I don’t do anything school-related anymore, but this time of year always feels like a fresh start. With only a few months left to the year, Labor Day is like New Year’s Lite! In keeping with the New Year’s theme, I’m setting a Labor Day resolution to become active again.
A giant thank you goes to Fussy Busty for giving me the push I needed to do this. She mentioned it to me and some other bloggers in early August, which gave me enough time to recognize my need for exercise and to mentally prepare for it. Once September 1 arrived, I dusted off my gym shoes, squeezed back into my Enell sports bra, and hit the road walking for 30 minutes. I did the same thing today.
I’m still pondering what specific goal to set. Too often I start too high (an hour a day five days a week!), get sick, and quit. At the other extreme, I set a goal that’s too easy (half an hour three times a week), get bored or distracted, and quit. So I think I’ll make this my September goal: exercise for at least half an hour for sixteen days (i.e., four days a week). Now I need to come up with a reward for reaching my goal, and another reward for surpassing it. Any ideas?
My favorite exercise rewards are new gym/workout clothes or shoes, or a new sports bra! Love these since they help us ladies indulge our shopaholic side but also encourage healthy behaviors, since you’ll need an excuse (exercise!) to wear your new finds!
Thanks for these virtuous ideas that tap into my shopaholism, Abbi. This morning I had the idea of of rewarding myself w/ a membership to the YMCA at the end of the month because I’ll need the variety and company by then. On a daily level, there’s a dog run nearby. I’m trying to figure out how to time my walks so that they end up at the dog run so that this could be my daily reward!
I’m doing this too. Use a free app program like “runkeeper” on your iphone to track your progress. It uses GPS to track how far and fast you go – how many calories your burn etc. It’s a real motivator to see new pace records, a week/month of calories burned etc. It also tracks my walks, treadmill time/distance on rainy days, cycling and lots of other activities so you can really see what you are doing. I am mixing in all kinds of activities so I don’t get bored and have no excuses for not being active. My goal is to do something 4-5 times a week – even if it’s cycle down to coffee shop and back. It’s really all about taking time to be active. If you limit yourself to something like just running – it’s too easy to get off course.
Good Luck!
PS = busty girls who run – check out the Shock Absorber run bra – AMAZING! Changed my life.
I’ll see if I can get this on my Android. Thanks for the suggestion. Another reader bought a Fitbit last year, and she really liked it. Good point about mixing up the activities! Want to check in w/ me again at the end of this month and tell me how you did?
I second the idea of new workout gear as a reward. Being that I do “races” now, I like to have a cute outfit for race photos. I’ve also found that if I feel and look better while I running, I’m more likely to get out there. I’ll be back to my morning runs next week when my children are back to school.