Nike's Right

Have you ever noticed how hard it is to get into an exercise routine or get back into one?

Tuesday night after a meeting, a friend of mine and I were talking about health. Last year she lost probably 50 or 60 pounds with the help of a nutritionist and working out. She looks fabulous, and I was asking how she jump started her program. I explained that sometimes it's just so hard to motivate myself to get to the gym, especially when it's cold.

Her response was simple: Just do it.

She explained that even when you think the gym is the last place you want to be, you should still drag yourself and at least get on the treadmill or bike for 10 minutes. If you really want to get healthy, you have to do it.

It all seems so simple, doesn't it?

So Wednesday morning my roommate came into my room and said, "Who's ready to go to the gym?!" Obviously this was met with a snarl and a, "Do we have to?" But, we sucked it up and did it.

The first five minutes on the treadmill went surprisingly fast. I felt good that I was finally working out again. But then I took notice of the time... and soon it was all I could focus on. "My gosh, I've only been going 8 minutes?? Now 8 minutes and 23 seconds??"

I'm hoping that by getting into a pattern it won't seem like that much of a struggle to get me there and to stay focused on the workout itself. I did feel great afterwards, so in the end it paid off. Like my friend said, all you have to do is just do it.

Not As Hoped...

The new year isn't going exactly like I thought it would. But in all honesty, I didn't expect it to start off stellar simply because of my week-long trip. I was fortunate enough to spend a week in Italy on a study tour through school. The walking definitely helped...but all that amazing food didn't.

Two good friends of mine and I are going to kick of the "new year" on Feb. 1. That's when we felt we would be adjusted to the new semester. We're in the process of developing a pretty detailed meal plan (if you plan meals ahead, research shows you're less likely to binge or eat more than you want) and also an exercise plan. I'm hoping that I don't try to take on too much at once, which tends to be my downfall. I'll have all the motivation in the world and make it a goal to work out for an hour on top of drinking 8 glasses of water, incorporating new foods and such. I'm just setting myself up to be overwhelmed after a few days.

Want to know what's really weird, though? I've been eating soup for breakfast. Wrong meal, right? Not anymore.

I read a magazine article a couple weeks ago about how you don't necessarily need to stick to breakfast foods for breakfast. I used to be a big cereal person. I could eat it morning, noon and night. But I think I've exhausted that. Cereal doesn't look appetizing, and I'm not really a breakfast food person (unless it's bacon and eggs, which I don't have time to make...nor should I be making). The article said breakfast is the most important meal of the day, so why not start it off right? No one says you have to limit yourself.

And you know what? I've found in the few days I've done it that it actually works. I feel fuller quite a bit longer and I feel like I have some energy to sustain me throughout the morning. Plus the warm soup is perfect given that we just got a few inches of snow yesterday...

We'll see if I want to stick with the habit.