Now that we got that over with...
About a month ago, I talked on the blog about trying to start a healthier lifestyle and why I was motivated to do so. Within a month, I've made a few small changes to my daily schedule that have really helped me feel better both mentally and physically.
Exercise everyday.
Always eat breakfast.
Don't restrict all your bad cravings.
Surround yourself with supportive people.
I've decided to break up these topics into their own posts, so today I'm going to focus on exercise and how it's already made me feel better in just a month. Like I said, I am not a runner. I used to hate running because my body would hurt everywhere, I would get thirsty too fast, and everyone else always seemed to run faster than me.
I tried to run in college, but different things would get in the way. Meetings, homework, studying, planning, Netflix, boba...you know, all the at-the-time-legitimate excuses we make to avoid doing the things we loathe. On good weeks, I'd run two miles maybe two or three times a week. On bad weeks, which happened a lot more frequently, I wouldn't run at all.
And then post-grad life happened and all of the distractions I once used to skip running were all gone. What? You can actually run out of excuses? Man, life is tough.
One night on a whim, I somehow got myself into joining a #100dayrunstreak challenge with my uncle. How I convinced myself I have no idea because we all know I suck at finishing big projects that I start. Well, 23 days later and I'm still on a run streak and over 20% to the challenge.
1. Always have someone to keep you accountable.
As I've mentioned before I am not a runner (broken record yet?), but having someone (or in my case many people) know about my workout goals keeps me accountable and helps me take the challenge more seriously. Sometimes people ask me, "What do you get out of this?" and I always say, "Nothing!" Shocker, sometimes there isn't always a prize when you finish something except for your own self-esteem and self-accomplishment. Something I try to teach my Kindergartners, but they seem to still want the Goldfish at the end of everything. They're a work in progress.
2. Prioritize exercise time.
Like I said before, I always found more important things to do in college that seemed to bump down exercising. It wasn't that I didn't think exercise was important, but that school, tests, mandatory meetings and extracurriculars felt more important. In other words, on a scale of important to really important, exercise was on the far left next to important.
Coming out of college, I've noticed my life settle into more of a routine rather than unexpected or random things popping into my schedule from week to week. Because of that, every day at 9pm my body knows that it's time to run, and it somehow shuts everything else off for the one hour in order to concentrate on just running. I love knowing to expect a run at 9pm because it helps me be more efficient with my time by finishing school assignments and tasks before my run and using the time after my run to get ready for bed and prepare for the next day.
I'm not saying people without a lot of routine in their lives can't run, but it sure makes it a lot easier when your load isn't as heavy and your days are more predictable. For me, running in college was hard, but I also know plenty of friends from school who did make it work and actually worked out almost everyday because they prioritized it more than other things. Whatever type of schedule you have, I still believe you can set aside at least 30 mins of your day to go on a quick one mile jog at the very least!
3. Get people to join you!
Not only does it help to have someone keep you accountable for your personal challenge, but also having them participate with you is even better! Running with my aunt and uncle every night has become something of a ritual in our neighborhood. Every night exactly at 9pm, we meet up to run one of the few routes we've created. Often times I run faster or longer than I thought I was going to do when I first begin. It's an incredible, motivating feeling when you can workout with people and have fun in the process!
I also love running with family because it helps us bond more and keeps us updated on our daily lives. I feel a lot closer to my aunt and uncle now just by seeing them every night and checking in on our days as we run and talk.
Something that has surprised me during this challenge is how many people we've encouraged to run along with us! Every so often, we'll get friends or neighbors to come join us for a run and it's awesome knowing your running group is growing!
So there you have it, folks. This is how I get myself out of the house every night to run! On another note, crazy story but I didn't get home from LA Saturday night until 1am because I was cleaning out my old apartment, which left me no choice but to run by myself around my neighborhood at 1am for a good mile. #dedication
If you're interested in joining me on the #100dayrunstreak challenge, comment below with why you're motivated to start the challenge! There are just a few simple rules to the game. You have to run at least one mile everyday to make it count towards your streak. If you miss a day, you just have to start back at Day 1. Post a photo every now and then on Instagram and hashtag #100dayrunstreak to keep us all in the loop and keep yourself accountable!
All you non-runners, busy-schedule-ers, and excuse-ridden people, let's get moving! We got this!
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