In high school I played four different sports, one each season for school (volleyball, track, and softball) and soccer year round with the city team. Once I entered college, my active lifestyle went out the drain and my computer replaced my boyfriend on my list of things I spend the most time with. “Exercise more” was on my list of new goals for the semester every time, and my daily trips to the gym would last at most a week before I became a mindless computer zombie again. The all-you-can-eat dining hall (coupled with my hereditary frugality, which makes me feel compulsively obligated to get the most for my money) made matters worse. Although I was never fat (thanks to my incredible metabolism – also inherited), I was definitely unhealthily out of shape.

Not unlike vegetarians, I am also surrounded by health-o-philes. You know the type: eats a salad everyday for lunch, counts calories, shops at yuppy organic only markets, works out at the gym during lunch breaks, replaces yogurt for butter in baked goods. Every time I walked past the vegan café, or the organic fro-yo (that’s Stanford-talk for frozen yogurt) shop, I could never suppress a tiny scoff: Americans who depend on the commercialized market of “health-friendly” products to ingratiate their otherwise-baseless-ego.

I’m going to pre-empt all the angry comments I will receive: “Crystal, you’re such a hypocritical bitch, you’re only trashing other people’s lives to ingratiate your own ‘otherwise-baseless-ego’. Since you think you’ve got all the answers, how do you propose we stay healthy without buying into the so-called health commercialism?”

A friend of mine gets plenty of exercise without ever having to force himself to do so. He plays badminton, soccer, etc. etc. just to have a good time. He chooses to eat healthy because he thoroughly enjoys the food. The point is that exercise is not just a chore, another goal or item on the to-do-list. A run is not just about staring at the digital readout on the treadmill; lifting weights not just about getting to the next level; and exercise not about trying to decrease the numbers on that scale; but that the process is a sincerely rewarding experience and the behavior a sustainable lifestyle.

This semester, I started to exercise again. I run a mile on the treadmill, followed by a set of eight on all of the arm machines. The entire routine takes about 30 minutes, which is ideal for me because it forces me to exert a good workout, yet it doesn’t take too long. This allows me to justify going to exercise everyday.

At first, it was not that often –a mile on the treadmill at a slow pace every other day. I couldn’t even complete a mile (at pace 7) without walking in the middle. I wasn’t going to go to the gym more often until my friend told me that she also wanted to exercise more. Now, we go together everyday after our physics class. When I first started, I was embarrassed to use the gym facilities; I would switch the weight on the machines to the lightest level and avoid eye contact when a super buff guy used it next and added 100 more pounds. I had not had much experience with treadmills, so I thought it would be a good idea to close my eyes and pretend I was running outside. BAD IDEA: I ended up falling off the end of the treadmill, not realize what was going on and kept trying to get back up on the treadmill while it was still running. The next day, the man on staff wanted to tell me something about not stretching against the glass panes, and he told me “I meant to tell you yesterday, but I didn’t want to embarrass you”. So I had even garnered the receptionist’s sympathy!

Now, I’ve already increased the weight levels on most of the machines by 10 pounds (no more flabby arms!), and also decreased my mile time to 7:30 (a pace of 8.5 on the treadmill). I hope that I can run in a 5K sometime, but I will be building up slowly towards that goal. On the weekends or when I have time, I reward myself with a fun activity, like hiking, rock climbing, or squash.

Some of the rewards from my new-found lifestyle?

• Academics: It’s a great study break and way to relieve stress after a long day; it also helps you to focus afterwards.
• Better sleep: I significantly improved my insomnia after exercising
• Better eating habits: exercising forces me to eat healthy food that gives me energy
• Mood: I feel more cheerful and the feeling of being freshly showered after a hard workout is the most amazing feeling in the world (after orgasm).

Here are some tips from my experience for converting from couch potato

• Do things with a friend! I have a workout buddy, a squash buddy, a hiking buddy, and a rock climbing buddy. It makes exercising more fun, gives you more motivation, and it’s also a great way to get to know people.
• Set goals at small increments and don’t burn yourself out too fast. Don’t increase to the next level until you can maintain your current level with minimal strain.
• Reward yourself while you exercise: I put my favorite songs on my ipod and I only allow myself to listen them to when I work out.
• Find something fun and active at the same time (swimming, sports, etc)
• Buy some nice workout clothes: it feels spiffy to look good in the gym (especially when surrounded by so many hot guys…). You’ll want to work out just to show off your hot bod in them.
• When you start out, find a smaller gym that with a less intimidating atmosphere so you won’t be too scared off.
• Don’t work out for too long. Going everyday for a little bit is much better than going once a week for a long time

I’d like to give some credit here to the blog, www.zenhabits.net, for giving me lots of inspiration and tips on staying active. I subscribe to this blog, and highly recommend it!