Exercise matters, right? We want our bodies to be strong, and we want to have routines that really support our goals and help us to feel our best.
In today’s interview with Robin Long from The Balanced Life, we share specific ways you can create routines around your health so that you can optimize your systems and feel amazing. Come listen in–just click “play” above!
(Here’s a photo I took during my recording with Robin. š )

Highlights
- What is an optimal routine? There isn’t a single answer. What’s optimal is what is best for you. Find a routine that you enjoy and that fits with your lifestyle. From the beginning, it’s important to remember that most people don’t stick to a routine perfectly. Life happens, and there will be ebbs and flows. What matters is that you are embarking on a lifelong journey towards health and balance.
- How do we define health? We’ve been conditioned to think of health as just exercise and nutrition, but health includes additional factors that help us to feel whole. In some seasons of our lives, we may need to prioritize sleep. In others, we might want to get to the gym more often. The idea is to ask ourselves, “What helps me to feel my best? What really honors the season of life I am in? What is my goal?”
My goal is that I want to feel good. The way I know if I am feeling good is how I respond to my family during the hard moments of the day…. When I am able to be the ‘eye of the storm,’ then I know I am taking care of myself.
April Perry
- Looking for a great app to track your habits? For the past 26 days, I (April) have been using an awesome app called “Streaks” ($5 in the App Store) to track four key habits that I completeĀ beforeĀ checking my email. Here are three screen shots of the Streaks appāso you can see the process (unchecked to āchecked,ā tracking of daysā¦)

- Looking for a health routine that aligns with your motivations and doesn’t require willpower? Usually the reason we don’t stick with new routines is because they require a lot of energy to sustain. Choosing routines that are fun, easy to implement, broken down into bite-sizes pieces, and perhaps tracked by something like the app above will make it SO much easier to achieve success. (More on this in the podcast!)
- Why is Pilates effective? Pilates is mind-body exercise. Instead of simply powering through, we are connecting our bodies to our minds and thinking about how our muscles move as we exercise. That focus helps us exercise with maximum efficiency. The benefits are similar to the benefits of meditation–being present, clearing our minds, and refreshing our souls.
- How long does it take to see results with Pilates? We tend to get hyper-focused on just the numbers on the scale or the size of the pants we are wearing, but then we are missing out on the other benefits–like when we sleep better, feel more energetic, or have less back pain! Within the first weeks of doing Pilates, you’ll notice that you feel stronger.
- Closing thoughts: Whatever our health routines, as we are mindful about the work we are doing, we can experience a wide variety of benefits: mental strength, resilience, a desire to eat more nutritiously, etc. We don’t have to overhaul our entire lives to see progress–even small steps changing our habits and patterns can create more self-confidence, balance, and joy!
Related Resources
Get to know Robin Long:
Her website | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Pinterest
Robin is opening a free Pilates challenge we think you’ll love, and you can sign up here to get started now.

We love this book! *Atomic Habits by James Clear
Join our free class, How to Stop Drowning in Piles for more!
In this class, we teach four simple steps you can take today to reduce the overwhelm and get rid of the pilesāmental and physical. Weāll also give you more information on our full Steps to Everyday Productivity (STEP) Program, where you learn how to build your own Command Central and implement routines and a system to manage all the details in your life. Click the link above to sign up!

*Book and challenge are affiliate links!
Streaks! There are two apps, one is very popular right now and runs $4.99. The other is free, has a 4.8 rating, and is not very popular right now. I am curious which one you are using? I am frugal but can justify the 5 bucks if it is the ticket! God Bless you and your team; I just joined up for STEP Mastery and am excited to dive in.
Hi Barbara! I know there are free apps that others love, but I really liked the look of the Streaks App. Iām on Day 35 and still going. š It was worth the $5 to me. Good luck with whichever app you choose!
Just posting to say the Streaks app is apple only if your looki ng for an android app “Loop Habit Tracker” in google play store is awesome.
Thanks for the tip, Heather!
Ive tried many habit trackers and settled on Loop Habit Tracker as well
This episode, along with Atomic Habits, inspired me to set a goal to do Pilates every day for the month of January. I realized I can handle 10 minutes in the morning on most days, as long as I do it first thing. I found several 10 minute Pilates videos on YouTube and added them to a playlist. I budgeted for a reward for myself ($1 for each day of exercise, to save for something I really want). The month is nearly over, and this is the first time I’ve been consistent with an exercise routine! In the past, exercise has been a low priority. Once in awhile, I would feel ambitious and start an exercise routine for a couple weeks, but as soon as a curveball came my way, exercise was the first thing to go and the last thing to be reinstated. I’m glad that I’ve started incorporating this into my life, and I’ve noticed that I feel stronger!
I LOVE that you found a way to take just 10 minutes right when you wake up! And how fun to have a reward for yourself! Thanks for sharing your story, Anna!