Some things that are working (so far) in 2026

At the risk of tempting fate here, I did a little reflecting on what feels to be working well so far this year for me.

1. My current workout schedule

In late fall 2025, I revamped my workout schedule (posted specifics here). The biggest change was switching from a 5x(!)/week gym strength split to a 3x/full body split gym. Cardio remains at home (3x/week) + 1 active recovery day (usually a Yoga with Adrienne video).

I didn’t officially kick this off “for real” until after the holidays (and my illness cleared up), but in these last few weeks, it’s been going so well! I’m enjoying the full body workouts (thanks Chat GPT!), I’m enjoying my home workouts and the schedule feels attainable and well-balanced.

• Monday– cardio/home workout #1 (lunch)
• Tuesday– gym- full body #1 (morning)
• Wednesday– cardio/home workout #2 (lunch)
• Thursday– gym- full body #2 (morning)
• Friday– recovery day/ yoga- (whenever- morning/lunch/after work)
• Saturday– cardio/home workout #3
• Sunday– gym- full body #3

1a. Going to the gym IN THE MORNING on Tuesdays and Thursdays (with Iván).

Beginning in the new year, Iván wanted to re-commit to going to the gym again. Early in our marriage he went to the gym regularly, but after we moved here (in 2013!!!), he decided he “didn’t like this new gym” 🙄(the one only 1.5 blocks from our house…) and basically stopped going. His preferred form of exercise is playing soccer, but obviously, you can’t really field a whole soccer team multiple times per week.

I won’t share all his personal business here, but let’s just say he’s not getting any younger, he has a sedentary job + a long-ish commute, and his body is letting him know in multiple grumpy ways that he really needs to exercise.

We talked through various options of what this might look like. What form of exercise (besides soccer) could he envision himself doing regularly? When?

He decided the key would be to start small- aim for just 2x/ week right now. Also, keep it simple. ~20 min cardio + 20 min strength, the end. He didn’t like idea of basement home workouts- didn’t think he’d feel motivated in that setting-, so he chose the gym. ALSO, he recognized that after his post 5:00 p.m. ~35+ min commute home in the dark, Wisconsin winter, there was basically a 0% chance he’d actually get to the gym in the evenings. So, MORNINGS.

We landed on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, at 6:15 a.m. This allows him to get home and in the shower by 7:00 (he leaves for work by ~7:45). It’s only 2 days a week, so it’s realistic and do-able and he doesn’t have to wake up “early” every day. Coupled with his Sunday night indoor soccer games, that’s 3 workouts a week. And 3 times a week is a habit! 😉

He’s been doing so great!! He’s hit every Tuesday/Thursday since the 1st week of January (today was #6). As part of this, he asked if I’d go with him. I’d originally planned to do my gym workouts on my lunch hour, but realized the morning schedule is better for me, too. (I had been wanting to switch to mornings, but struggled to do it on my own…). The only downfall is that I don’t see Ethan off to school on gym days (he leaves before I get back), but I’m home for him the other 3 days. This seems reasonable.

Iván and I actually drive separate, as my workouts are a bit longer, but we have that accountability of getting out the door together. I’m LOVING getting the gym done and out of the way, and he’s been consistently exercising!! Win-win. 🙂

1b. Heather Robertson videos for cardio

I recently discovered a new-to-me YouTuber, Heather Robertson, and I’m adoring them for my home workout option! She has a ton of free workout schedules on her site.

Her workouts are a mix of strength and cardio, depending on the plan. I decided to start working through her 3 “Glow Up” 7 day plans, because I really wanted a plan to follow to take the decision factor out of it. I’m just doing the workouts in order, #1-7, on my 3 home workout days. (So it’s taking me just over 2 weeks to get through 1 week of the plan.)

Some days are pure cardio or HIIT and some are strength based with cardio sprinkled in, but I decided this was okay with me. I actually LIKE adding a little more strength in and others are circuit-style/ get my heart rate up more, anyway.

They’ve been so fun and I really, really like Heather!! She seems so nice and calming and “normal”, like “normal person fit”, not “alien level fit” like Caroline Girvan. lol! Nothing at all against Caroline, but her HIIT workouts were just way too intense for me. I want to get a good workout in, but I don’t want to dread it and I don’t want to… die. Ha.

With Heather’s, I feel challenged and yet still energized after. The style is similar to Caroline Girvan’s- no talking during the workout, just music, beeps for exercise switches. The workouts in my current plan are ~40-45 minutes, which has been great, and I’m enjoying the variety.

She has 6 different 12 week plans, plus a bunch of shorter plans.

