Working Out!

This fall was my first semester of university and after years of empty promises to myself I finally became motivated enough to start working out on a regular basis.  It definitely wasn’t easy and at first, and when I started my new workout regime in September I would miss a couple days a week and sometimes even I would miss a whole week.

By the time December rolled around, I was pretty consistent with my workouts and it was rare for me to miss a day of working out. My hour a day of working out really helped me control my stress and frustration throughout the semester. Although I did have a consistent schedule of working out, I didn’t really push myself and the results I wanted weren’t coming as quick as I had hoped they would.

Starting my second semester of university, I reconnected with a friend of a friend and we got to talking and soon realized we shared the same goals in getting more fit. It was because of our shared goals we decided to make a new workout schedule together.

I’ve attempted many times to work out with people in the past and it never worked out. If one person was busy, that was the other’s excuse to skip the gym or we would go to the gym together and just goof around instead of getting anything accomplished. So, naturally I was skeptical if this new gym buddy would work out (no pun intended).

It ended up that we motivated each other quite a lot fitness-wise. By the end of January my gym buddy, Alexandra, helped me push myself more so I could see more results faster.

Eventually, we decided that only working out wasn’t cutting it. So we got together, cut out a bunch of magazines and created our own “Dream Board” http://christinekane.com/how-to-make-a-vision-board/ which is basically a visual representation of your long-term goals. In the months of February through April we cut out our bad eating habits, eating healthier and started seeing results right away.

Now that we aren’t in classes together like we had been in the previous semester, we aren’t able to workout together, but with each other’s motivation we still keep up a fairly regular workout schedule individually and try to keep up our good eating habits. 

In the end, I have noticed a huge change in myself motivation-wise and of course health-wise. A lot of this personal development that I have established would not have been as immense if I had not found the support in my friend, Alexandra.

On a side note, I have to say it feels great not being one of those freshmen that gained the infamous “Freshman 15.” I would definitely encourage those of you who are trying to get into a healthier lifestyle to talk with friends and attempt to find someone with the same goals as yourself. Or even, any goal in life you want to accomplish, finding someone with similar goals makes achieving those goals so much easier.