A Fitness Love/Hate Story

I did yoga at home yesterday for the first time in, oh, let's just say a very long time. Today my hamstrings are paying for my lack of exercise lately. For someone who could have been considered rather athletic back in the day, I'm in relatively pretty bad shape. Since moving to Florida, a whole year ago, I have really let myself get lazy. I like to blame it on the heat, but that's really no excuse when I can do yoga inside of a comfortably air-conditioned apartment. I think it's fair to say that I have no excuses, and I really need to get off my butt and workout once in a while.

{ this photo was from my high school club volleyball days }

my vertical isn't quite what it used to be....

I used to be rather flexible when it came to stretching before a workout. When I was around five years old, I used to think it was fun to jump up and land in a splits position. I also used to wrap myself into a pretzel on the floor and relax comfortably while in that position. Not even that long ago, say less than a year, I could also touch my toes from a standing position rather easily. I can still touch them but not without great effort. I'm a far cry from being able to put the entire palm of my hands on the floor like I used to do. I have really let work, laziness the weather, and just about anything get in the way of working out these days. Like I said before, I have no excuse.

It's not just that I want to be able to do things I used to do effortlessly, although that is nice, but more importantly I want to be healthy and in shape. Health and fitness are things I want for life. I have never been into dieting or fads, because I'm a firm believer that we must make life changes and stick with them forever if we want to see results. For that very reason I rarely make New Year's resolutions, because they just never seem to stick. They're often made of short term goals like eating less ice cream or watching less television. I think the Oscar Wilde quote says it best: "We must do everything in moderation, including moderation." Too much of a good thing can make you feel burned-out, but not enough of something can make you feel badly too. There has to be a fitness middle ground.

Sometimes I'm guilty of knowing what is best for me but not always doing the right thing. I am definitely far from perfect, but I like to try. It's funny when we catch ourselves getting into unhealthy habits like not exercising enough or maybe cursing too much, both of which I'm guilty of, and we have the choice to make a change. For whatever reason, sometimes making the change is the hardest part. Once I get into a new healthy habit though, it almost always feels better. It's sort of like God is saying "Hey, see I knew you would feel better once you stopped doing that stupid thing you were doing." Because obviously He thinks we're being stupid when we purposely hurt ourselves or others. (:

I often say that the first step is the hardest one, so this is nothing new to me. If working out became a daily thing it would be just as normal as brushing my teeth in the morning. At least that's what I'll tell myself. I'm not motivated by losing weight or having a certain body.... I mean, those are obviously nice side effects of working out, but I'm more interested in long term benefits like my health, reduced risk of diseases like heart disease, and who knows, maybe even adding a year or two to my life. Let's just say that I'll probably have sore hamstrings for a couple weeks, but I think it will be worth it.