Why I Work Out All The Time

I work out a lot.  When I started 5 years ago I had no idea it would become as important to me as it is or how much it would change my life.  Today, however, I can say without hesitation that being healthy is a top 5 for me.  My list of "top" priorities has been a focus for me lately and this has always made the cut.

It started because I was fat.  Not ridiculously so, but teetering on the technically overweight line and I was purchasing larger pants sizes.  My mom, meanwhile, was losing weight and wearing jeans from my high school years.  Not cool, mom.  Not cool.

So I started walking to work, which equated to about two miles a day.  Then I got a treadmill and started walking on it in the morning before work and doing a yoga video afterwards.  Then running on that treadmill a mile or two.  Then the miles increased and the videos got more intense until I was eventually running long runs with Danielle as she trained for her first marathon.

It started because I was fat but it kept going for so much more.  

I gained self-confidence, not just from the shrinking waistline but as I started to care less about what other people thought.  Running down the street all sweaty, hair flying everywhere, most likely with terrible form but eventually not caring what people thought about it did wonders for how I felt all day.  If I didn't care how I looked in the mornings as I logged the miles, it made no sense to care when I was showered and dressed.  It didn't matter what others thought, anyway. 

I gained a love for healthy food and feeling amazing—you don’t realize you are missing out until you experience it.  I gained energy.  I learned healthier approaches to food and exercise.  I read nutrition books and formed educated opinions as opposed to following the current or popular nutrition trends of the internet and media.

I gained a desire to improve my life in other ways; going more minimal, being more eco-friendly, becoming more involved, being more organized, being more intentional (the theme of this blog).  With meals improving, my cooking improved.  While taking care of myself is important I wanted to take care of other things, too.  I started making meals for my dogs (yeah, I'm that girl), recycling more, buying from specific stores or companies.  I started joining more clubs and filling my time with things more important than the Gilmore Girls.  

I gained a best friend in Danielle, with a sweaty, 20-miler bond that can’t be explained to anyone but other runners with running partner.  A friendship that can't be replicated or replaced by another running partner.  A friendship that can last a lifetime because, no matter the schedule or who we are with, we can always squeeze in a run together.

I have been questioned if I work out too hard.  As we struggle with our desire for a child I am often asked if running could be a culprit.  When I was first losing weight, particularly at my lowest weight, people were concerned I wasn't eating enough.  I would like to confirm right now that athleticism has done nothing but positive things for me and that I have always been well within a healthy weight.  Not only those listed above, but with a family history riddled with heart disease, diabetes and cancer, I am decreasing my risk of being sick every morning I head out the door in bright colored shoes.  While I work out a lot, I am most definitely not over-doing it… my body fat percentage would confirm that as well as a few other medical reasons I don’t need to share here.  If I had been working out to the pint of hurting our chances of conceiving, it would have ended.

It is true that I spend a lot of time working on my body and that this might be considered vein.  It is true that I work out, in part, to look good (and there are many days I don't feel like I do yet).  It is true that there are days when I wake up sore from the day before.  But, this temple of mine is in a much better place now than it ever has been to serve the Lord.  I have more energy, I have more confidence (enough confidence to no longer be focusing on myself) and I have more excitement.

Involve Yourself

Being involved was a struggle for me initially.  It's easy for me to come home after work, hop into my PJ pants and spend the entire evening playing piano, watching movies with my husband, or generally avoiding the outside world.  As an introvert, I tend to choose solitary activities and desire a calm environment.

As a matter of fact, I initially planned on being a stay at home mom who was just involved in her kids lives.  Then life happened and kids didn't (so far).  I changed.  I realized the outside world wasn't that bad and I might actually be able to contribute.

I can't stress enough how important being involved in your community is.

Being involved in your community is so beneficial it's almost ridiculous, but I thought I would list just a few reasons for you to consider. 

