Exercise Report Card

I keep thinking that it has been forever since I last posted, that my blog is threatening to become a barren wasteland--but today I realized it has only been 5 days since my last post. Silly me.

Pictures of Ava coming soon.

Today is a bit of a milestone for me! I have been working out consistently, according to the rules I set for myself, for one month! It's said that it takes 30 days to create a habit. Well, ladies (and gentlmen?), I think I've made a habit of it. I actually look forward to my early-morning wake-ups. (Yes, I typed that, not some mysterious morning bird ghost floating around in the computer.) I have found unexpected peace in those hours, when I read my scriptures (exercise my spirit) and run (exercise my body). I'm noticing all kinds of blessings--physical, spiritual, emotional--from doing this, and it's exciting to me that I am able to overcome (continually overcoming, really....) what was one of my greatest weaknesses. It makes me hopeful that I can overcome other weaknesses of mine. Lots of other weaknesses.....hard to pick just a couple to work on. I made a chart for myself at the beginning of this venture, because, well, I like charts. I like visual ways to track my progress. I like the little sense of self-satisfaction I get from coloring in each square. (I would probably love doing kindergarten all over again.) And my chart has all my reasons for exercising listed. The funny thing is, as I've been getting up early to get my workout done, I find that I don't care about my reasons--it's this: I'm up. I'm up this early just to work out. I can get this done and out of the way right now, before the kids are even up or at least before they are listing their first needs of the day. So here's a scanned picture of my chart. Note the way my routine becomes more consistent and regular on the 8th, the day I started waking up earlier. I'm so happy this "method" works so well for me! One hurdle cleared.....five million to go.....
p.s.-If you're tired of me blogging mostly about exercise, I apologize, but it has been huge for me. I promise I have more things about which to post, and I actually usually post this stuff on an exercise blog I have. But I couldn't help but share. I have shared so many times how hard it is for me to wake up early/in general, so why wouldn't I share when I've started to overcome that difficulty? I share in the hopes that it might help someone else feel like they, too, can overcome some of their own difficulties!