*Of note, she also has a cool 30 day “Daily 10” program that looks like a fun option, if anyone is seeking just a little consistent exercise. Only 10 minutes a day!!

2. More structured planning!

Yet another thank you to SHU for sharing her planning techniques in her book. I made this one of my annual goals, and I’m just really reaping the benefits already! I feel like I’m accomplishing a lot already and just feel more clear-headed about what has to happen and when.

I am borderline obsessed with my current system, too. I absolutely freaking love Google Calendar and Google Tasks to a possibly unhealthy level. 😅 It just works SO INCREDIBLY WELL for me and I love love love my lists. I’ve leaned more into “scheduling” tasks (as Tasks on Google Calendar) and it gives me a sick level of pleasure to mark that little blue checkmark off. 🤣

I also do a daily planning page (on paper, in a new grid notebook that I’m loving too!) which scratches enough of the itch for that analogue planning aspect and helps me organize my head for the day.

3. Eating more protein and fiber

I have dabbled a little in tracking my food lately (controversial, I know, but I do find it interesting!) Thankfully I don’t get too obsessed or anything. I mostly just want to keep an eye on my PROTEIN and FIBER. I have not been on the fiber train, and I’m still only sort of on it, but I have found value in trying to increase this.

I also find it fascinating how much better I truly do feel when I eat sufficient protein, more fruits and vegetables, more water, less soda and and more fiber. Who’d have thunk. haha.

4. Speaking of soda, you guys, I’m doing it!!

I’ve totally been sticking to my new soda plan (only when out to eat, not at home and no stopping for a big fast food or gas station soda). I AM allowing myself to get some fountain iced teas (unsweetened) which doesn’t help the $ saving aspect, but it feels otherwise benign and I think helps me not feel deprived.

I am a bit mind blown at how, dare I say, EASY this has felt!! I am also perplexed. I swear, I have tried this before, and never succeeded. What is different this time? I don’t know! It just feels like, ok, yeah, I don’t drink soda at home anymore. I don’t buy big fountain sodas anymore, either. No big deal.

*Definitely have still loved the sodas I’ve had when we’ve eaten out! 😉 It’s not totally gone. But I’m okay with that. I’m sticking to The Plan.

5. Flossing and face = my non-negotiables

I heard on a podcast recently that when we set a bunch of new goals, it’s a good idea to decide which are your non-negotiables. Many times we have lots of things we’re working on. In my case, I often want to do lots of “daily-ish” habits, but it’s not feasible or realistic to do them ALL every single day.

This podcast recommended thinking through your goals and maybe picking 1-2 things as your NON-NEGOTIABLES. Ideally, these should be pretty small!

I decided that flossing + my nightly face washing are my non-negotiables. I really want to do these forever, and I know it’s easy for me to sliiiiide off the habit if I skip even once.

There have been a few times where it flitted through my mind “ugh, I’m too tired.. maybe I’ll skip tonight”, and I literally thought, “NO! This is your non-negotiable. Just do it.”

Clearly, this would not work with all the things I try to do on a regular basis, but I love this idea of picking just a couple.

6. Leaning into winter (January/ February) as my productive season.

I feel like this goes against the grain a little… people love to hate on winter. It’s dark, boring, cold, nothing exciting happens, etc. But for me, I’m really realizing this is PRIME TIME for me to get certain things done.

In our house, summer often brings extended family visits and travel. The fall brings soccer season, followed by swim season. I go hard on all the Oct- Dec holidays- think indoor AND outdoor decorations for fall, Halloween, and Christmas. I host Thanksgiving. I do a lot of Christmas traditions. There is extremely thin margin for me between October and December.

Winter though? Is pretty chill. Yes, swim season is going on and that’s busy. But once the holiday decor is taken down, we usually have a little lull. Also, there’s no yard work/ landscaping/outdoor project burden in the winter here!

As I did my annual planning, I realized – I need to lean into this!! Bigger household things I want to do- like decluttering projects, or buying new furniture, or organizing- can really gain traction in this quieter winter season for me. I have more breathing room!

Recognizing this and planning around it is smart, I think. This also means I need to be realistic about the other seasons and NOT plan in “do a complete declutter of all the kitchen cabinets” for November.

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I’ll stop there for now. 🙂 Clearly, the year is young, so I guess time will tell if these things keep working. Haha. But so far, so good with these.

Daily Gratitude:

I am grateful that they already called school off for tomorrow (bitter cold temperatures forecasted). It’s always nice to have that heads up, and it’s exciting for the kids to know in advance. 😉 (Asher’s swim meet tomorrow night was proactively rescheduled for tonight! Planning to hunker down with the fireplace on tomorrow!)