How do you do it?
Today at the gym this girl asked me "How do you do it? where do you get the enrgy to exercise for few hours a day, 7 days a week?"
This really made me think about how do I really do it? First thing is that I really enjoy exercising. I look forward to my next class or next workout of the day. I don't look at exercise as a chore, nor as a pain. I think about it as a daily routine, like eating or sleeping. When exercise becomes a habit then you don't even think about it anymore and you just do it. just like anything else that we do during the day. My day usually starts with getting the kid ready and out of the door for school. I teach spin (cycling) 4 days a week so as soon as my kids are out, I am out also. After my spin class, 2 times a week I teach a strenght training class. The days that I don't teach that class, I either go home after spin and rest or go to yoga, or do free weights at the gym. I run about 5 times a week which is about 35 to 40k a week. My usual run is an 8K which is a loop around the subdivision that I live in. One day a week I run longer and faster with a group of friends that I train with. So in general I exercise 2 or 3 times a day (which means I have to shower 2 or 3 times a day also). If I am getting ready for a triathlon, I also have to fit swimming in my schedule which is usually 3 times a week.
Getting to this shape and fitness level took me years and didn't come easy or over night. I truly believe that anyone can do it. If you put your mind into it you can run that 10k or bike that 100k. My motto in exercising is to listen to my body. If I am tired or sore from a day of working hard, I take it easy the next day and push hard the day after. I take few months off out of a year off which is usually during the summer when I go back home to US to be with my friends and family. During this time I still workout, but don't push as hard, neither as long. I also work around my injuries since it is inevitable and you can't avoid it when you cross train. For example, If my knee hurts I ice it or don't run as hard for a while, but unless it is necessary I don't stop completely.
You have to realize that fitness and exercising is my job now. I work at the gym so I have the privilege of being there all the time and workout whenever I like. But I also had a 8 to 5 job for years like most people. Those days I used to go to the gym during the lunch. 4 days of the week I exercised during lunch hour and one day I went out to lunch with co-workers. I have 2 kids and when they were younger it was hard to leave them at home and go to the gym in the evening, so I bought a treadmill and did it at night after I put them in bed. I bought free weights and exercise videos so I could do it at home. It is hard to manage exercising with kids, but it is doable.
So this is how I do it. With a big smile on my face and enjoy every minute of it :o)
