I BE UP IN THE GYM JUST WORKING ON MY FITNESS

For anyone that has ever worked a full-time job, you know how hard it is to get into a rhythm at first. You get up, do your morning routine and hope that you don’t hit a lot of traffic, whether that be in your car or on public transportation. By the time you get to work, you’re either craving a cup of coffee or tea or are feeling a little energized from your caffeine back at home. Then, the day begins. You check emails, attend meetings and answer phone calls. You get into this rhythm of the work day that by the time 5:00 PM roles around, all you want to do is go home and sit on the couch. It gets to the point where even prepping lunch for the next day seems like a hassle. Then, we end up buying food the next day when we could be saving the ten dollars by meal prepping. We create this vicious cycle of getting up, going to work and then going home. We become tired and unmotivated. We become lazy and in turn, end up looking like my GIF below.

I am just as guilty of this as anybody else. When I started my first full-time position, I was so focused on doing well at work, that I forgot to take care of myself. I gained about ten pounds and was started to feel less energetic at work. I would eat out and because the portions are larger at restaurants, I would feel sluggish back at work, thus affecting my performance. I’m not too sure what really made me want to make a change back then, but all I knew was, I couldn’t be this version of Catherine. I couldn’t look in the mirror anymore without thinking about how I got to this point. I needed to make a change and FAST.

One of the best, and easiest, ways you can make a change is incorporating exercise into your routine. Now I’m not saying you need to go sign up for a $100 a month gym program, but there are small steps you can take throughout the day. To start out, during your lunch break, consider stepping outside and going for a walk. It’s a nice way to explore your work’s town, enjoy the beautiful weather and get moving! Maybe even grab a co-worker or meet up with a friend if you’re not comfortable going alone. It’s a great way to catch-up on things unrelated to work or blow off some steam if the cubicle life has you feeling down.

After a while, you may want to change up the walking routine. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good lunch time stroll, but some months are just too brutal to go outside. It can be extremely humid or brutally freezing. On days like that, you need alternatives. Now I’m not saying you need to sign up for a gym just yet (or at all), but you may want to incorporate gym-like features at home. You can buy fitness books and workout plans, such as Body Boss Method or p90X, or search YouTube for the latest Pop Sugar or alternative workout video. These are great ways to stay active before or after work while still saving on a gym cost! Oh, and trust me, you will be just as sweaty as if you were in a fitness center.

On a personal note, for a long time, both of these options worked well for me. I would get closer to my co-workers during our lunch walks while also burning off extra calories at home. However, just like most things in my life, I got bored. I was just going through the motions with no goals in mind. That wasn’t enough for me. I needed to strive towards something specific. So I decided I was going to run my first half marathon!

Never in my life did I think I would run 13.1 miles. Never. Ever. But I did it! I trained for about three months and to be honest, I never ran more than six miles while training. I just let adrenaline take me the entire way during my race. When I crossed the finish line, I wanted three things: water, a banana and to feel that amazing rush. Oh…and a nap. It just felt so good to accomplish a goal that not many strive to do. To push my body to new limits after feeling so down a few months prior. It made me want to continue to set new goals and that’s exactly what I did. I told people that I would love to run my first marathon…a goal that I’m probably going to be attempting this upcoming January in Disney World.

Now I say probably because here I am at another crossroad. I left my first job back in mid-June and had a month and a half off before I started my new job. For those forty-five days, I didn’t workout once. Sure, I went on a bike ride here and there, but I didn’t run, go to the gym, checkout a YouTube video…nothing. I did nothing. So you can only imagine how great my body looked and felt towards the end of July. Basically, I felt like I’d let myself go and was making excuses for myself.

• “You just moved to a new city, you need time for yourself to adjust!”
• “You’re about to start a new job, you’re going to be exhausted.”
• “You don’t know any running paths in the area, where are you supposed to go?”

The list went on and on.

It wasn’t until I started my new job that I realized how much I forgot the importance of a healthy rhythm. I have my co-worker Joe to thank for that one. I would talk to him and see where I was a year ago since he just graduated college; in my first job and trying to figure out how to adult. However, he adapted a lot better than I did when I first went full-time. He used his hatred for sitting in traffic as a motivator to go to the gym and honestly, I was impressed. So I used his positivity and joined him. We even decided to take a class together and DAMN, we were sore. It felt good though, to be sore again and get back into a cycle. Now, we try to go to the gym Monday through Thursday because Friday’s are for happy hours (duh!)

Similar to my blog post from my trip to New York, it’s okay to take some time for yourself. Get acclimated to your area, make sure you’re doing well at work and get to know people along the way. However, don’t let that become your crutch. Wherever you find motivation, hang on to it. Some days are going to be easier than others, but just remember, even your worst days area only twenty-four hours.