I’m so glad I started this challenge! I just completed day 14 (in a row) and I’m nearly halfway through after tomorrow’s session. The biggest reason I wanted to dedicate this month to a fitness challenge was because my mood was really down in the dumps, and from my past history with fitness and training, I know how integral movement is to getting back to my center and feeling happier. And overall I’m just easier to be around (hello, hubby!)
While I still feel overweight, there is something to be said about feeling strong and proud in your body. In the beginning, I struggled with planks and downward dogs, and both of those moves are getting easier and I feel much stronger in them! It’s also an interesting thing how I literally can feel like I hate my life when I don’t work out, and after working out and getting those endorphins going, I am able to feel joy and practice gratitude.
If you are like me and yearn to prioritize movement again, here are my 5 Tips to Get Started:
- Don’t wait for motivation. Motivation is overrated. Here is how I look at it: if you decided to base whether or not you went to work on your motivation, you probably would never go, right? That’s how I view working out. I 99.9% of the time never want to work out. But moving my body has never been about waiting for motivation, I simply: just do it!
- Don’t feed into your emotions. This is similar to my first point. I think working out can feel emotional for many of us. You’re judging yourself, you’re annoyed that you can’t do certain moves, you are grieving your old body. A lot of times I feel like I’m a little toddler throwing a temper tantrum. Don’t pay those emotions any mind!
- Find a challenge. For several months I’ve been trying to build exercise in my life by attempting to run three times a week. That didn’t work. This yoga challenge was integral for me to build a habit and commit to working out. It’s a half-hour or so every day, time I didn’t think I had. But I do, and because I want to complete this challenge, I find a way!
- Keep a journal. I have been keeping a journal to keep track of how this challenge is making me feel. It’s not crazy, just a sentence or two, but it helps me realize my “why” and for me to see how far I’ve come!
- Don’t try to squeeze into old workout gear. All of my workout clothes from pre-pregnancy no longer fit me. And it’s OK! It’s just a number on a tag. I have those set aside for donation, and went ahead and purchased a few outfits in my current size to work out in. It helps if they are cute-looking clothes that make you feel cute!
I’m excited to get through the remainder of the challenge and I think…I might be ready and open to completing that couch to 5K training plan I was so scared of. This challenge has definitely paved the way for me to integrate movement fully into my life!
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