Challenge: Stop procrastinating exercise, and walk a little more.

By ELISSA RATLIFF

Exercise.

It’s something I know I need to do, but sometimes there are just so many other things happening that it slips my mind.

I haven’t caught up on Game of Thrones… My friend wants to go shopping with me… I really need to do my washing…. or maybe I should call my Grandma too?

There always seems to be a reason not the put on my running shoes and go somewhere.

Just as an FYI, you should know that this post is sponsored by Blackmores. But all opinions expressed by the author are 100% authentic and written in their own words.

Procrastinating exercise? It get’s me every single time.

Last year I moved to Sydney for university, and found myself living in a shoebox studio apartment in the city. I’m not usually one to complain about space (or in this case lack there of) but having come from a farm, it was a little bit of a lifestyle change.

Growing up on a farm, you find yourself keeping active even when you don’t realise it. There are always animals to be fed, fences that needed fixing and bushwalks that need, well walking. I was active, and I wanted to be active outside and doing things.

But when I came to Sydney things shifted.

Everything was new and exciting at the start, the notion of a gym membership was like a novelty to me. I wanted to explore the city, I wanted to walk, find places, sit in parks and read and just be a local. Then I became a local (well I like to think I did).

And that is where procrastination got the better of me.

The novelty of the gym wore off, the walking turned into bus catching and the sitting in parks and reading turned into sitting on my bed and falling down Internet rabbit holes.

Then I realised I was living my life going from one room to another. If I wasn’t in my apartment, I was in a room at Uni, or at work in another room, and when I wanted to exercise, the only safe place I could do it was at the gym, in another room. I would walk from building to building, room to room, not taking anything in.

Not only did this affect my exercise habits, it also impacted on my study routine, my relationship and my work.

Which is why I took a pledge and made a change.

Two weeks ago I decided to commit to a little less procrastinating exercise and a little more bushwalking.

I finally understood that working out in a room with other people staring at me wasn’t going to work for me. I needed to be outside, amongst the scrub or the parklands looking at the wildlife and the plants, breathing in fresh air and clearing my head. It was where I felt at home, and that made me motivated.

And so far it’s going really well.  I head out on a walk every day, whether it be 2 kilometers or 10, I make sure I do it as the positives definitely outweigh the negatives.

My concentration is back, I am motivated to do work, and I’ve discovered that Sydney has a lot more than great shopping and food going for it. From the Glebe Foreshore walk to the Centennial Parklands and the Bondi to Bronte, I’ve found some great places. And whilst they may not be as bush infused, as I would like them (it is Sydney after all) I’m out of my room – hurrah – and getting a decent intake of Vitamin D again, which was something I was lacking before.

It’s not always easy for me to get to these places, but I’ve realised I have to make time. I can no longer palm exercise off for sitting inside, because that is when I start procrastinating about everything in life – from cleaning to how my cupboard is arranged – I can think up anything to prolong what I actually have to do.

I have to make exercise appealing for me, and being out with the sun on my face and grass under my feet is just that.

This one lifestyle change has had such a positive impact on my health, wellbeing and personality that I don’t even think about arranging my shoe cupboard in a different order anymore. Plus I may actually be able to get a tiny bit of a tan as opposed to becoming ghost-like during summer again.

Despite our best intentions, particularly in the colder months, staying active and healthy isn’t easy. We aim to give up chocolate, abandon alcohol and promise to visit the gym four times a week, only to fail. A Little Less, A Little More reminding people that making small commitments is a much more achievable and sustainable way of living a balanced lifestyle. What will you do? Make a commitment here, challenge your friends, upload your pics and follow us at #littlelesslittlemore on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. 

Last week Laura committed to ‘A little less television, a little more swimming‘.  This week Elissa is pledging ‘A little less procrastination, a little more bush walking’.

What will your ‘little less, little more’  commitment be this week?