Starting My Day Right
“An early-morning walk is a blessing for the whole day.” – Henry David Thoreau
This sounds simplistic, but I believe that it is true. Seven or eight years ago, I woke up every morning one hour before I had to and biked for sixty minutes before getting ready for work. I know I didn’t always love getting up early, but I definitely loved knowing I started my day off right.
Since moving my step goal on my Fitbit up to 15,000 steps a day, I have often spent my evenings playing catch up on my steps. It’s a race between steps and bedtime, and I don’t love it.
I decided to try going back to getting up an extra hour early, and today I did. I did 30 minutes on my treadmill before getting ready for work, which then also allowed time for breakfast and to play with my dogs before I had to leave.
As always, I arrived to work early and went for a little stroll before clocking in (the mornings are too beautiful not to enjoy them!), and by the time I got to my desk for work, I had over 6,000 steps.
Not only this, but I feel amazing. I feel more energetic than I usually do when I sleep for that hour. I feel full of life!
I was also encouraged and motivated by the results of last week’s wellness screening. I have improved in every single area, and in some cases, my blood results are textbook perfect. And I know because I have been doing this for so many years, that this improvement is a result of my hard work. If I don’t put in the effort then it definitely shows. These thoughts were in my mind as I hit start on the treadmill this morning at 5:15am, that the extra steps, the calorie counting, the effort to get good sleep and drink more water and eat more vegetables are making a positive impact.
So, today will pass and I will feel good and energized and be happy in the knowledge that I have done good things for myself. It’s not just an investment in myself and how I look and feel, but an investment in every relationship I have and everyone who loves me and depends on me.
They deserve it.
Good for you!! Inspiring!! Maybe one week I will try this with my exercise bike.
ReplyDeleteI totally challenge you to try it! I feel amazing and so energized even still as the day is passing! It definitely beats trying to squeeze in a work out at the end of the day when I'm tired and grumpy about it!
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