I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!!

Exercise and living a healthy lifestyle are great but they can be so hard. Our society tells us you must be skinny to be socially accepted. You must look a certain way to be accepted. But that is a load of junk! Exercise because it is good for you and will help you live a longer happier life. Look the way you want because you feel beautiful not because that is what society deems as beautiful. 

In the last week my roommate Keri and I started going to the gym. I know it is the first week high but I am loving it. It gives me a place to let my frustration out as well as a way to get my body in shape without having to do it on my own. We are going not because we are chasing society dreams of being a size 00 and being culturally beautiful but because we want to be in shape so we can live to the best of our ability. 

From working out off and on for the last few years here is a few things I have learned. 

1) It is easier when you go with someone who has similar goals. It is great to go with someone but if your goal is to get into good shape and theirs is to be super small chances are it isn't going to work out well because of the different regiments because of the different goals. 

2) Eat healthy. So when you do go to they gym it doesn't hurt. Some days you randomly decide you need to add in a extra trip to the gym so if you are eating healthy it won't kill you. As well as eating healthy helps improve weight loss. 

3) Don't be afraid to take a day off. If you aren't feeling well that day take it off. If you don't want to be there your work out it will end up being a bad work out. But you really have to go the next day or you might fall into a habit of not going. 

4) It is not a competition! Yes the person next to you might be burning calories or going faster. Chances are they have been going longer. Do what you can do and don't over exert yourself because when it stops being fun you will stop going. 

5) Challenge yourself. I know I said it is not a competition but if you are not pushing yourself you will never improved. Don't compete with other but compete with yourself. You can go much farther than your brain tells you, you can. 

It will start out hard but it gets easier and when you look back it will be amazing to see how far you have come. It says that our bodies are a temple and that we should treat them as such. Does a temple look better when it is taken care of and maintained? Or when it is ignored and filled with junk? Of course the former. Our bodies are the same way when we take care of them and go the extra mile to take care of it we feel so much better. 

Challenges ahead will frequently bring pain, but pain is temporary while growth is permanent. -Honor Academy GI treaties.