New Year and Resolutions!

New Year and Resolutions!

Listening to: Bombay Bicycle Club - Shuffle

Well, the first thing I should say is Happy New Year and I hope you all had as good of a night as I did! I bet you all have your resolutions written down and that they are in full swing,

 or perhaps some of you have already given them up! Without this sounding snooty, I don’t really believe in new years’ resolutions, if to ‘not believe’ is even the correct way to describe it. As myself and many others have pointed out, you can start any time with anything you want but the beginning month that signifies a new year seems to push a lot of people to actually motivate themselves. I guess this isn’t a bad thing. So this post consists of a generic but appropriate aim I have.

I’m talking personally now, and for a while I have felt pretty insecure about my weight. This is so insanely common and before anyone jumps the gun to try and tell me I’m not fat, etc this isn’t the reason I’m doing it. I am not seeking any compliments; I’m just admitting that I’m feeling a little ‘out of shape’. I have never been one that was good at sport or loved P.E. at school, but with almost five years out of practice it’s starting to catch up. I think to exercise and be healthy is really important, but I am an incredibly lazy person as a lot of my friends/family know. I have had spur of the moment aspirations in the past to get fit and do more exercise, but these are usually around the warmer months. I have done the occasional run but that isn’t enough and the truth is that consistency is the only way.

I have been reading a few things about exercising and getting healthy and actually it can be quite simple, and really doesn’t need to eat into your day or daily routine that much. I saw this 30 day challenge through something or someone on Facebook. I thought to myself, what is the harm in giving it a go? I read through the day build ups in exercises and it seemed simple enough, but simple doesn’t mean it’s easy. I like to believe you can do anything you want to if you put your mind to it. I really want to do this, and I really want to notice some sort of change. I want to tone up and feel more body confident for when the warmer months do creep up. Winter is fine, apart from the nights out I can hide under big comfy jumpers and leggings, but as it gets hotter like everyone else, I’d like to feel happy showing a bit of skin. I felt quite upset last year because I didn’t like having my legs out or wearing shorts and I love shorts. At the moment I live in skirts, dresses and leggings/jeans more than anything.

This sort of post is probably a bit vain compared to other things I post. I suppose it’s a little unlike me but it’s something that I have been thinking about a lot this evening and I thought if I wrote this I’d be more likely to prove it to myself rather than reading back on it and feeling disappointed. Plus doing stuff like this is a great way to keep your mind off other stuff that's taking up far too much of your thoughts. Running is a great way to get anger out, well so i've been told. So, this evening I rolled out the crumpled up exercise mat from the wardrobe and did the first day of the challenge. This consisted of 50 crunches and two lots of 60 second planks. It is appalling how difficult I found it but I did it. Okay, I may have only done 30 second planks but still it’s something. My upper body strength seems to have failed me as I was basically crying trying to hold myself up – pathetic. I read my friend Ruby’s blog post (Check her out - ohruby.blogspot.com) about fitness and one thing I did really think about and use as an excuse not to do exercise is the fact I don’t actually have appropriate exercise clothing. The only trainer-like shoes I have are converse and as I have found from experience, they aren’t really suitable for running in. I don’t own jogging bottoms or things like that so my next step is to get my hands on some decent trainers and a few more bits. Perhaps even a sports bra – nah, who am I kidding? Not going that far. I feel that even if the difference I make isn’t obvious to other people but is enough to me that it will be an achievement. I need to cut out the chocolate binges and stop using my car as much too. Overall I don’t think I eat too unhealthily but perhaps too big portions. I think I’m ready to do this! I also wish good luck to any of those who have made resolutions their priority this month! Perseverance is your best friend at this point. Also, apologies if this was a bit of a boring post, it kind of just felt like honesty hour and I wanted to write it down.

Laura May.