Working out…. my recent arch nemesis. As I have “adulted” this part of my routine has been hard for me to manage after a busy long day at work. Even when I am off of work it’s hard to find time to workout since I have events or errands I need to run before work starts back up again. One of my goals in 2019 was to get consistent with a schedule and push myself to my happy place again. Now I just need to put that into affect. I wanted to share these goals with you all to put all my thoughts onto paper, well, electronic paper that is. My goal is not to lose weight but rather to tone and gain the muscle back that I had from playing sports. A common misconception I see today is people saying “well she’s skinny she doesn’t need to workout”. This isn’t what it’s all about. It’s about feeling good and healthy in your skin, and more importantly getting off the couch and getting active!

A little bit about the lifestyle I have lived for the majority of my life. I have played sports since I can basically remember. I started playing soccer at 5 years old, adding basketball into the mix in Elementary School and then Volleyball at the end/start of middle school. Soccer and Basketball were always my passions. I played soccer throughout High School and created some of the best memories with my “Hometown Hotties”. A lot of my childhood and young adult memories are from the soccer field. I played Basketball Middle School through Freshman year of High School. My family is from Kentucky, my Dad graduated from the University of Kentucky, so if you know anything about college basketball you know this is a big sport in our household. These two sports made me learn how to work with a team, build bonds, and stay active all throughout my life. When I got to college I continued inter murals with my sorority, still getting this slice of teamwork in college. It was after graduating that you really lose those outlets to play the sports you loved for so many years and made you who you are today. Not going to lie I got a rush even being on this field when doing this photo shoot. This rush is what I am missing today in my workout routine today.

So here I am now making these goals and challenging myself to continue to grow this passion into my adult life. Just getting out there on a field and kicking someone’s butt always was an outlet for me to let out all my anxiety and stress. I have seen myself struggle with bottling these emotions up without this escape.

SO onto how I want to make this impact into my life today. I joined an adult soccer intramural team that didn’t work out quite like me and my friend thought it would, but hopefully we can make our own full team this fall! This is the only thing I have to compare to getting out onto the field or court today. Other than the actual playing of the game, I want to work on the below:

1. JUST DO IT. I always come home from a day of work and feel completely drained. I give myself excuses or think of other things that I need to be working on instead. I need to learn to not sit down when I get home and immediately go workout.
2. Don’t settle for good enough. I struggle with not having that coach or friend to push me to do one more set like I did throughout the years. I need to remind myself this is beneficial to my happiness and not settle for okay.
3. Know the areas I want to work on before I get to the gym. I struggle with that oh gosh what exercise should I do next? Am I doing this right? That persons on my machine I wanted what do I do now while I wait? I am such a planner and I need to have an idea of the exercises I want to accomplish when I go to the gym.
4. SCHEDULE. I think for my mind it will really help to have set days I know in my mind I am going to the gym. That way I cannot talk myself out of it or come up with any excuses. I would like to workout 3-4 times a week but to start off I will give myself the goal of 2-3 times a week.
5. Finally I want to try new activities and exercises. I think when you grow up you need to find new things to fill the void of spending your weekends on the field with your team. Even though it has been almost 7 years since high school….wow that’s insane to think, we are used to that fast pace lifestyle through college as well. Now its time to have fun and find those new exercises and activities that bring me the same joy!

I would love to hear how y’all love to workout and what you have found to help and keep you motivated!