Now that it has been over a month since winter break and New Year’s, school is in full swing; they’re throwing midterms and final projects at us almost every week. By this time in February, close to no one has kept their New Year’s resolutions. After all, winter quarter picks up and suddenly no one has time to do all the things they said they would. Each year we painstakingly prepare a list of all the things we are going to change and do better, but it is often so hard to keep to these plans.
For my New Year’s resolution, I decided that for the first time in my life I would try to be healthy. I was going to change something major in my life to become less of the couch potato that I was, and help my body and mind to be a stronger, healthier me. It was definitely a drastic change from the girl that ate cookies for breakfast and went to sleep at 3am for absolutely no reason. I was dedicated to changing my life style and finally feeling comfortable in my own life.
Throughout my whole life, I have always hating working out. The gym made me feel sick, and the idea of getting sweaty and raising my heart rate just wasn’t that appealing. I was more of a stay at home kind of girl who liked books and movies. It was highly unlikely that you’d find me running unless there was something chasing me, and even then, it was a 50/50 chance.
Eating healthy in general is difficult, but eating healthy at college should be a class of its own. You can’t prepare your own meals unless you live off campus, and even then finding the time to cook is difficult. Tons of unhealthy snack and dessert foods are at your fingertips and there aren’t that many healthy options outside of a salad. And really, how many times can a girl eat a salad before she turns into a lettuce leaf.
Its safe to say that my drastic New Year’s change was clearly going to be difficult but I was determined.
Week 1:
The first week after New Years. I’m sure everyone can imagine what the gym looked like, probably because you were one of the people who were there. It was packed. Tons of people trying to stick to their new year’s resolutions. I was very eager to find out how long this would last. Who would stick it out and who would slowly slink away back to the safety of their dorm twin beds.
Week 2:
There are still a ton of people here; I guess they really mean business. The line of ellipticals at Blom is constantly filled with girls climbing invisible staircases for hours. Finding a spot is like trying to fight for the last piece of cake at your family’s insane Christmas party. I was slightly scared at first, but now I am stronger.
Week 3:
I went to the gym on my own for the first time, no gym buddy to hide behind. It was a little strange at first to be going somewhere completely alone, but I ended up liking it even more. There wasn’t anyone to distract me from my workout and I got a lot more done that I usually would. With the right playlist, the gym is less awful.
Week 4:
By now you can tell that people have completely given up on their resolutions. There is like a third of the number of people in the gym that there were at the beginning of the quarter. Classes are starting to pick up and midterms are on the way. Going to the gym is starting to get harder. Sometimes when I’m lying on the mat at the gym all I can think about is never doing another sit up again.
Week 5:
My motivation is shot. Luckily I have a plan for my workout each time I go so it isn’t difficult to stick to it. Doing ever different exercise brings me one step closer to being done with the workout, and I haven’t missed a single day yet. It is definitely getting harder, but I have come this far and there is literally no way I am giving up now.
Week 6:
Thankfully at this point my body is less sore after each workout. I barely feel it. I can do more reps of each exercise than the start, and I can feel myself getting stronger. Going to the gym makes me feel like I have a purpose and that I am actively trying to make myself healthier. I still haven’t missed a day.
All-in-all, I started off the quarter planning on working out twice a week, and I ended up changing that to three times a week. After seeing so many people abandon their resolutions, and remembering all the resolutions I had abandoned in the past years, I definitely went about this year much differently. I scheduled each of my gym times the same days and times each week. Scheduling them in like another class forced me to block off that time and constantly keep going, and not leaving my gym time off to the last minute and then not doing it. So far, I feel so accomplished from being able to go to the gym so much, something I have never done in my entire life. It is weird at first, but definitely very rewarding.