Exercise!

I was thankfully blessed with a metabolism that allows me to eat almost anything without gaining a pound.  However, just because I'm thin doesn't mean I'm necessarily healthy or physically fit.  A little over a week ago I decided it was time for some life changes.  One of these changes, or goals rather, was to get myself in shape.  Now that I think about it, that is a very weird statement.  What shape?  Certainly not a circle. A trapezoid perhaps?  Maybe I'll aim to become a triangle.  Sorry, what was I saying?  Oh yes, it was exercise time!

The first thing I decided to do was start each day with some push-ups and sit-ups.  That was easy enough, but I needed to do something more.  I soon decided I would like to take up running.  There has always been a part of me that had some desire to be a runner.  In high school I ALMOST joined the cross country team, but I eventually decided I didn't want to put in the time and effort that would require.  Now, I am ready to give running its fair shot.  I have been out running every morning for over a week, with the exception of an extremely rainy day.  It was super hard to start with, of course, but I can already see a huge improvement in myself.  It feels great to accomplish something like this.  Every morning I push myself to the limit and am able to look back when I'm done, and feel proud.  I am bettering myself both physically and mentally, as I gain strength and the realization that I am capable of this.  Exercise is an amazing way to feel better about yourself, and I highly recommend that anyone physically able takes up running.

An area I know I have always been weak in is flexibility.  I have been doing stretches before and after running of course, but I wanted to take it a step further.  Today I started yoga.  Anyone who thinks yoga isn't a real workout has obviously never done it, or at least not done it properly.  Yoga involves placing your body in seemingly simple positions, and then holding it there.  After doing this for a while you would be surprised how hard it is to even keep your arms pointed straight up above your head.  I actually started the P90X version, YogaX, today.  Trust me, the workout was nothing to sneeze at.  To be honest, I know I should have probably started at a more basic level than P90X, but the intense workout was a pretty big rush.  I wasn't able to finish the entire video (over an hour and a half), but I hope to soon work myself up to that point. 

I have never really gotten enough exercise in my life, and now that I finally am, it feels great.  My appetite is better, I have more energy, and I feel good about myself.  I'm definitely sore, but it's a good kind of sore.  I can feel my aches and pains and be happy, knowing how hard I'm working to improve myself.