• Involvement makes the community better for everyone, especially the person involved.  A regular volunteer has a longer expected lifespan (BMC Public Health researchers determined), either because they were happier or because people who tend to volunteer also tend to do other positive things for their well being and thus live longer.  Either way, can't hurt to get involved.
• Involvement gives you life long skills that are used in other surprising areas of life.  For instance, I learned how to serve food in a cafeteria setting while volunteering in high school as a NHS student.  I would later use those skills at my campus job in college. 
• Involvement builds compassion and other important social emotions.  First, Understanding towards those that make decisions you don't agree with because you can empathize with trying to please everyone.  You also feel love for the people you are serving by being involved.
• The most important thing involvement brought to my life was the relationships with other people.  On a professional level, I have made contacts in almost every field and it's true that "who you know" makes a difference.  But most importantly, these relationships make this area precious to me.  Life on earth boils down to the relationships we have, and I have had the opportunity to meet and become friends with some of the most incredible people.   These relationships will last me a lifetime, both professionally and personally.  And because I started young, when I get to be an older member of an organization like the arts council, I will have a strong understanding of what it takes to run it and be prepared to continue it when those who are now leading it are gone.

Involvement can be a lot of things.  Since I've already made one list, why not another?  Here is a brief list of ways you can get involved to get the above benefits.

• Work at a job you love.  Might not sound like community involvement to you, but think of it this way.  On paper, being the part time help at a music store isn't that impressive, but a similar person helped me choose clarinet and completely changed my life.  A bonus for me, working downtown is community involvement all it's own, as I feel a little invested in the businesses around us.  
• Volunteering for things that are important to me.  I don't think a person who wants to make a difference in their community has to be involved in absolutely every organization.  I don't have enough knowledge or interest to be of help on some boards.  However, I have a few things I'm passionate about that I desperately want to share with the community. 
  For me and my interests, this means involvement in a lot of music activities and a few athletic ones.  From playing bass in the worship team at church to learning to write grants for the arts council, I am able to do things I love while also giving my community more opportunities to experience music.  Volunteering at local races and keeping up on the running and cycling club Facebook pages are ways I can be active myself while also encouraging others to do the same.
• Create something new. This is the most intimidating and the hardest work but also the most rewarding.  I have a secret love/hate relationship with being an event organizer.  Along the lines of "be the change you want to see in this world", if there is something I think should be happening in the area that isn't and it is in my capabilities, I make it happen.  I have learned a lot about myself through organizing these events.  "Solo Night", a reverse recital (teachers perform) at the store was my first real pet project in Ogallala.  The Run Around The Lake Relay was my major "athletic" one.  And my biggest organized project to date is probably the community jazz band I organized this summer.

The moral of the story?  Get involved.  If you are more experienced, join and share that experience.  If you are young, join and learn what you can because at some point, the older generation will be gone and we need to be able to step up.  If we were to lose these organizations by lack of volunteer-ism, we would be losing important aspects of humanity in our community.  We would not only be losing arts, music and athleticism, but also humility, compassion and the true definition of community.   

Blog Change

I don't really know what my original intent was behind this blog, which is probably why it became such a mess so quickly.  Not that my readership of 5 people who already know me in real life really care how well organized my online diary is, but it was really bothering the obsessive-compulsive in me.  I have a strong appreciation for organization and focus and I was not successful in portraying that here.With that, I have decided to dress the blog in a new skin, delete my old posts (keeping only a couple from the past year), and assign a direction for my posts from this point on.  I am also hoping to be a bit more consistent, so people who are reading this blog regularly will have something to look at.

Because I am just so fascinating interested in a lot of topics and could possibly write something that might interest other people in a few things, I plan to paint the direction of this blog with a broad stroke.

The posts on this blog will be about how I try to live my life intentionally.

From how I treat myself to how I treat others, with the intention of glorifying God, treating others how I want to be treated and trying to make all of my decisions with thought behind them.  I hope in this blog to cover everything from eating and cleaning to big topics like marriage and beliefs.

Again, not that my 5 readers are too excited about this change, but maybe I'll say something that makes you smile every now and again, or that makes you think.

Thanks for reading!