Workout With Friends

A wise friend once told me that I need to surround myself with people who are living the life that I want to live. Surround myself with people who will be a positive influence and will offer positive motivation.  She's been with me on this journey since college, so she's seen the ups and downs.  She's seen the WW days when I was surrounded by crabby women who spent more time complaining about their husbands than they did talking about weight loss.  She's seen the days when I gave up and just decided that I couldn't do it on my own.  She was also my biggest supporter when I told her I was finally joining a gym.  Lately I've been noticing what a good decision that was and how true her words really were.

Attending the group fitness classes at the gym have had several benefits.  Number one, obviously, I'm working out. But more than that, I've gotten to know several people that I might not have otherwise met.  Surrounding myself with people who are also working hard to be healthy and lose weight.
Today was a perfect example...

I had just finished my rowing class.  In fact, I stuck around a little longer after class to row a few more meters to bring me closer to my Row the River goal. Anyway, I had every intention of going home.  But, I ran into a friend who was trying to get the motivation to run a while on the treadmill.  Her other friend and I offered to join her on the treadmills next to her and encourage her.  The other two jogged while I walked.  Thirty minutes later it occurred to me that, because of her, I had put in an extra half hour of work.  I didn't go to the gym that morning expecting to walk nearly 2 miles on the treadmill. However, because she wanted some company, I stayed and ended up benefiting from it as well.  Surrounding myself with people who are also working hard to be healthy and lose weight.

Another way to surround myself with positive motivation is the addition of the personal training.  I'm only paying for an hour a week, but it involves so much more than that.  Case in point was yesterday.  For several weeks, my trainer had been wanting me to try a new activity that the gym offers.  For whatever reason, I wasn't overly interested. It just didn't look like much fun to me, and I drug my feet for a long time.  So, I jokingly made a deal.  If he went to a spinning class (which is still my favorite class there!) with me, I would try this other activity with him.  Attending a spin class with a client definitely isn't in a personal trainer's job description.  However, in doing that, he managed to not only get a workout himself, but I was encouraged to add some extra cardio that I hadn't planned on doing yesterday. Again, surrounding myself with people who will work hard with me and encourage me to work hard. 

So, that's my challenge to anyone reading this.  Surround yourself with people who will help you meet your ultimate goal.  Positive energy and positive motivation breeds positive results.