The 82nd Attempt to Get Healthy

I am enrolled in an Active Lifestyles class at UW Oshkosh. It's required. It's boring. And they require workouts.

If you know me well, you know that I value being healthy, fit, and excercising regularly.  The only problem is that I have NO TIME!

I am sure that many people can express the same issues that i have; full time student, two part-time jobs, and a list of to-do's up the wazoo! But I have found that all i needed was a half hour per day to get the exercise that i need.  In August, I started going to the YMCA with a friend (shout-out to Abbigail Kjemhus!); we did Zumba, swimming, walking the track...things to make the workout seem less boring.  Unfortunately, here I sit, skipping Zumba, and driinking a mocha freeze at New Moon, my fav cafe on the cormer of Main and Algoma in Oshkosh.  In my class we learned that if you exercise with others, you are more likely to continue that exercise because you have a support system along with motivation.  So why then am I still sitting here, with no ambition to go to the YMCA or the REC Center at school?

Well I looked it up.  My thirst for knowledge hit me like a two-ton brick and knowing that it does not come very often, I decided to act on it.  This led me to numerous websites:
Harvard - Why we should exercise - why we don't
Top 10 Reasons You Don't Exercise
Psychological Reasons as to Why We Don't Work Out
Granted, some of these are less reliable than others, but they all point to the same conclusion.  In my quest for knowledge, I discovered that we have a lack thereof!  What I need to do is learn what is suitable for my body and what makes me comfortable, yet pushed.  Following the stars' workouts and commparing my body to scientific standards and peers is not the way to go.  If I can take away anything from my Active Lifestyles class, it is that I have to find ways to improve my overall wellness, not just my body.  I believe that working out the mind is just as important as the body, and they need to be balanced, otherwise success will be VERY far away.

So I have taken up yoga at school, I run occassionally on the treadmill, and I stretch and meditate in the mornings before class.  I can honestly say they I feel better everyday that I do it.  I have made it habitual, and enjoyable.  That is why I can sit here and drink my mocha freeze; I have the confidence that I can be relaxed and at peace with how I look and feel completely bsed upon this routine I have created for myself.  I have also come to terms with the fact that sometimes, my workout will fail me; I will stop for a few weeks and get out of wack, but I can always try again! So even though it may turn in attempt number 83, it won't matter.  With my self confidence, I know that it's better than just having 82 tries. 

So if you are ever struggling to keep up with your "workout", please try a break.  Relax your mind, figure out something new to do (if you are like me, you will love the change!), and keep loving yourself! You are doing it for yourslef, you know, even if you don't know how. :)