It's 5:20am and I am just getting up to make breakfast (egg whites and oat filled pancakes with a banana on top for my pre workout meal) before hitting the gym in about an hour or so! This is absolutely not usual for me, at least not lately! It's Friday and I should still be sleeping haha However, I have recently joined an 8 week contest with 16 others and they have been giving me the motivation I need to keep pushing myself!
How it works- 16 competitors, 8 weeks, 100 bucks. Winners walk away with 1000 or 500 in the end. The way you win is based on a points system. 25 points per pound loss, 50 points per body fat percent loss, overall points for best before/after photos for 3 winners and then the final overall points determines who the 1st and 2nd winners will be! Throughout the competition there will also be challenges for you to gain points, such as completing a certain amount of minutes on the bike in a week, etc.
Sound a little steep for a student? Well if you think about how much a personal trainer is, or a nutritionist, or even joining a weight loss program like Weight Watchers, over 2 months 100 bucks is cheap! Not to mention the amount of money you save from the things you limit yourself on such as alcohol, eating out or treats at the movies.
We have formed a little community through a Facebook and BBM group (yes, surprisingly the majority of us have not switched to the iPhone.. come on BB10) where we share our meals, workout plans and just update each other on what is working for us and what isn't! Part of the rules of the competition are that we actually have to, if asked, let people know what we are doing each day as far as nutrition and exercise but most of us are putting that info up anyway. Which leads me to this morning and why I am up so early! The other day, one of the competitors posted in the group about how much energy she feels after working out in the morning. I had forgotten that feeling, lately I have just been working out at night and then wondering why I'm having a hard time getting to sleep until I read her post! She missed one morning workout and found herself to be less productive, sluggish and because of that actually went for a jog on her lunchbreak to get that energy she was used to for the day!
Most people, I think anyway, don't realize how much energy you really get from being active! You don't need to spend hours in the gym, but getting yourself up and moving has so many benefits to your everyday life that that should be motivation enough, not to mention the results you'll see in return on your body! As she mentioned in our group, your body releases endorphins that give you a natural high, especially from cardiovascular training.
Why do you want to produce more endorphins? For students especially, these are important in helping manage stress. They are commonly referred to as the body's natural pain medication and are known to improve your mood after just 20 to 30 minutes of exercising! I'm not a scientist and I can't go into the details of how they work in much more depth than this, but I have noticed a huge difference in my mood, energy and productiveness these past few weeks. Next time you're stressed about an assignment and don't think you have the time to get all of your tedious chapter reading in, set aside 20 minutes, go for a run or a jog and see how focused it can make you! We all have the time to be healthy, we just need to make it!
If you aren't ready to dish out 100 dollars, which I'll admit I was even a bit hesitant at first, find other ways to motivate yourself and be accountable for your workout habits! Find a gym partner, or a few friends and help to inspire one another! Being accountable to more than just myself has been my biggest motivation this past week. Sure, winning 1000 bucks would be amazing, but knowing that I have a network of people that are striving for the same goals as myself pushes me further every day!
Don't have a group of friends that have similar goals? There are other networks, such as bodybuilding.com where you can sign up (for FREE) and find bodyspace groups that can help inspire you. Their database of nutrition articles, step by step exercises and training programs is unlimited! Don't let the name "bodybuilding" throw you off, there are exercises and information for all types of athletes and body types!
Well I need to eat and head to the gym, happy Friday everyone!!
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