This month, I noticed that Smaggle (who my autocorrect keeps insisting is called ‘Smuggle’) set herself a challenge called 3 Ways to Get Your Shit Together in September. One of the challenges was to do 20 minutes of exercise a day (#20minutesaday) and it got me thinking. See, I’ve been slacking off lately and I’ve gone from exercising most days a week to only a couple. Why? Because I’ve felt like I’m too time poor. I kept thinking that if I couldn’t have 45 minutes to an hour, then it wasn’t good enough. So I skipped it completely most days. Yeah. I know.
So I’m starting to really realise something. Brace yourselves for the obviousness…
DOING SOMETHING IS BETTER THAN DOING NOTHING.
I know. Duh.
I am a bit slow sometimes.
It is better to go hard on the treadmill (or whatever else I feel like doing) for 20 minutes than it is to sit on my butt whining about how I never have time to exercise. Also, kids and husbands hardly notice you’ve been gone for 20 minutes. It’s brilliant.
So, I’m not exactly getting 20 minutes in every single day, but I am definitely improving my mindset and the work out time I’m putting in! Yay!
Also, when I have to optimise my time (I literally time myself), I find I try so much harder. I have found myself racing against the clock. Yesterday I did 2km in 20 minutes. Which means it took me 10 minutes to run/walk a kilometre (pretty sure that’s not very impressive in athletic terms). Today I did 2.2km in 20 minutes. That’s a whole 200 more metres than last time! Ha. I’ll take it. An improvement is an improvement. It’s…wait for it…BETTER THAN NOTHING.
Celebrate the little things, y’all.
If I’d had an hour, I might have covered more distance in the long run (meaning a higher step count etc), but I don’t think I would get the same intensity out of it. Not at this point, anyhow. I’m calling that a win. Or at least a breakthrough.
I am going to keep trying harder to ditch my ‘all or nothing’ attitude. We might not always have the perfect circumstances, but we can do something. Because *repeat after me* DOING SOMETHING IS BETTER THAN DOING NOTHING.
Another thing that is really motivating me is #TheGoodLifeGang – a Facebook group started by Chantelle of Fat Mum Slim. It’s a place where everyone can get together to support each other in their different healthy living goals. The challenge goes until December and it’s seriously a very happy place. Everyone’s so lovely and it’s been great reading everyone’s stories and achievements. I can’t wait to see how everyone tracks by the end of the year! Being in this group, I mean gang, has really given me a boost that I felt I needed.
Also, it feels kind of bad ass to be in a gang. I recommend it.
Lastly, I’ll leave you with a new song to work out to – add it to your playlist!
How are you going with your health/fitness goals? Any achievements big or small to share? x
