exercise

Unselfishly Choosing Myself and My Health

Mary4 Comments

I’ve made it a goal this year to get fit. Why? I think  I’m hilarious. My favorite thing about myself is that I can crack myself up in minutes and laugh about it for days. So what does that have to do with getting fit? Honestly, I’m not always a fan of my body. My body doesn’t make me feel the same way I do when I crack a really good joke.

The Why

The thing about my body though, is it’s what sustains my life. God’s given me one chance (well let’s be real He gave me a really good guardian angel so my clumsy self can get a few more than one) to live a really awesome life. I’ve spent ~23 years avoiding healthy foods, the gym, and really anything else that’s good for me because I didn’t like it. Yeah, that makes sense, I hate the gym and it makes me anxious, so why should I go? Well, I should probably go so I don’t get out of breath when I run up the stairs. I really don’t like salads and make I gross salad face when I eat them, so I haven’t eaten them. Well, they’re full of antioxidants that help me from getting sick, and they help make eating chips slightly more healthy.

Avoidance

The thing about being healthy for me has always been out of pure laziness and snacks taste better than veggies. It’s easier to grab takeout or fast food on my way home from work than it is to cook a healthy meal for one when I get home. It’s easier to heat up some chicken nuggets in the microwave then it is to bake some chicken. It’s easier to eat like crap. 

Acceptance & The Test Group

So to get myself to the gym I pay for I followed some fitness blogger, @DaniPowerYoga to be exact, and she kept posting about this test group. So in a spur of the moment decision, I decided to join. It’s day 12 and honestly, I’m already tired of it but I’m pushing through to day 80. This test

It’s not easy, there are a LOT of rules. I would be lying if I said I was going to follow all of them. I won’t. I’m trying to make myself live a healthier life and I’ve come to the realization that if I only eat what I’m told to for these 80+ days I’m going to go crazy binge eating when I’m done.

So I’m trying my best. I’m getting fit. I’m hopefully going to lose some weight and go on a vacation and feel great in a bikini after this.

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What To Do When You’re Anxious

Mary3 Comments

Anxiety is something that can strike at anytime, here are my tips on ways to handle anxiety and what you should do when your anxious.

  • If you can, leave the situation that’s making you anxious. This won’t always be the case, sometimes you’re at work or school or whatever else, but if you can leave. Remove yourself from the situation.
  • Take a nap. Anxiety attacks are physically exhausting. Your body releases adrenaline, which after an extreme release that can make you just exhausted. take a nap, it’ll help you feel better.
  • Take a shower. It’s very easy to not take a shower when you don’t want to do anything, however, you will feel so much better once you wash all of the anxious feeling right down the drain. It also is one step closer to getting yourself and life together.
  • Make a to-do list. I know this won’t help everyone, it might make some people feel more organized. Personally, I can better evaluate my life when I make lists, it helps me feel better, and as I cross things off the list it makes the anxiety lessen with each check mark.
  • Go on a walk/run/jog or do some exercise of some sort. A lot of people find yoga really helpful. Personally, I am not an athletic person at all, but I do find it very therapeutic to sprint as far as I can just to get all of my anxious feelings out.

What do you do when you’re anxious? These are really just some of my best tips on what to do when your anxious!

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Average Adventure: A Hike with Lindsay

Mary1 Comment

Today I went on a nice little walk in the woods with my best pal, Lindsay. I took some nice snapshots of the woods and some video which will be linked in tomorrow’s post hopefully. Walks are just nice to do with friends because it’s the best way to catch up and get exercise. Lindsay is very fitness friendly but I was the one promoting lunge walks today. You’ll see some of my ways to exercise in my video later. For now here are some pictures!

What are you guys doing over fall breaks?

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It’s Always Going to be Tomorrow

Mary6 Comments

I think since I told you guys I was going to try and make better lifestyle choices for myself I kept telling myself I would do it tomorrow and that was three plus months ago. There were definitely days where I put forth an effort that was equivalent to skipping dessert or adding lettuce to a sandwich, but in all honesty nothing drastic. For lent I gave up soda, and I really thought that would stick, it didn’t. I would go on walks but it was so leisurely and as soon as I would break a sweat I would be done. Everyday when it came down to the fries or the salad, my decision was “I’ll choose the salad tomorrow.”

When I was younger I loved the idea that tomorrow was never going to happen and I think that’s something I’ve always carried with me. For some reason I kept saying it though, tomorrow I’ll go on a walk, tomorrow I’ll go the gym, tomorrow I’ll have a salad for dinner, tomorrow I’ll figure out a healthier option than chicken nuggets and curly fries for lunch, it never turned to a today. Until you say “I’m doing that right this very moment” it’s always going to be tomorrow or later.

So today as I was in my vegetative state on the couch watching YouTube like I do everyday after work and dinner just staring at the elliptical. Then I thought, I should really work out, like I think everyday, however instead of thinking “I should” today I said “I will”. My dad set up the Google Chromecast for me and I watched YouTube while I worked out. I’m not going to lie it was tough, I haven’t done much physical activity since I left school and even towards the end of the semester I started going to a different church that was farther away and had to drive to so I stopped walking. I did the elliptical for probably a half an hour with some crunches, squats, and stretching in there too, don’t want to hurt myself that’s for sure. I then did yoga for what was supposed to be fifteen minutes but the last 10 was all breathing so I only did five of that.

I hope that maybe this sets a tone for healthy living for me. I hope that I keep putting YouTube on the tv when I get home from work. I hope that maybe I swap out my bread for lettuce (I’m really trying to like lettuce but I just don’t like it), eat more grilled foods, swap out the ice cream for just a piece of dark chocolate. I want this to be the start of something that’s good for me. I want to be fit, I want to be healthier, I just have to take the jump.

Any advice or motivation? Send me happy thoughts please. Just a reminder you don’t have to wait until January to be healthy.

XOXO,

Mary.