Today, I started my fourth consecutive week or working out with weights. For many, that is not that big of a deal, but for someone like myself, who was habitually averse to working out, it is a milestone in and of itself. Most of my life was spent under the notion and belief, that it was tedious, and boring. I never enjoyed it. Even when I had to do it for gym class as a kid. As a teen and child, I was more active. As we all are. I walked everywhere. Friends house, school, even walked to the mall to window shop.
Eventually when you get a car, you kind of stop doing all that walking. And life, becomes kind of lazy. Ruts happen, things get put off, and next thing you know, you’re over 40, and wondering where life went. I’ve attempted many times in the past to work out, but those attempts were always futile, and I’d give up much sooner than later. In the Summer of 2015, in working to make changes to my health. I found running, and loved it. Being out in nature, out running, and being alone in my own thoughts, was so therapeutic. I did that for about 2 years, and then, as always life, got in the way. To where running would be, sporadic over the three years after that. To where I wasn’t even running at all.
Now, 5 years later, I am back at it, and this time, I’m working at it, all puns intended, at a different angle. I’m using weights this time, to strengthen my muscles, and tone my body. While I ran before, I didn’t use weights with it. Which, no doubt, affected my overall run game. Free weights versus cardio is very different and works different muscles in the body. Muscles we use all the time. Many that we ignore. I was one of those people.
Three weeks of working out, and learning about myself, my body, and my muscles, has been a fun experiment in self growth and change. This is only the beginning of that journey, and I look forward to where it will take me next.
There has been much I have learned during that time, and some things I learned the hard way. Here are some of those things I learned that are important to the way our body works and functions.
Fitness tips I’ve learned.
- Stretching – this one is important. Not only for those of work out, or do any form of lifting, where it’s weights, or even something like furniture, or ones kids. It’s important to stretch the body. We spend so much time sitting, whether driving, or at the dinner table, or on the couch watching tv, or browsing social media. That most of us, don’t stretch our muscles, and our bodies. Stretching can help cut down on injures, can help with posture, and in the way we move our bodies.
- Staying hydrated – This one, is one of the most important things we must do. Stay hydrated, and drink plenty of liquids. I will always add, water is best. While we can drink coffee, or teas, water, needs to be the staple of our daily liquid. I learned, the hard way, that tea for instance, does not replace drinking a glass of water. They go in conjunction to the water. As an added treat. I know for many the idea of drinking water is a hard one. I was in those shoes myself. Back in my twenties my only drink was either soda pop, or iced tea. Store bought that was chock full of sugar. I don’t even think during those years I even drank water in a day. So, I get it. I do. But after putting that down, because it made me gain a lot weight, and can lead down a lot of health problems such as diabetes, or obesity. I gave that all up, for water. And these days, I love water. I enjoy drinking a glass of water. It’s refreshing. And hydrating. If you need some flavor to it, add some lemon to it. Lemon juice in your water, has its own health benefits to it. And of course I recommend getting a nice water filter, to purify your water at home, to cut down on plastic use. It’s also much cheaper to filter your own water than to buy plastic bottles of it.
- A proper and balanced meal plan – this might be the most important thing we need to function, and is something I have learned with working out. The importance of a proper and balanced meal plan. Many of us, do not eat properly. I know that one too. I’ve also been one that has tried varies trendy diets over the years to be healthy and heal. The one thing I have learned the most, is if your diet is not balanced, you will not have the nutrients, or the energy to function properly, to work out. You will also end up binge eating, gorging yourself, and dealing with food cravings. Being balanced with my meal plans, has cut down the amount of eating, I had always been doing. Not only helping my body to rest and recover more, it also cut down on the amount of money I was spending on food shopping. If you’re constantly eating big meals, or even eating all the time. Your body is going to be spending most of it’s time digesting food and not in resting. Balance is key. Too restrictive, then you end up craving, and you end up falling off the wagon, and when that happens, there is a good chance you end up gaining more weight than you had. For a couple of months I did a raw diet. Where you eat only raw foods, and nuts/seeds. Which is not a diet that is easy to maintain for a long amount of time. And the moment I went off of it, I was gorging myself on the things I deprived myself of, and end up gaining back the weight I lost and then some. So today, I eat real foods. Real nutritious foods. That have lots of nutrition, lots of taste, and I’m not left craving, or gorging.
- Don’t obsess over the scale – this one, I can be guilty of. Wanting to step on the scale every day to see how I’m doing. If I’ve lost something or not. It’s easy to want to stare at the scale. Well, don’t. Focus on being healthy, eating well, and taking care of yourself. The rest will follow suit. It’s not always about the numbers on the scale over your healthiness. If you must look at a scale, save it for once a week. Don’t do it more than that. Once a week is more than enough.
- Don’t overdue it – It’s easy to just jump in, and want to be the strongest, the thinnest, or the best at it. That is where injuries happen. Trying too much, too soon, or too fast. Especially for guys. Guys can have a drive to be as huge as possible. And can push themselves too far they injure themselves. Take your time. Work with weights that are good for you. And in time, you will move up to the next one. You will knock some time off of your overall workouts.
- Have fun with it – Lastly, have fun with it. Set goals to reach. Set challenges for yourself. If you’re not having fun with it, or it’s too restrictive, too boring for you, you might give up. Make it fun for you. Stimulating, and you will want to stick with it. And keep at it. Staying in a routine can also help. Such as working out at the same time. Can be part of your daily morning/evening ritual. I find when I work out in the morning, I feel great for the rest of the day.