Plan, Organize, Rinse, Repeat

I think for my first section of my new project I want to make a second attempt at exercise.

1. Because it’s good for you

2. It’s hard, and accomplishing something difficult will give me a sense of accomplishment

3. It takes a level of dedication that I find admirable and would like to cultivate that in myself

4. Hope that being able to be successful and control one aspect of my life will filter out into other areas

The thing that I don’t understand is when do people find the time?  If you’re not a morning person and can’t get up over an hour earlier then when do you exercise?  For me, I’m thinking right after work is best for me.  Once I get home I tend to shut down.  So, you work until 5, you go to the gym right after work, say 5:15, work out until 6, then you go home, so you get home at 6:20.  Then you have to cook and eat dinner, right?  Or do you walk your dog that has been waiting all day to see you and go outside?  If you walk your dog then you don’t start making dinner until 7:00.  Cook, eat, clean up and it’s 8:00 before you can sit down and chill.  That seems like it could be exhausting.  Sure, you don’t have to work out seven days a week.  I guess it’s a mind set, that exercising is how I want to spend my evening instead of it cutting into my evening.

There is a small gym in my apartment building, but I hate it.  It’s a little hole in the wall that feels claustrophobic if there are more than two people in it.  If two people wanted to use the weight machine they would practically be on top of each other.  The lightest free weights are 10 lbs.  20 lbs is too heavy for most girls doing starting out with arm work or squats and lunges.  There’s a gym a half a block away from my work.  It’s not a big complex, but the location is perfect for my needs.  I went and looked around it last week.  It seems silly to buy a gym membership when I have the bare basics in my building, but if I hate the place I work out then I’m a lot less likely to want to spend time there.  The gym has a deal in which you receive the first two months of a yearly agreement for free if you sign up before the end of July.  So I plan on taking July to get organized and create a detailed plan for myself of what my goals are, how and when I’m going to do them.  The more specific and organized I am the more likely it is I will be successful.