5 Tips for Sticking to your Workout Resolution/Plan

Hey everyone!

So I just finished my third week of working out with the intention of running a half marathon in May.  Some days it's been a challenge to find the drive to trek to the Rec Center in the cold after a day of teaching and classes when all I want to do is go home and climb into bed, but having a training plan is helping to keep me motivated and accountable.

I have also found inspiration once again from Gretchen Rubin author of The Happiness Project.  

Gretchen has a blog post here that lays out 12 tips for getting regular exercise, as well as a post here about boosting your energy level.  Both posts contain tips that have been matras for me as I move from day to day, so I would like to lay out my favorite tips here for you in no particular order.


5 Tips for Sticking to Your Workout Resolution/Plan

1. Get enough sleep. You don't have to make huge changes to your life to experience higher levels of energy and the motivation to be active.  Just start with getting 7-9 hours of sleep per night.

2. Always workout on Monday.  What you do each Monday sets the tone for the rest of the week, so by working out on Mondays you will begin each week positively with a bit of exercise.

3. Never skip exercising two days in a row.  Rest days are great, but rest days can quickly escalate into rest weeks.  Make sure to follow up a rest day with a workout day.

4. Act energetic.  When you act the way you want to feel, you are more likely to begin to feel that way.  This tip can also extend to other areas of your life: act more friendly, more loving, more patient, etc.

5. Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good.  You're going to have bad days, days when your legs just don't want to move.  That's ok.  Acknowledge what you do instead of what you don't do and move on.

I hope these tips help you like they've helped me!  If you made a new year's resolution but have stopped working towards your goal, consider this your call to re-start your efforts.  Don't let thoughts of "Well, since I haven't stuck to my resolution every day, it's not worth it to start back up again" get the best of you.  You can do it!

Until later,
Amy

P.S. This post was partially inspired by my friend Tory's post on sticking to your new year's resolutions by getting others to keep you accountable.  Check it out here!

Christmas with the Millspaughs

Hi everyone,
I've been trying to remember lately to take more photos, and although I forgot to take any pictures when I was visiting my family in Wisconsin, I did manage to pull out my camera while celebrating Christmas with Jesse's family on Christmas Eve and Jesse on Christmas morning.  Here are some of my favorite shots...

Christmas Eve 

Dinner!

Troy, Mom, and the boys, Xavier and Isaiah.

 

Toby, Donna, their baby gifts.  The diaper bag was handmade by Kayla!

Jason holding the boys

Jason, Tony, and Shelly

Matt and Kayla

Me clutching my new Packers blanket (!) and Jesse

Christmas Morning

Our tree and Christmas cards (above)

Me opening one present from Jesse: the book Road Food by Jane and Michael Stern

Jesse opening my present: a new set of kitchen knives.  Love that face!




Until next time,
Amy

My Happiness Project

Hey everyone,
So this year instead of making year-long resolutions, I've decided to follow in the footsteps of Gretchen Rubin and her Happiness Project.  As she documents in her two books, The Happiness Project and Happier at Home, each month Gretchen Rubin sets resolutions based on a theme and she charts her progress on a "Resolutions Chart."  I really enjoyed reading both of these books, and I couldn't wait to plan and start a happiness project of my own.

For the first month of my happiness project, I've decided to focus on building a healthy base as I start training for the half marathon Jesse and I are running in May.  Here are my four resolutions for this month:

1. Get enough (but not too much sleep).
It's not often that I don't get enough sleep, but sometimes I let myself sleep too much, and studies show that getting too much sleep is often just as harmful as not sleeping enough.  With this resolution I hope to go to bed earlier, sleep 8-9 hours, and wake up when my alarm goes off instead of hitting the snooze button.  I also want to start taking steps that I know will help me sleep better, such as turning off the computer 30 minutes before my bedtime and reading instead.

2. Act more energetic. 
This is one idea that Gretchen Rubin repeats in her happiness project book: act the way you want to feel.  If you want to feel more loving, act more loving.  If you want to feel more friendly, act more friendly.  I figure it can't hurt to try it out, especially since I notice myself commenting on being tired even when I am not very tired.  Hopefully I will begin to feel more energetic and this will translate into better workouts.

3. Track what I eat.
Whenever I track my food, I am more mindful of what I eat and I, therefore, eat better.  I also tend to lose more weight when I am tracking my food, which would be a nice side effect, even though my ultimate goal is just to eat healthier.

4. Drink (more than) enough water.
This is one area I am always trying to work on.  I hardly ever drink enough water, and sometimes I get headaches because of it.  Lately I have been trying to drink a glass of water in the morning before I eat anything, which I believe has helped.  I have also tried keeping a water bottle next to me at all times.  Hopefully these actions will help and this goal will keep me mindful of how much water I am drinking each day.

Alongside tracking my resolutions, I will also give myself a happiness rating each day to see if I actually do become happier over the course of my project.  This is something that Gretchen Rubin did not do but that I am interested in trying.

Well those are my resolutions for this month.  I'll keep you all updating on how my project is going.  Hopefully this will be something I stick with, since I am known to start resolutions and journals and never finish them!

Until later,
Amy