My healthy lifestyle change~ `attitude and sports編`

Hello everyone!

I decided to write a post on a topic different than cosmetics -> health, food, sports and general good things you can do for yourself! :D Actually almost one year ago I got quite fed up with the state I was in. I lost weight from medicine I was prescribed, but then fell right back into bad habits and felt bad and gained weight and generally I wasn`t taking good care of myself, felt quite miserable. :/ (BTW, I am definitely not a person that can do anything they wish easily, actually my own character undermines my plans and even work sometimes. I have also been through two really bad depressions, one putting me in a hospital for 3 months.) At that point last year I was already supposedly "healthy", but I didn`t feel healthy at all. And I realized it`s time to do something good for myself, because I deserve it.




(I am writing this because I am not ashamed of anything and I think awareness of mental illness and disorders should be spread! It`s nothing shameful! You can get a flu and you can get depression, both are not your fault and deserve to be treated seriously and cured with attention. Don`t treat illnesses like this like someone`s "fault" or say "they are just being lazy" or "just get a grip and you`ll get better, you are just making yourself think this way" - because it is not how all that works! I feel strongly about this! So if you can get a different perspective by reading this, I will be super happy :))

Anyway! In February last year I thought "enough!" and decided to start a healthy lifestyle! I am too old to believe in diets and whatnot, diets don`t last, but if you think of it as a lifelong journey to being healthy, fit and happy, you can really change and get amazing results. I read somewhere that if you do something for 3 weeks it becomes a habit and you do it naturally. Also, if you don`t want to do something, like eat breakfast in the morning or workout, but you fake enthusiasm about it (I say to myself  "yay, workout workout, whoohoo, how great, so much fun!", even if I feel like staying in bed all day XD), you will actually talk yourself into feeling enthusiastic about it and do it! XD Try it, because it sounds strange, but it works! XD And my journey to being fitter and healthier physically, also helped me a LOT to feel better mentally! That`s actually the most important thing I gained. Doing sports helps you realize you can do anything! Baby steps may feel like you are doing nothing, but after 2-3 months you see what you can do and you will be shocked by how far you got!

Anyway, I felt so miserable all over and decided to change. And I started trying little by little, changing what I eat, pushing myself to do some sports. At first I just started eating breakfast everyday (oatmeal) and stopped ordering pizza. Sports-wise, I started doing a little bit of yoga (doyogawithme.com) with online videos at home, 2-4 times a week. And suddenly I realized it`s become a habit and I could move to ever more healthy choices from there! :D (Also yoga helped me sooooo much: taught me how to relax and deal with anxiety, get in touch with my body; made me think about how my brain/thoughts create the world around me and helped me change it... etc, etc. Yoga is amazing, try it!)

But also you must realize, just losing weight is not good. Because if you don`t accept your body now, you will still have the same problems when your body changes. Accept your body and yourself first! And do it because you deserve it, not because you think you are now bad and need to get better. You are always good just as you are. v(^_^*) Just be kind to others and yourself.
It is not my intention to say: lose weight or build muscles or gain weight or whatever. No. I really think it`s about accepting yourself (with all your flaws) and doing what you feel is best for you, changing what you feel it`s time to change, and to feel better overall. Don`t compare yourself with anyone else and only listen to your own opinion on your body; don`t look up to some models, aim to be the best You you want to be, not someone else! :D Get it?

 

Then spring and summer came and I started cycling a lot, eventually about 250km/month (I always swam, cycled and did some sports when I was younger, so it was a matter of getting into it again), going to work by bicycle (~20km one way), trying things like 30 Day Shred (search on youtube). But I know myself and know that I can`t do the whole program each day, but you know what, I accepted this. I just did it when I could and didn`t feel bad when I did nothing for a couple days. Just making it all into a positive experience, not a guilt trip is the secret. :D Actually I prefer working out by myself at my own pace - whenever I buy a gym membership, I usually never go and waste the money. XD So I stopped buying them. I also got New Balance running shoes in march/april but didn`t start running till late summer. XD But tat`s okay, in the end I started and now like it! XD (Someone else might be more motivated working out with others.) Besides feeling better and stronger I also lost 16kg (35lbs), but honestly I don`t care about weight that much - I weighted myself every 2 months maybe? Recently I also gained 2kg but whatever, because it`s probably muscle anyway. ;D

So run doggies, run!! :D Run like zombies are chasing you! XD

My first running shoes, they waited over 2 months for debut. XD

I don`t think I need 2 pairs of running shoes, but those were just sooo pretty I wanted them so bad and I got them anyway.. XD

Picture from my last run:

I never run before so I am living proof anyone can do it! :D Baby steps! Now my goal is to run 10km and to run a 10km or 20km race this year! :D I run irregularly but now I`m trying to make sundays and wednesdays my running days. (It means I`m going running today :O) But Missha Collins/Castiel is running too, so I hope to meet him out there running some day XDDD (絶対無理ですけどXD). 

Anyway, if you are feeling not so great about yourself of want to get healthier and lose some weight, I recommend to try this attitude and try some sports! I think I will write about my cooking some other time, because this post will get too long. First please try waking up earlier, eating breakfast and working out sometimes, 30 minutes a day every other day is good! I am sure you will feel different! :D I really really really recommend yoga, running, cycling, videos from youtube and lifting weights (I still have to try the last one seriously myself though)! And after you do a workout you didn`t feel like doing you`ll fee like this:

XDDDD

I hope someone found this post interesting. ^^; If you want to read more about my "healthy lifestyle" you might want to follow my fitblr: healthy-maguda.tumblr.com. 

That is all today! Have a great day everyone! ♥

BTW, this is the 150th entry on this blog. Yay!

PS. Any running music recommendations?