I hate this excuse. And yes, I call it an excuse.

We all have the same 24 hours in the day, and while some of us have those 24 hours more jam packed than others, I promise you that we can all find 10-15 minutes to move our bodies at least 3 times a week.

It doesn’t sound like much of a commitment when I put it that way, does it? It’s half of a TV episode and certainly far less time than most of us spend scrolling through social media (#guiltyascharged)

I talked about this a little in my Instagram Stories over the past couple of months as summer tends to be the busiest time of year and when our workouts tend to take a backseat, but I’m so passionate about dispelling the notion that you have to workout for 60 minutes, 5 times a week in a gym, that I decided I needed to spread the word via this little blog, too.

Here’s the deal:

• You do NOT need to workout for 60+ minutes for it to be considered a “workout”.
• You do NOT need to go to the gym for it to be considered a “workout”.
• You do NOT need to workout 5-6 times a week to be considered “in shape” and someone who works out.

No. Just no.

Doesn’t that sound so daunting? And time consuming? And something that’s ultimately not sustainable?

Here’s the thing – what if I told you that you didn’t need to do all that? What if I told you that you could start with just two workouts a week that are less than 20 minutes and don’t even require you to leave your house? 

That sounds pretty nice, right?

I had this conversation with one of my besties earlier this summer. She had joined my free, LIVE streamed workouts and was motivated to do more.We talked a bit about the time thing and I told her exactly what I told you: “Why don’t you start with two days of 15-20 minute workouts and we will go from there. If you have weeks where you think you can fit in another workout, go for it. If you think you can fit in a walk or bike ride, do it. Once that becomes “easy” and consistent, we can discuss adding in another day.” 

The day after she did another workout, she texted me a sweaty selfie saying “sweaty and red, but done! It was hard, but I liked it. I like how short these are. I can commit to 30 minutes.”

PROUD FRIEND/INSTRUCTOR MOMENT!!!! Her response is 100% my goal when I’m trying to show people how un-complicated fitness should be. 30 minutes, if you’re doing the right things that are HARD and challenge you, is plenty of time to workout. Heck, the right 15-20 minute workouts are also all you need some days (which is pretty much all I do these days!).

And the thing is, we ALL have time for that. I don’t care if you work multiple jobs, have multiple kids, have long days at the office, have laundry or cleaning to do. If you want to get movement in… if it’s important to you… you can FIND time to fit that in. We are only too busy for the things that are not important to us. And I’ll be honest, some days are SUPER busy for me and when I look at what I can shift around to make more time, it’s the workout I choose to skip. Other days, it might be laundry or meal prep.

It’s a choice for us to choose how we spend the 24 hours in hour day, so I encourage to to think about how you’re spending yours. Are you spending time doing things that drain you mentally or physically without adding any benefit? Do you spend too much time on social media or watching tv? do you spend too much time in the office behind your computer? Taking 20 minutes out of any of those things is not going to be that much time in the long run, but the feeling of getting in SOME movement is pretty awesome. And, like I always say, every little bit DOES count!

If you’re looking for help with this and you want to learn how to make it a sustainable thing (rather than a 2 week, all out crazy life change that ends up being exhausting and too much work), hit me up. I would LOVE to help you learn how you can integrate movement into your life in a way that is enjoyable and not time consuming.

*I shared this post with my insider group subscribed to my newsletter. If you’re interested in being kept up to date with the latest and greatest, make sure you sign up here!

And just like that, it’s August!

I realized the other day, that it had been quite some time since I published a real blog post. I’ve been trying to send out newsletters once a month, but that also hasn’t always been the case. I’d apologize, but I’m actually not sorry about it! In years past, I let my blogging schedule stress me out – if I didn’t post at least 3 times a week, I felt like I was going to lose all of my followers and that I had somehow “failed” as a blogger ( I mean, everyone else was able to get blog posts up daily! lol). Gosh, that’s so sad to think about!

