I refuse to believe that there are that many people out there who genuinely just love running on a treadmill. I'll admit that it can be a great escape for me and I always feel better after I run...but hauling myself to the gym - especially in the colder months - can be a challenge.
Below are some of the tips that make the time fly by and keep me going at the gym:
1. To get myself out the door, I wear actual 'workout clothes.' I'm more motivated and push myself harder when I'm dressed to exercise. Whether it's just spandex or a dri-fit shirt, try it. Old Navy workout gear is an affordable option if you're looking for something new.
2. My headphones go in ASAP. Changing playlists often keeps you from getting used to how many songs it takes to reach a certain length of time running. Currently, Maroon 5's Love Somebody, Lady GaGa's Applause & John Mayer's Wildfire distract me from how out of breath I am.
3. I also try to put some type of game - football, hockey, etc. - on to watch whenever possible. Tell yourself to run for the whole first quarter or a whole period and it will always ends up being longer than you think it will. Has a 15 minute quarter in football ever lasted only 15 minutes?!
4. Finally, I think half the battle with running is mental so I make sure that my treadmill is set to have the time counting down rather than up. This helps remind me that I only have x amount of minutes left to go rather than I still have so many minutes left.
Some of my coworkers recently turned me on to the advantages of
starting out each morning with a glass of warm water with freshly
squeezed lemon juice. I'm not going to lie...it didn't sound all that great to me but I decided that although it didn't quite have the same appeal as lemonade (or a cup of coffee in the morning), the health benefits made it worth a try. Why not, right?
After a minor fiasco transporting my lemon water to work - some of it splashed out of my travel cup, soaking a number of items in my purse, forcing me to finally clean it out (silver lining!) - I was ready to drink up. As expected, the taste was mediocre. I drank the water out of a straw so it went down quickly and easily and in hopes of preventing some of the harm that citric acid can do to your tooth enamel.
The primary reason I wanted to give lemon water a try is because I have heard that it helps your body naturally detoxify by boosting digestion and flushing toxins out of your system. Additionally, it helps regulate your body's metabolism. Lemons are high in pectin fiber - which I won't pretend to know anything about - and this helps to curb your appetite and aid weight loss. It doesn't hurt that it's supposed to boost your immune system and help clear up your skin, too! Basically lemons are a super fruit in my eyes now.
One thing I've noticed, is that it's also gotten me to drink more water (sans lemon) throughout the day. Even if that's the only thing I get out of drinking warm water with lemon in the morning I'll consider it a success!
Have you been thinking about trying this, too?
