Ok, most of us fall into two camps when it comes to exercise. Camp one: we don’t do it at all or we hit the gym once or twice a week (or month:)). Camp two: we do it because we have to, but we don’t enjoy it, and we try our best to slog through it.

I have a new way to approach exercise - find something that you actually like doing or better yet - might actually fit in with what you really need in your life right now.

Instead of slogging through your regular gym routine or your knee-grinding run, see if any of the following may better meet your current needs:

For those of you in New York, I’ve put some links in here. For the rest of you, I’m sure you can find similar offerings in your area.

Need to de-stress and calm down? Try a yoga clas at a Yoga Studio, not one at a gym. The energy in yoga studios is calming as soon as you walk in the door. And you don’t hear the loud gym music while you are in down-dog.

Need to meet some new friends and fight the lonelies? Try a team sport like flag football or frisbee. Central Park has tons of new leagues that form every week. I have a friend that often plays with leagues from The New York Social Club. You may also want to try one of the recreational running clubs like The New York Harriers. They run in the mornings, but do social events as well.

Feeling totally depressed and unchallenged at work, but unable to leave your situation right now? Try challenging yourself to finish a running race or a triathlon. You can even join a team to help with motivation. Try looking into Full Throttle at Chelsea Piers or the Terrier Triathlon Club. I trained with full throttle for two years. It is tough, but very worth it. The New York Road Runners Club also has tons of great programs.

Feeling sad about the state of the world? Why not make the world a better place and get a flatter stomach? Check out Team in Training or Run for a Dream. Both organizations support great causes.

Ladies, feeling like you could use a little pizzazz in the bedroom? How about taking a strip tease class. You’ll feel it everywhere - and your guy wil thank you. Check out the S-Factor.

Would you like to give up the war you’ve had with your body and make some peace with where you are now (while still burning calories)? Every time I’ve done belly dancing, I come home with a new respect for my body, especially my belly. I look around the room and notice how we are all so beautiful in every shape, size and form. There is just something about this dance that allows for peace and self adoration. Try it, let me know if you agree. I’m not an expert on the best classes, but I’ve taken some at The Open Center that were quite good. Do let me know if you find a teacher you love.

Wish you had more time to shake your booty? But you don’t want to learn a 90-step combination? Try one of the new age dance classes that don’t require you to learn steps, you just feel the music and go. Check out Five Rhythms. You may also like the Brazilian martial art/dance style, called Capoeira. The Alvin Ailey Extension on 55th Street has tons of different dance classes from Zumba to West African.

In a slump and wishing life would just throw you a bone? Perhaps looking at life from a new angle would help - from a trapeze. The Trapeze School may be a fun way to help you get out of your rut and see life a little differently.

Take a moment and look at yourself first. Then pick out an exercise routine that really works for you. Make your exercise routine more than just a route to smaller jeans - it can also be an easy way to upgrade your life.

And for more great tips on Radical Self Care, don’t forget to sign up for our upcoming teleseminar: Radical Self Care: How to Have the Body, Career and Relationships you’ve always wanted.

Hello, all:

My name is Karen Lee and I’m honored to be blogging for Ideal Balance for the first time.  I am a married, working mom of a three year old, a career coach, MBA admissions consultant (http://mbaexchange.com), and writer.  But mostly I’m just a modern woman trying to balance my life, just like all of you.

I take a holistic approach as a career coach, having learned by hard-won experience that life balance is key to career success.  As Julie Morgenstern (http://juliemorgenstern.com), organization expert and columnist for O magazine, said in one of her bestsellers, the highest performing employees/entrepreneurs “keep their lives in balance…so that they can replenish their energy and recharge their perspective for their work.”

How do you replenish your energy?  To get some support and guidance on how to do it in a balanced way, I am currently enrolled in Monica’s Life and Body Makeover Bootcamp. My favorite part of this week’s call was hearing a participant say that she wanted to focus on what she IS putting in to her body during the bootcamp cleanse, vs. focusing on what she is NOT putting into it (“non-cleanse foods” like dairy, meat, refined sugar.)  This got me thinking about how we regard food in this country (and more locally, in my mom and dad’s house when I was growing up):

A) Food = comfort

B) Food =  unfortunate necessity (”eat your veggies, even if you hate them!”)

C) Food = indulgence, reward, or pleasure

I’m all for limited amounts of regarding food as A and C, but what Monica more importantly focuses on is regarding all food, in moderation, as good; and regarding healthy, whole foods as a REFUELING, RECHARGING, ENERGIZING, POSITIVE SUSTENANCE.

I want to actually stop referring to healthy food as “good for me,” since that implies that there is a morally “bad food” as well.  Yes, it’s not healthy for you to eat a cupcake in big quantities because it has adverse effects on your body.  But if you put a one cupcake in your mouth once in awhile, it’s not bad.  In fact, I am actually starting to regard it as good, in the sense that it is, as Monica calls it, “a splurge food.”

On the other hand, I want to regard, let’s say a strawberry, as even better food, but not in the traditional way we think about “good for you.”  Instead of thinking of it as a “good” in the virtuous sense, I want to think about it as a better food to refuel myself with SUSTAINABLE energy to be able to fully enjoy and be present in my life, whether it be in: my alone time, my time with my husband and daughter, the time with my other family and friends, or my time working.  If I have that cupcake, I’m more likely to crash later and have less energy to, for example, play with my darling little girl or spend some quality time with my husband.

In other words, I want to think about all eating as a positive thing again, not something I feel guilty or proud about…a perspective hammered into me by, yes, say-it-all-together-now, my mother.  In her defense, she probably learned it from her mother or by the cultural media of her adolescence.

Then it’s just a matter of what you want to do with your refueled life…