Seventy percent of success in life is showing up.
-Woody Allen
Ain’t that the truth? Most days the hardest part is just hauling my carcass off the couch and putting on my sneakers.
I’ve started running, using the Couch to 5k program. I’ve just ended Week 2. The first couple of days I enjoyed it in a way that shocked me, it was liberating to open up and run freely. When I’m stressed I really kind of look forward to running away from the day, putting some distance between me and whatever is bugging me.
But some days… I just don’t wanna. I don’t wanna run, I’m slow and ungainly and it doesn’t seem to be getting any easier. I don’t wanna make myself look presentable and put my shoes on and get to the gym. I don’t wanna put Jillian Michaels in the DVD player. My DVD player is hard to get to and I can’t find the remote.
You know what helps? Seriously?
Having the right clothes for the job.
Vain? Maybe. But putting on the clothes in the morning is a promise to just do it. Not to mention, if Jeff and the kids come home and find me in running shorts and laced up sneaks, they want to know when I’m leaving… hard to cheese out at that point.
My current favorite workout top arrived in a lovely little pouch last week from Words to Sweat By.
Words to Sweat By supplies “functional fitness accessories that provide sassy or serious motivation to get you up off the couch or to help you push through those last minutes of your workout.” They have shirts, towels, snack bags and keychains that are seriously kick-butt cute.
The tank top is a nice weight and a fairly tight rib, not too low cut and long enough that I’m not constantly having to adjust it (I’m long in the torso, this is an ongoing issue with slimcut shirts for me). It’s the standard fit and it is tight enough in the chest that I’m not flashing anybody, but with plenty of give to accommodate my man shoulders and waist. It really has an ideal level of stretch to it and that is not praise that I give lightly. Finding tank tops that fit me correctly is an ordeal.
I’m also totally one of those people who love to wear shirts with sassy sayings or graphics— I love this one. I’m always pleased to find it clean in my closet and put it on.
Once it’s on, I’m committed.
I wanna be healthy.
STRONG.
Happy.
I wanna not look like an idiot in photos. Do not ask me what ails me, I do not know.
(And please to ignore the hair. I shower AFTER running and I need a haircut.)
I also received a Words to Sweat By towel. I had a devil of a time choosing which one I wanted— “no excuses” and “put your heart into it” were among the top contenders, but “take it all in stride” felt closest to my current mantra. You take the good, you take the bad. You keep going.
Ironically, I chose this BEFORE I started running… the world is funny.
The towel is a good size and lightweight, so it dries quickly before you have to throw it back in your gym bag. I love taking it to the gym and using it to wipe down machines, to dry my sweaty hands during yoga or treadmill intervals (turns out that having cooler hands helps you to stick with a workout longer. Fun facts!).
The amount of paper towel waste at the gym has long been one of my pet peeves and I would never, ever remember to bring my own towel. But now I have one dedicated to the task, and it makes me feel good on a lot of levels 🙂
Giveaway!
Words to Sweat By is offering one of my readers their own t-shirt and towel, to help motivate their butt to lace up their sneaks and get moving.
You can enter using the Rafflecopter widget below (subscribers, gotta click through, sorry). I’ll pull a winner on Saturday, March 24th.
Good luck!
Tell me: what’s YOUR mantra?
