Erica: Hey, girl. By now, you know I have HER Collective, my online community for ambitious women who are done doing it alone. HER Collective is for the women who are smart, capable, and driven, but they find themselves stuck on the sticky floors like self doubt, burnout, and waiting for permission that quite honestly never comes. Inside HER, you get more than motivation. You get real support, real strategies, and real momentum. We work on things like clarifying what you want now and what's coming next, building confidence without burning yourself out, handling hard conversations, career moves, and leadership moments with clarity, and surrounding yourself with women who actually get it. This isn't about hustling harder.

Erica: It's about moving intentionally with the right tools and the right people in your corner. If you're ready to stop spinning, start choosing yourself, and build a career and a life that actually feels aligned, I'd love to welcome you inside HER Collective. You can learn more and join us at www.joinhercollective.com. Because honestly, girl, you were never meant to do this alone. As a busy executive mama, time is often the most scarce resource, and fitting in a workout routine can be challenging.

Erica: And let's be real, sometimes nonexistent. But have no fear, y'all. There are so many quick and effective routines that you can do to stay fit and healthy without compromising your busy schedule. If you didn't know, I have spent years in the health and wellness industry. That was my first career, and I have helped hundreds of women hit their health and wellness goals while working crazy busy schedules.

Erica: Ladies, you know that health and wellness needs to be a priority in your life. We all know this, but it often falls to the bottom of the list because we are always putting others' needs before our own. But that's gonna stop today, because today I'm going to share with you my schedule and how I went from thinking I had to have a full hour of exercise every single day to getting it done in twenty to thirty minutes. But before we dive in, I wanna touch on why it is so important to your mental health.

Erica: Y'all, we are burnt out. We are exhausted, tired, and in need of some serious TLC. And exercise is one way that you can give your body and your mind the TLC it needs. Exercise has a powerful effect on the brain and how it functions. And as busy as we are, ladies, we do not have time to not be functioning at our best.

Erica: Exercise triggers the release of endorphins, those natural mood boosters that can help reduce those feelings of stress and anxiety and depression. And I'm gonna tell you a few ways that it really impacts your mental health. First off, it reduces stress. So exercise has been shown to reduce stress by lowering the cortisol levels in your body. Now cortisol is that hormone that is released when we are stressed, and high levels of cortisol can contribute to anxiety, to depression, and weight gain.

Erica: Y'all, exercise boosts the mood. So it triggers also the good endorphins, which are natural mood boosters. They improve our feelings of happiness and reduce feelings of sadness. Improve our self esteem. Let's be real.

Erica: This is such a big one. It can help improve our self esteem by making us feel accomplished, making us feel like we're doing something right. When we set these goals and achieve them through exercise, we become more confident and proud of ourselves. Exercise also increases our energy. And I know this sounds weird.

Erica: Right? You're expending energy and you get more back, but it does increase your energy levels by improving your circulation, that oxygen flow to the brain and to the body. And when you have more energy, you feel more motivated and focused throughout the day. And the most important for me is that exercise reduces anxiety and depression. This is proven fact, y'all.

Erica: It has been shown to be an effective treatment for anxiety and depression. Regular exercise and movement can help to reduce the symptoms of anxiety and depression, and has also been shown to be as effective as medication or therapy in some cases. So I feel like I don't need to sell you anymore on the why you should do it, but let's focus on the how, because that's often the biggest barrier to most women. Figuring out how the heck am I gonna fit this into my already jam packed day? And I had to figure this out when I went from working a job that paid me to exercise to adding it to my daily routine.

Erica: And it took some finessing. Heck, girl, to be honest, I am still finessing it and playing with my routine as I move through the different seasons of my life. But here you go, without spending any more time talking about it. My routine. Here it is. First of all, I'm a morning person.

Erica: So I always do the best when I get that workout done first thing. If I don't, it typically doesn't happen, because everything in the day just creeps in. Work responsibilities, family responsibilities. I forgot to go to the grocery store. A kid gets sick. Right?

Erica: All those things pop up. So I try to do my workouts before work actually begins at eight or nine in the morning. Now I used to have this very strict regimen of which body part I would work out on which day, but y'all, I'm not trying to be a professional bodybuilder. I'm not trying to have 2% body fat. I'm trying to be healthy.

Erica: I'm trying to feel confident and I'm trying to, yes, also look good in a bikini. And that doesn't require that intense of a workout. So today my routines are much more simplistic than that. On Mondays and Thursdays and Saturdays, I typically do a total body strength routine and a little bit of cardio. On Tuesdays, cardio only.

Erica: Wednesday, rest or yoga. On Fridays, I do an incline walk on the treadmill. And then on Sunday, I do a free day. I do whatever my body needs. So sometimes that's rest.

Erica: Sometimes that's a long run. Sometimes it's just kind of having fun with the kids doing something. So it's honestly not crazy. It's not a ton. And my total body routines that I told you about, those consist of five to six exercises.

Erica: Some of them compound, meaning two in one, for example, a squat with a curl, which takes only about fifteen minutes if you're moving and grooving through it. Cardio is whatever I'm feeling that day. Could be the treadmill, could be walking the dog, might be jumping on my Peloton for a little bit. And I do more intense cardio when my body's feeling up to it, but I do more restorative cardio when it's not. And the biggest shift for me has been listening to my body and not going super crazy hard every day of the week. I incorporate more rest, but also more movement.

Erica: And I find myself more energized throughout the day, much more clear headed. I limit my cardio on those combo days to fifteen to twenty minutes, and I'm in and out the door in thirty minutes or less. I do have Sundays where maybe I'm feeling slower in the mornings. Don't really feel awake yet. Not feeling like working out.

Erica: And when that happens, I try to get my workout in sometimes before lunch. So if I don't feel as if I can jump up and get to working out, I usually try to squeeze it in before lunch break. And that's the schedule that just works for me. Now I also invested in a plexiglass tray for my treadmill and for my bike, and I use that in meetings that don't require a camera or my intense participation, to get in more steps and move my body. It's just a way to get more movement in.

Erica: Now I've decided that I'm gonna host a five day jump start challenge. Now this challenge is gonna start in April, but remember, you can start any day. Every day is a fresh start. And with time being the most precious and unrenewable resource that we have, we must capitalize on it the best we can. So Monday, April 3, join me for my first five day jump start.

Erica: When you sign up, you're gonna get a workout calendar for five days, everything you need to know to get started. You'll also get a five day meal plan complete with the shopping list. It's simplistic. I would say not necessarily for kids or husbands, but it is easy and it will get the body and the mind right when you need that reset. So I want you to join me by clicking the link in the show notes, because ladies, great leaders, sisters, moms, friends, they recognize the importance of physical fitness for their overall health, their productivity, and most importantly, our sanity.

Erica: When you prioritize exercise, you can show up as your best self. You can be the best mom. You can be the best friend. You can be the best leader. When you take time to fill your cup first, you have plenty to pour for others.

Erica: So are you with me? I sure hope you are, because, girl, you are worth it. Sign up in the show notes today. Join me for the first five day jump start.