, I highly recommend working at home. And for that, the Body Gym is a central piece you should add to your home gym, especially if you don’t have a ton of space.

Once I incorporated at home workouts into my daily life, I was able to supplement my nutrition and shape the body that I had always wanted. I don’t struggle to fit exercise into my schedule, even on busy days, and can always incorporate at least some activity into daily life.

Eating well and working out go hand in hand, so I rarely feel a desire to binge on cookies, sleep like a baby, and never feel deprived or restricted. I want you to feel this great too! Consider the returns you could achieve on a minimal investment in “home gym” equipment that you will actually use:

1. Body Gym (my #1 essential obviously!)

Buy on Amazon

2. Yoga Mat

I love the thickness of this one in particular. A mat will benefit you when you do any groundwork (it does not just have to be for yoga) including ab work or even leg exercises that you want to do barefoot to increase foot and ankle strength! This is just an absolute necessity.

3. 2 - 4 pound dumbbells

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I have so many barre and Pilates arm routines that make such low weights feel impossible, so don’t brush off 2 pounds.

If you want to learn why it is so intense, ready more about what barre can do for your body here!

If you want to get 2 sets and mix it up, try a set of 4 pounders too.

4. Resistance bands

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These include several bands with varying levels of resistance. This means you can constantly change up your workout and continuously challenge your muscles.

Resistance bands are really effective, portable, and can easily be thrown into a drawer, so it is almost a crime that they are not used more frequently in our workouts.

In particular, they really up the intensity of glute and hip work!

5. Gliders

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Gliders are a sneaky tool to increase the intensity of your ab, glute, and leg workouts by a factor of about 100. These little bad boys go under your toes to allow you to add movements to planks, amp up lunges, and do a number of one leg-focused exercises, all while heavily challenging your balance. Too many of us have challenges with balance, and if you are one in that group, gliders could be a great tool to help you strengthen that!

These particular gliders are great because they come with suggested workouts!

This entire home gym clocks in at under $200.

That means daily workouts you are more likely to stick with than if you had to go to a gym, plus the equivalent of around $15 per month for a year’s gym membership (which is a mere fraction of what you’d actually pay, regardless of where you live).

You will work your muscles in a variety of ways from a variety of angles for a variety of strength levels – this is your perfect formula for sculpting the body you want for a small investment!

The biggest factor in maintaining an active routine is finding workouts you love that can also fit into your schedule. Even if you’re not ready to go all in on working out at home, you can try it out with no investment with my easy, effective, no equipment barre workout. This can be done in limited space and will jump start your weight loss and strength training goals.

Get my FREE Intro to Barre Workout! Use the form below to get INSTANT access to this body-changing workout and build momentum toward a routine for effortless weight loss!

I also have a bunch of additional posts on cleaning up your diet and fitting exercise into your life in a way that works for you to build the body of your dreams.

Always remember, your body is capable of more than you think it is!