“One foot in front of the other.” That was my mantra this morning on my run/walk/jog. It’s been more than a month since I’ve really exercised and it was hard to get back into the swing of things.

After a not-exactly-nasty-but-still-hard breakup, my workout and healthy regimen went out the window. Since it wasn’t that strong to begin with, it’s been very hard to build it back up. For the last few weeks I’ve been trying to carefully orchestrate a workout routine and healthy eating plan without actually eating the vegetables and getting my butt to the gym. I even told myself this weekend that I’d sit down and come up with a plan on how to eat healthy and fit exercise back into my life.

This morning I was listening to music and it got me motivated to run. Finally, I just got off my butt, laced up my sneakers, and headed outside. I had a short, but tough workout:

• Running, jogging, and walking for about 1.5 miles
• 20 squats, 20 pushups on my knees, and 20 sit-ups

That workout might be a warm-up for some of the fitness bloggers I follow, but I feel accomplished. I feel like I stopped trying to plan and just did the damn exercise.

I still intend to plan out workouts and health recipes, because I need a real strategy to shift my life into being more healthy. Here are a few things that I’m excited to use to make my health dreams come true.

A Fitbit! I want one so bad. I have a lovely friend (cough ex-boyfriend cough) who is nice enough to get me one in a few weeks. I swear to all that is holy that I’m going to use it every day to motivate me. For those not familiar, it’s a pedometer and altimeter gadget that tracks your steps and how many stairs you climb. You can slip it into a wristband and wearing it while sleeping to track how much you toss and turn at night (I do a lot and I want to know just how much). The device comes with a membership to Fitbit’s website, which gives you a place to track the calories you consume and all the data the Fitbit records. It comes in blue and plum and retails for about $100. I’ll post a review of the Fitbit once I get my hands on it.

The Gymboss Interval Timer is the next gadget I’m dying to get my hands on. It’s an interval timer used for high intensity interval training (HIIT) and Tabata workouts. Both types of workouts involve intense exercise broken up into short bursts of time with short rest periods. The Gymboss has two timers; one for rest periods and one for when you’re working up a sweat. One alarm tells you to rest, another tells you start exercising again. I’ve got my eye on the pink one!

I’m going to work healthier snacks, like these luscious cherries, into my life. I hated cherries as a kid, unless you count the sugary maraschino cherries that I loved on top of an ice cream sundae or in a Shirley Temple. Now, I think they are amazing. This was my breakfast snack this morning:

What’s your must-have gadget or strategy to get healthy and stay that way?