Exercise

What a dreaded word…I know we ALL hear it, cringe, start thinking of the perfect excuse to procrastinate, or just ignore it all together.

Well, I don’t blame you all on it. I’m the exact same way. It seems like so much focus is to incorporate “exercise” in our lives that we kind of miss the mark on what exercise really is. It’s the act of getting our bodies moving and using the calories we consume. We all know the benefits of exercising, so I won’t dive too deeply into it. I’ll just list some key points that exercise brings to us:

Health of course….by incorporating exercise our health improves in SO many levels. Physical health is the obvious, but your mental health benefits as well. Not only is your self esteem boosted, but exercising releases endorphins and powerful chemicals that can actually treat mild depression.

Reduction of stress….I’ll tell you from personal experience, this is one of the best ways I manage my stress.  Aerobic exercises actually release chemicals and hormones that promote well being which in turn helps you manage your stress.

Self esteem….When you accomplish your exercising goals you can’t help but feel good about yourself and your accomplishments. Plus, with our upcoming 5k race in a few months, what a GREAT feeling you will feel (after the race of course hahaha). You can pat yourself on the back and say, “my two feet did this”. 

Natural boost of energy levels….Pretty much self explanatory.

So with all of these benefits, why is it so hard for us to actually DO it? Well….it’s not fun. It’s hard. It’s time consuming. Well, that’s the problem isn’t it? Who wants to take time out of their busy days to incorporate unpleasantness into our precious time? Not me, that’s for sure. So what do we do about it? Don’t just exercise to exercise. Find something that you enjoy and commit to a measly 15-30 minutes each day and DO it. Just make that mental note that for 15-30 minutes, you will do SOMETHING. Make it fun, who says you have to torture yourself on a treadmill....Enjoy the outdoors? Go for daily walks or go jogging outside. Like watching movies? Do some exercises while watching your favorite movie like sit ups, push ups, or using a treadmill or stationary bike. I myself LOVE music, so that’s what I do on my daily runs. I listen to my iPod and enjoy the tunes. It’s amazing how by focusing on the songs I find how far I’ve ran. I get stuck in that “oh my gosh, I have SO far to go” mindset. By focusing on each song instead of WHERE I am makes the run SO much more enjoyable and the run goes by all the more quicker.

Want other easy ways to incorporate “movement” in your daily life? Do simple things like leg lunges when vacuuming. Skip a stair each step when going up a staircase. Park in the back instead of finding the closest spot in parking lots. Get creative, think outside the "exersize box". I'm sure Kerissa can attribute, daily activities like caring for horses can certainly count as part of your workout routine ;)

What are some other ideas you all have in adding exercising or movement into our days?