A new year is upon us. When a new year comes around, it's a great motivation to start fresh, to clean out your dusty closets, and move ahead in life. Health and happiness top the resolution dreams and why not achieve those goals? No need to give up after the first week of January. Wouldn't you rather say, "I made it," instead of, "Like every other resolution, I gave up at the first sight of a couch, a Teen Mom marathon, and cake."?
Getting into the habit of eating right and exercising (because, guess what, those are the steps to losing weight, toning the body, and getting healthy) are not as hard as people make it out to be. Once something is done for a few weeks, it becomes routine habit (just like picking up Taco Bell on your way home from work, scarfing it down while watching America's Next Top Model re-runs, then collapsing into bed to sleep until noon the next day has been routine habit for the past few months).
A Few Things 2011 Has Taught Me:
1.Breaking the habits does become routine. Just do it. At first, you'll sneak a double cheeseburger for dinner here and there. Eventually, though, and faster than you think, you won't even want that double cheeseburger, the thought of eating it will make your stomach turn. Your body will reject the unhealthy, greasy, fatty food once you're used to eating better food and working your muscles hard with exercise. Trust me. It works.
2. Losing weight takes time and patience, but the results are well worth the wait. I'm determined to lose at least another sixty pounds by 2013. I'm absolutely sure I'll meet that goal and probably exceed it by quite a bit, but the reason I'm setting it a little low is because I want to lose the weight slowly. I want to be toned as well as thinner. I don't want to have all the excess skin that comes with losing a lot of weight quickly.
3. Plateaus happen, and they don't last forever. I'm planning on trying to lose 10 pounds a month, and if a week or two goes by where I don't lose any weight, I'll be alright. And that will happen. There will be weeks where the weight won't fall off my body, but after that plateau, I will start losing again.
4. You have to walk before you can jog before you can run. Another trick, is to start slow and work myself up. I've seen people hop on an elliptical or a treadmill and think they can run for thirty minutes after having not exercised in months. It simply won't happen. You have to build up the endurance. Otherwise, exercise is painful and not fun because you're tired after two minutes. So do five minutes your first day. Then ten. Then fifteen. And eventually you'll be able to go thirty or forty minutes a day like I do. You can't do it your first day, though, simply don't even try it.
In many ways I'm starting over again. I've been out of the gym since August 2011 and it's now January 2012. But I'm ready, despite school starting again next week, to not let anything, not even school, stand in my way.
5. Nothing feels better than that rush after a great workout. I ran on the elliptical for thirty minutes yesterday and it felt so amazing. I can't give justice to how much better I feel about my appearance just after thirty minutes of exercise. Your adrenaline and endorphins flow, it's magical and it feels amazing. I strut in front of the mirror after a good workout session. I'm sure any men in my life can testify that I feel very very very good about my body, even though that single session on the elliptical didn't make a significant physical difference. But mentally, it made a huge difference: I was reminded what I was keeping from myself by letting exercise lose the priority in my life for the past few months.
6. No excuses. No more. I need that health and happiness and I'm going to take it.
7. Even the smallest bit of exercise is better for your body than no exercise. Do what you can, when you can. Don't think that just because you don't have time to put an hour into the gym on Monday that you can't walk up and down stairs at work on your fifteen minute break or do a few jumping jacks in front of your desk.
So wish me luck and I'll wish you luck! We have the power and there's no reason to give up now.
Oh! P. S. I started a pinterest account and I have a board just for Fitness Motivation and Inspiration. Here's the link, check it out if you're ever contemplating sitting through another episode of The Soup instead of going for a jog:
Click here for Fitness Motivation and Inspiration!
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