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It's that time of the year that a lot of people make New Year's resolutions to become the most healthy version of themselves. I'm all for living a healthy lifestyle. As some of you may know, I'm a little crazy about working out and eating clean.
As a fashion-loving girl, one of the things that keeps me motivated is getting new workout clothes. That might sound crazy, but it's just like buying new street clothes. I get excited to wear them which motivates me to get my butt to the gym.
The majority of my workout clothes are from Express, Gap, Target, and Old Navy. I've linked some of my fave items in the widget below. These shoes are my absolute favorites because they go with literally every single thing I own!
I wanted to share the beginning of my fitness journey with you today. I think it's so easy to be intimidated or discouraged that we aren't as far as we'd like to be. It's really important to look back and see how far you've come sometimes too. Grab a snack because this post is going to be a little long.
As a kid, I was always active. I played sports and spent the majority of my time running around outside. Once I went to college, my lifestyle changed and after a tad too much partying, I gained quite a bit of weight. It wasn't cute. In 2011, I started running with my mom after work every night. At first I could barely make it down the street without huffing and puffing. I slowly built up my endurance and one night we were running together and I said I was shooting for 2 miles. I started and ended up running 3 miles with her. I was SO proud. It may seem so small to a lot of people, but at that point in my life, it was a big deal to me. I couldn't wipe the smile off of my face. The weight started falling off of me.
I was happy that I had finally lost the extra weight I was carrying around, but I was still unbelievably unhappy with my body. I decided I wanted to get a personal trainer. I figured in 3 months I'd have my dream body and be able to just 'maintain'. I walked into my current gym in September of 2012, and told the owner 'I hate my body and want that to change.' He told me I was 'skinny fat'; I looked skinny, but had zero muscle mass on me whatsoever. I signed up for 3 months of personal training sessions and started 2 days later.
The first few weeks were brutal. I was so sore that every single thing on my body hurt. As the weeks and months wore on, I started getting stronger, building more endurance, and I loved every single second of it.
Now, 2 and 1/2 years later, I still work out with a trainer. I also lift weights on my own a couple days a week and go to boot camps on the weekends.
I don't have my dream body. I still suffer with how unsatisfied I am when I look in the mirror. I've been trying to look back and remember that although I still have a VERY long way to go, I've also made tremendous progress. Working out has become my therapy. It's something I crave at the end of a day at the office. It clears my mind, and is the time I get to work on myself.
I've written and deleted this post multiple times throughout the last year. I felt unqualified to write about this and try to help you out when I don't feel like I'm at my goal yet either. When the new year hit and everyone was talking about their resolutions to be healthier, I decided it was time to share this.
Theodore Roosevelt said, "Comparison is the thief of joy." It's so unbelievably true. No matter where you start, someone will be farther along than you are and someone will still be on the couch scared to start. The important part is that you start. You can do it!
I hope this helps you in some way or another. If it helps even one person, I would be so happy (:
