Q&A…Thursday? That’s right! To make up for the site’s outage yesterday, I promised the FB readership that I’d go through and answer ANY question they had about me or the site’s purpose. Let’s go!
Q: What did you find to be the hardest part to in beginning working out?
Q: How do you stay motivated even when your stress levels are maxed out!?!?
I paired both of these questions together because the answer, to me, is the same.
I don’t work out because I want to work out. I work out because that’s the commitment I make to myself. It’s that simple. The hardest part of beginning? Is realizing that.
Working out is my stress relief. It’s a small amount of time that I take out of my day to take care of me. To ensure that I will have an improved quality of life for both today and tomorrow. I understand that it’s difficult to commit to something today when you might not see the benefits of said commitment until the near (or distant) future, but just like saving and investing money… the time you invested today will absolutely pay off tomorrow.
Don’t paint working out as something that you have to feel inclined to do, or even necessarily enjoy. Look at it as something you dedicate to yourself, and you’re worth the effort it takes to get it done.
And don’t get me wrong – there are plenty of ways to get in different kinds of enjoyable activities. I practice yoga, I belly dance, I am a pole girl, I’m a strength trainer and I run. I enjoy them, but I don’t always love them… especially when I know I’m stressed and tired (and I’m referring specifically to running. Good grief, there are days I do not love running, but I’m always glad that I put on my kicks and stepped out the front door.)
So, in short… look at working out and being active as exactly what they are: tools to ensure that your quality of life is improved for not only today, but tomorrow and beyond… and then just get up and do it. The more you overcomplicate it, the more likely it is that you’ll skip it. Don’t do it to yourself!