Another 30 before 30 item can be crossed off the list: 30 day workout streak!
Here’s how this one came to be:
I have seen a lot of people do “run streaks”: running AT LEAST a mile every single day for a given number of days. Some peeps get cray and do 100+ days. I was intrigued by this idea and wanted to do something similar, though I knew my poor old knees would never hold up. Enter the 30 day workout streak!
For 30 days, I had to do some form of exercise. But it had to be legit–a dog walk on its own wouldn’t cut it. I pretty much did cardio five times a week (35-35 minutes of it), a 1 or 2 mile dog walk almost every day, and on the non-cardio days I did 30-45 minutes of strength training. It surprisingly wasn’t as difficult as I thought!
Once I realized that the CHOICE of going to the gym was gone, it became a normal part of my day. I wasn’t dreading it, and found that I really began to enjoy the time I spent there. I also learned a lot about myself and my workout habits along the way, most notably:
- While I don’t LOVE it (because it’s hard): running is by FAR the most effective way for me to lose weight and stay in shape. I lost more weight in a week of running than 2 on the elliptical
- There are VERY few valid reasons for not working out on days I should. Over the course of 30 days nearly EVERY excuse in the book came up (with one exception–being sick). I had some small injuries, packed days, nutrition-poor moments, travel, and even hangovers, but all were combated fairly simply. It showed me that in the future, I really don’t have a valid excuse for not meeting my workout goals, other than “I don’t want to”, which leads me to my next point
- Unless I want to be there, the workout may not be worth it. I did find a few days where I was ONLY there to keep the streak going. Those days sucked, and I don’t feel like I got a good workout in, even though I put in the time. This tells me a lot about my mindset, and reminds me that my heart really has to be in it. Otherwise, I’m better off doing something more enjoyable, like walking the pups!
- I can stick with something. The last three days of my streak were in Chicago, while I was at my work retreat. Not only was I TIRED of working out every day, but I had to make drastic changes to my workout schedule. Whereas I generally work out in the afternoons, I had to wake up at 5:00am MST to get my run on! That was ROUGH, but I’m proud that I did it and was able to finish the streak.
This was one of the longest items on the list, and I am GLAD it’s done! I do hope to keep up the workout regimen, but maybe bump it down to 4 days a week 🙂 The streak was fun, and it’s one more item off the list! WOOO!
Watch out 30, I’m comin’ for ya!
The Ocean in a Drop 