Just Do It

This is something I posted a while ago on the WW message Boards, it reflects my general philosophy very well, I though it would be a good way to start this up!

Just Do It

The questions or requests that I see very often and that really makes me wonder are “Motivate me” or “Inspire me” or “How do I get started”. It seems like we stand there, thinking: “I need to do that”, but we just stay there and wait for… something. What are we waiting for? Why is it so hard to get started?

My answer to that is always “Just do it”. Do something, take that first step and see where it’ll take you. It never seem to make sense to people. “Easy to say, but I can’t be active because I don’t have a gym membership, I don’t have work out clothes, I can’t afford the Bowflex and all its cousins. I don’t have the time, I don’t have the money, I don’t have the motivation. I don’t, I don’t, I don’t! STOP IT ALREADY!

Being active doesn’t mean becoming a fitness competitor. You don’t have to lift weights to be healthy, or to do those humongous cardio session. You have feet? Walk. Not much time? Get up in the morning and walk before work, take half your lunch break and walk, Before you get home after work, stop by a nice park and walk for a bit. Take the kids along and teach them early on that being active is fun. Go Dancing. It’ll do wonder to your stress level!

Now there’s the money issue, I sure understand that one. But you don’t have to have the Bowflex, I grew up watching my mom do curls with tomato cans! A comfortable pair of shoes, comfy shorts, a T-shirt, there you go! The media are full of the “performance shoes” and super duper work out clothes and stuff like that. Are you shooting for the Olympics? No? Then you don’t NEED the top of the line, if you can afford it, go for it, but you don’t need it. Start small, then if you find an activity that you really get into, you can “gear up” bit by bit.

My favorite is “I’m not motivated”. Motivation doesn’t come down from the sky with sparklies and a little music. It comes from within; it’s something that you work yourself into, not the reverse. You get started, and as you go, you realize the benefits of what you’re doing, and that turns into motivation. Yeah, sometimes it sags a little, don’t we know it, but then remind yourself why you’re doing this, how it feels when you eat right, how it feels when you’re moving, and JUST DO IT. Motivation will come back as the results of your hard work start to show.

Bottom line is, your body doesn’t care how busy you are, how much money you have, or how motivated, or unmotivated you are. Your body responds to what you do. So go ahead, JUST DO IT. No need to do it fancy, no need to do it pricy, JUST DO IT!