These days, there’s just a lot going on. Between work (which has been crazier than usual), teaching, acupuncture, and, well, LIVING, I just haven’t been in the mood to write.

And that’s ok – it’s LIFE! Our motivation for various things (working out, cleaning, writing, etc.) ebbs and flows in a very natural way, so pushing ourselves to do things when we just don’t feel it, doesn’t always serve us well. Sometimes, all we need is a little break, a little breather, and then we can jump back in.

Today serves as that for me 😉 I wanted to fill you in about how summer has been going thus far, and I hope you’ll respond and tel me what’s going on with your summer!

• Anniversary – last month, we celebrated our 2 year anniversary. We were lucky enough to get the chance to escape to the Cape and we really enjoyed ample amounts of relaxation, beach, nice weather, great seafood and plentiful cocktails.

• Life Time Athletics – as you may have seen on Instagram, last month I announced my new teaching gig at Life Time Athletics in Burlington. It’s super convenient for me to pop over after work as it’s on my way home. I teach my own cardio kickboxing format/class on Tuesday nights at 5pm, so if you’re ever in the area and want to check it out, let me know –  I have guest passes!

• Seaport Sweat – Per usual, Seaport Sweat is one of my summer highlights. There’s just something so FUN about this fitness series – the participants are amazing, the location is perfect and the fact that we get to be outside and workout with a live DJ is icing on the cake! If you haven’t had a chance to check us out yet, check out the schedule here, grab a friend and come workout with us!

• BostonVoyager Feature – I guess July was a big month, lol, as another cool thing for me was being featured as a Trailblazer in an interview/article on  BostonVoyager.com. I was so honored to be featured and I had a lot of fun answering the questions. I hope you check it out!

• Charlie Puth – A few weekends ago, my parents came down and my mom, sister and I went to see Charlie Puth at the Blue Hills Pavilion. I had never been there, but it’s such an amazing venue, especially if you have nice weather. We had an absolute blast! The next night, we hosted a BBQ for both of our families and a few friends and it was one of the best nights of the summer. Great weather, delicious food and most of my favorite people all together at our house! Doesn’t get much better than that.

• Great summer reads – I recently read The Woman in the Window, which was SO SO SO good. A must read if you’re looking for a great book that keeps you guessing throughout the entire thing. I also finished The Boy in the Woods, which was creepy/eerie. I liked the ending, so I’m glad I read it, but there were many points where I wanted to put it down and not pick it back up. That said, if you don’t mind some creepiness, I would recommend it as it’s a great storyline!

• Acupuncture & Fertility – As you may have seen on my Instagram stories and Instagram TV, I’ve been opening up about our fertility issues and journey. I have been going to acupuncture for fertility for about 4 months and have enjoyed learning more about my body, not to mention getting the chance to rest and relax for 45 minutes once a week! As pregnancy hasn’t yet happened for us, we’ve decided to pursue some extra help and are seeing a fertility specialist in a few weeks. If any of you are going through similar issues (or have gone through them), I feel you! I’m always open to chatting more about this if you want!
• Pizza Fest – My sister and I went to the Pizza Fest at City Hall Plaza which was so fun! There were so many great pizzas to try and drinks to have. After, we went to the beer garden right near by, which is so cool!
• FRANCE! It’s crazy that our trip to Paris and the French Riviera (staying in Nice), is less than a few months away. If you have been to either of these places, shoot me a reply and let me know what to do, where to eat, what to see, where to go – I want to hear it all!

Few! When you see it all laid out like that, it’s no wonder why I haven’t written lately 😉 We don’t have many plans for the second half of the summer and I’m so excited for that! I love weekends where we can go to Life Time together for a workout and then pool time, followed by a date night in the city. I love weekends where I can sleep in a bit and not be constantly on the go. I love weekends when I can slow down a bit.

I hope you’re all having a great summer so far! Please comment below and let me know what’s going on with you – I’d love to know!