It' been quite a while since I've posted anything in this blog. In fact, I assumed that I might as well be done with it. That there's a certain point where going back doesn't make any sense. However, I realized that it's never too late. It's never too late to do anything.
So, I felt it only fitting to start my first entry back by focusing on getting back into exercise. This last year has been a rough year for me personally. Many events and situations have cause me to get off track with my fitness goals. I found myself thinking the same things as I did above. That it was too late to get back on the fitness track I was on. That maybe I just wasn't cut out to be as fit as I always wanted to be. However, after my birthday this last week I realized yet again that it was not too late. In fact, if there was any time for me to focus on my health and happiness, it needs to be now. And I think that these feelings are common within many of us. With think it's too late, too hard, too time consuming, too.....the reasons are endless. And we're right, it is all of those things. In the world we live in things always come up that make living a healthy life so hard to stick to and enjoy. That's upsetting and discouraging. Especially when it seems so effortless for other people. But there's a reason it seems so effortless for them. Not neccessarily because it is, but because they have simply made a healthy diet and exercise a part of their lives. And it really, truly is something we all can do. It's not easy or effortless, and it will always take time, but it is possible. And more important than ever as we live in age when we know exactly what will happen to us if we don't.
Coincidentally, I was reading the latest issue of Women's Health Magazine, when I stumbled across an article called , "You're Too Legit to Quit,"written by Araina Bond. For years we've all been told that yo-yo dieting never works, that we have to stick to a healthy diet. But I've never even asked myself if my habit of "yo-yo exercisng" could be bad for me as well. But apparently new studies have shown that yo-yo exericise can have a poor effect on your body as well. Apparently it can affect everything, from your heart and your lungs to exhausting you emotionally and psychologically. And it's true. How many times have you had a bad week - or couple of weeks - and think, "No problem, I'll just hit the gym extra hard for the next couple of weeks and this weight will just fall right off." But then we slip up for a day, or don't see the results we expect to see and decide it's not worth it and give up, falling right off the wagon again.
And I'm sure it's easier than we'd like to admit to fall off the wagon. But, there are a couple of things this article suggested doing that may help you stick to your workout schedule, in order to attain complete health and happiness.
1. Adjust Your Goals:
I know that I've always been told to pick specific goals whenever I start a new work out routine. And I still think specific goals are great, but Bond suggests that when you pick some specific goals like, "I want to lose 10 pounds," you get dejected when you don't start seeing the numbers dropping before you on the scale. Instead, focus on making working out a part of your lifestyle instead of only trying it in order to achieve a numerical goal. Or even focus on fitting into a certain size rather than a certain weight, suggests Bond, since weight doesn't always reflect muscle mass. And let's be honest, we're never happy with the number on the scale, so maybe finding a new goal to focus on wouldn't be such a bad thing to try.
2. Work on Changing Your Exercise Routine
We've all been there. It's Monday morning after a weekend spent gorging ourselves on food and drink, and we are starting a whole new work out routine. We're excited, pumped up, and ready to go. Monday goes GREAT, Tuesday is ok, Wednesday.....
Bond suggests when get really excited about only one type of work out routine (running, spinning, yoga) that we can get really bored really quickly doing the same thing everyday. Not to mention, your muscles themselves get bored. I usually try to vary my exercise every other day. So for example, M/W/F might be running and weight lifting. Then T/TH/Sat might be running lower miles and/or yoga. That way I'm always keeping my muscles on their toes, which keeps both my muscles and mind excited about what comes next.
3. Ease Yourself Into It
Again, we all hit our strides of getting really excited about our workouts. We want to jump right back where we left off, but after a few weeks, or even months of non-activity our bodies aren't in the same condition that we left them in. So be careful and ease back into things. You don't want to injure yourself and put yourself right out of commission again.
Moral of the story: It's never too late or been too long for you to get back into exercise. Instead of looking at diet and exercise as an occasional activity, we should be looking for ways to incorporate it into our everyday lives. It's hard, and you'll most likely fall off the wagon, but it will always be there for you to hop back on.
Bond, Araina. "You're Too Legit to Quit." Women's Health Nov. 2011: 66-68. Print.
