I BE UP IN THE GYM

just workin on my fitness….
(literally all I could think of for this title. Judge not. And if you don’t understand it no worries hahaha)ANYWAYS
I have been pretty apprehensive to post anything fitness related on here since I feel like I am NO expert on this topic AT ALL. 

SO here they are…
(once again.. these are all opinions)

Growing up my Dad ran 6 miles every single morning (and still does to this day!). I was raised with an awareness that exercise was important and my Dad explained he felt it was the absolute best way to start his day. He would always encourage (/force) us to go on bike rides alongside him on Saturday mornings, ski with him every Saturday in the winter, mow the lawn & do all yard work in the summer. He also encouraged us to pursue sports that allowed us to be active throughout the week. Although yard work doesn’t seem like an exercise it most DEFINITELY is. I grew up mowing the lawn at my parents or the neighbors, trimming the bushes in the backyard, weeding, gardening, pouring bark, shoveling the snow, as well as doing all household chores. Is it weird for me to say I honestly miss mowing my parents lawn? LOVED IT. Point is: be active whatever you do! Get up and move around for at least an hour every day.I try to be active everyday of the week (except for Sundays). On Sundays I LOVE my slow walks with Will in the evening but throughout the week I do more high intensity workouts. I will most likely go on a run, do intervals on the treadmill, attempt a workout I find online, go on a long walk, play tennis, complete a Nike Training club workout etc. It has now just become a habit of mine! I wake up, exercise, then start my day! 

2. Cardio everyday won’t do a thing. 
Something really hard for me to realize was that solely doing cardio wouldn’t ever change my body. I love getting my “steps” in on my fitness watch and assumed if my step count wasn’t high I wasn’t getting a great workout in. Well that’s FALSE! It was neat for me to learn that doing weight training exercise in the morning would help me continue to burn calories throughout my day compared to the instant/only calories I burn while I go for a run.

3. Find a workout buddy.
Find someone you live by and pick exercises you like to do together! Whether that’s going on a long walk after a work/school day, hiking, early morning gym sessions, at home workouts, tennis etc… trust me, exercising is easier with a +1!

For almost a year straight I was running 4-6 miles everyday of the week (besides Sundays). While I never saw any drastic results in my body, my body felt tired and brittle due to such high impact exercise every single day. I also stopped menstruating completely! (TMI sorry). I felt unhealthy (oddly enough) and was worried my body wasn’t behaving the way it should. Now I switch it up everyday and feel a lot healthier! I will run one day, do yoga the next at Core Power, go to Dash fitness the next, run/walk at the High School Track the next and then maybe go to a class at Orange Theory or something similar. I never do the same workout twice in a week!

 

Far too often I get all ready to go exercise and realize my body is TIRED. Juggling quite a bit of different things in my life can wear out my body and I have learned to not push it. Bodies are fragile! If you feel lethargic, have exercised too much that week, or have hardly gotten any sleep, go take a nap! I find that resting is a lot more healthy than a workout if your body isn’t up for it at the time.

6. For runners: shoes are key.
If you are a runner/wanting to get into running I suggest you get a pair of GOOD running shoes. When I first got into running 5-6 years ago I went into my local running store and they actually filmed me running and told me how much I pronate etc. They told me the perfect shoe for me due to how I run was this shoe. Once you find your perfect running shoe running becomes easier! Promise.

7. Enjoy it!
A lot of people look at exercise as a burden or something of that nature but I honestly enjoy it. I love getting endorphins and finding different exercises I love. It’s a lot easier to do things you love so learn to LOVE it!

I’m thrilled that I finally found a way good workout that I absolutely LOVE and look forward to. It’s at Dash studios in SLC and the class is called Obsidian. It’s so hard to describe but basically it’s just a workout like NO OTHER. I leave every class already sore! I do NOT understand how that even happens haha. Go try it if you are in Utah!! I am considering getting certified in it I love it that much. You will never find a workout like it. Promise.

Also, I’m loving Core Power yoga! Your first week IS FREE. See details here.

8. 80/20
A sad reality is that no matter how much you exercise, if you don’t eat right you probably won’t lose too much weight. I am NO example of this so don’t take this advice from me but take it from the experts. Haha. I love food too much to be good at this dang it -__-

9. Love your body
More importantly than anything listed above, love your body. Our body is a gift to us and it’s so so so sad for me to see people absolutely hate it. For a while, I really wanted a body different from the one I had. I wanted this to be different and that to be different, I wanted her legs and this & that. After dabbling with a little disorder three years ago I have come to a realization that I will never look at my body like that ever again. It’s MY body. MINE. It’s different than yours. It’s different than everyone else’s… and that’s pretty dang neat. SO love it. Love every bit of it. Embrace it. It’s too big of a gift to hate it. We’re all different for a reason.