I'm trying to create new habits in my life, and one of them is to make working out part of daily life. I'm slowly working on changing my mindset surrounding workouts. For a long, long time, I've always been one of those people who enjoys the after-effects of working out, but loathes the process of accomplishing the workout (the getting dressed, the actual workout, showering/changing out of workout clothes, etc). Sometimes the effort just wasn't worth it. Which is why it was so easy for me to skip a workout. I talked myself out of it. It was too big of a task and I always had a million excuses for why I didn't have time to workout.
So, needless to say, my workouts have always been pretty sporadic, and it's normal for me to take not just days off in between workouts, but weeks. Sometimes even months. I'm notorious for going on streaks - working out "regularly" (2-3+ times per week) for weeks and even months, and then stopping abruptly and not working out at all for weeks and even months. It's a vicious cycle. And I'm my own worst enemy.
I don't know if I'm just hard-wired differently than other people, or the will isn't there, or maybe I just don't want it enough. I don't know. But what I do know is, I need to change if I want there to be a change. So with that, I've been working on changing my mindset when it comes to working out everyday.
As of today, I have worked out 16 days in a row. That sounds intense when I write it out like that, but I promise you it's not. All it means is that every single day, I make sure I do something above and beyond my regular activities of daily living. Running around after my toddler, going to the park, cleaning...all those things that technically get my heart rate up a bit and burn a few extra calories, while also getting in my goal of 10,000 steps per day, do not count as "working out". Those are just things I do in my day to day life, but they definitely do not count as a workout (as much as I would like them to!).
So what counts as a workout? Some days I run or walk on the treadmill. Some days I will pack up my toddler in the chariot and walk at a brisk pace for an hour or so without stopping. Some days I pop in my 21 Day Fix DVD and do one of the workouts on it. Or somedays I actually make it to the gym for BodyPump or another fitness class. But then there are other days, where I'm sore, or really tired and I just want to crawl into bed and read. On those days, I opt to do a short yoga video online. Because it's not something that I consider part of my regular day, even a 10 or 15 minute yoga video counts as "working out" because I'm actively doing something instead of doing nothing at all.
Right now, my goal isn't to lose weight, although fitting into my clothes better would be a nice bonus. My goal that I'm striving for is a lifestyle change. I want working out to become second nature to me. A given in my day to day life. I've noticed over the past 2+ weeks that my mindset is starting to change from "do I HAVE to work out today?" to "WHAT am I going to do for a workout today?". I don't wake up and think "nope, not working out today". Instead, I think about our day and what kind of exercise I feel like accomplishing. If I know I will have time to get to the gym in the evening, I will leave it for then. If not, I take my workout to the basement during the day, or I make a point of getting outside if the weather permits. Some days get away from me and I do my workout after Sully is in bed, or while Jim puts him to bed. Miraculously, it hasn't been hard to fit it in though.
It's not the perfect system yet - I know a lot of people physically schedule their daily workouts into their daytimer's, and while I'd love to get to that point one day, I'm not there yet. But maybe one day! For now though, this is working for me and I'm digging this new outlook at working out.
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A peak at my workouts from the past week:
Friday: 30 minute Yoga Flow online video
Saturday: 21 Day Fix Total Body Cardio Fix (forgot how hard this is!)
Sunday: Active "rest" day - played soccer and baseball with Jim and Sully
Monday: 21 Day Fix Dirty 30 workout (one of my favourite's from the DVD!)
Tuesday: 60 minute walk pushing the chariot. My fitbit wouldn't sync so I have no idea how far we actually walked, but my legs were pretty sore the next day.
Wednesday: Feeling achy and sore, I opted for a 10 minute Bedtime Yoga video. While this was completely relaxing and just stretching, it was exactly what my tired body needed before going to sleep.
Thursday: 21 Day Fix Upper Body workout (I love this one so much!)
*Linking up with Kris from Canadian Girl Runs for Fitness Friday
*Linking up with Jill for Living a Life of Fitness, Health & Happiness
Do you struggle with working out regularly?
How do you make regular workouts a part of your everyday life?
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