I know January is typically the time of year where everyone joins gyms, and goes all out in an effort to get fitter. For me, being unemployed and not having tons of money to spare, joining a gym is somewhat out of the question for me right now, (when I get a job and some money, that will probably change, but right now, not so much.) So I’ve come up with a few ideas for me to work on my fitness and get healthier.
I want to get fitter and to stop puffing when I’m walking up hill, or walking fast in general. This is in combination with weight loss so that I can work on my health and fitness goals at the same time.
I have definitely improved my fitness over the past few months, and I know that losing weight has helped with that, but I also know I still have a long way to go. I want to be healthier and fitter by the end of the year. I’m not aiming for anything crazy, just feeling better about myself and slowly but surely bringing my weight down.
The first thing I did was download the couch to 5K app. Now, I want to take this up, I’ve always been interested in running. There’s a few problems here though.
- I live in the north of Scotland and right now the weather is horrendous. I’m taking pouring rain and high winds. Not exactly weather conducive to taking up running.
- I am overweight. And have a sincere hatred of being either stared at or laughed at. So the idea of taking up running, no matter what the weather is doing, where people can see me is horrifying.
- Fear of injury. I am a clutz. I can trip over air. Hurting myself doing this is pretty much a foregone conclusion at this point.
But now, on the flipside, there are a few things I love about the couch to 5K app.
- You can take it completely at your own speed. It says it should take you nine weeks but if you need to repeat weeks until you feel ready to go onto the next stage, you can.
- All it takes is trainers and a pair of headphones, and your ready. It’s completely free.
- There is no pressure whatsoever. Everything is set up to help you, with no expectations, no expensive membership. Just either download the app or download the blogs, and away you go.
I am definitely intending to take up the couch to 5k, but I’m not starting it this week. I don’t think bucketing rain and wind when I’m first getting started will convince me to get going. So I’m going to wait until the weather gets even slightly better, I can take wind, I just, at first, don’t fancy running in the rain.
In the mean time, I’ve decided to do a few things that I can do at home, in the privacy of my own bedroom, without much hassle.
Most of my plans are based around YouTube actually. If you look there are tons of videos for various kinds of fitness building videos. One of the things I’m looking into is yoga for beginners, to hopefully increase my flexibility and stop me creaking in the mornings.
Another is some kind of dance set up, again for beginners. I’m not the worlds best dancer, but if I’m building up a sweat and having some fun, what does that matter? After all, I’m doing this in my bedroom, so no-one will see me. And even if they did, so what? Everyone has to start somewhere.
I’m also going to start going on walks again. When it stops raining. If it ever stops raining. Seriously, its been three days and I don’t think its stopped raining for longer than an hour. I’ve got an idea, lets send it to Australia. They need it, I’m sick of it. win/win. If only I could, in an ideal world. The weather here is ridiculous 99% of the time, so you do get used to it.
Having said that, right now, as I’m writing this, I am sat on my bed in my pj’s and wrapped in my heated blanket. As I listen to the wind howl, I’ll be honest with myself and say it would take a dire emergency to get me out of my front door. Like, the house is on fire kind of emergency.
So right now, I’m going to go make a start on these fitness goals by doing some housework, turning up the music and dancing while I work.
