Reward yourself, live an active life.
Living a healthy life has many benefits. You can control your weight, have more energy, reduce the risks of heart disease and diabetes, and even increase you overall mental outlook (self-esteem). Sounds like an obvious choice that everyone should make, but of course it isn’t that easy. We all have busy schedules combining work; school, and our families, or we are just simply couch potatoes (actually one in four of us are couch potatoes! Shame on you!). There is no magic involved; it all starts with a plan. You have to take the initiative in order to make it happen. Get motivated! Think about medical family history that you would like to avoid or think of that special someone that you would like to impress at the beach, whatever works for you. The proper use of a gym is a great way to get fit but again there is that one thing that keeps us all busy, Life. Don’t let busy schedules be an excuse, you have to find an opportunity to move around and exercise your body. For example, if it’s a nice day out walk instead of taking the bus to class and at work take the stairs not the elevator. Sitting around too much at the job or at home can harm your back and actually make you weaker since you are not using your muscles. We only have one body let’s take care of it! Set goals that can be done, keep a schedule or diary of your workouts, work out with a friend, and educate yourself on different fitness activities. I am not body builder, far from it, but so far I have experience the improvement that living an active life has done for me physically and psychologically. Hope it works for you as well.
Gym411's Weblog 
July 21, 2008 at 10:59 pm
Hello Gym411,
You already read my post, so you understand why I completely agree with everything that you’re saying. It really is amazing how much better I feel. Isn’t it funny to remember a time when people didn’t go to stop and shop and buy food that was created in a lab, they eat what was in nature, and things like cancer and the strange illnesses we have today, didn’t exist back then! I hope you continue to spread the word!!
July 22, 2008 at 12:40 am
Gym411,
Overall, I found your post to be very motivational and uplifting! I definitely agree with you that routine exercise can be extremely beneficial both physiologically and psychologically, and I liked how you incorporated the idea of goal setting as an important task in everyday life. I’m a member of the rowing team at my school – a coxswain, actually – and it’s my job to motivate the rowers and to teach technique, among other things. It’s taken me some time to realize just how important mental aspects are in achieving goals. Listening back at some of the races I’ve “rowed” in the past, it is clear to me that how much I believed in achieving a first place finish – and subsequently how that desire came out in my voice – directly correlated to how well we performed. What experiences in your life did your first blog entry arise from? Do you participate in any sports or team activities? I’m curious to learn where your interest stems from!
July 22, 2008 at 2:52 am
Hello Gym411, I could not agree with you more on this subject I too believe in health and well – being it was thanks to having a good diet and exercise I was able to get rid of my ailments. And just to comment on your comment South Africa is developing nicely and the weather is spectacular as always. Puerto Rico must have been an awesome place to grow up. In my story I am not saying I never experienced racism or that racism does not exist in America. It just has been a great place to grow up and I chose to tell this story because it was a good point in my life and A point were my faith was restored in the people.
July 24, 2008 at 2:23 am
It’s also a great stress reliever. Sometimes when I’m having my hardset times in life, I hit the gym and get those endorphins flowing. I end up coming out of the gym a different person. It’s sometimes a hard thing to start and really get into it, but once you make the effort for a few weeks, you begin to see yourself change. All the sudden you have twice the ammount of energy and nothing seems to faze you. I agree that it has a psychological change that comes with it as well. You self esteem begins to build and you have a more positive outlook on life. Good luck on the workout plan and keep on grinding those bones!
July 25, 2008 at 9:51 pm
Response: assignment 4.1
Hello gym411, I am glad you liked my story, I figured that is a good icebreaker no matter the situation. You are probably right about living the American dream, I mean if I think about it my life is a living model of the American dream. About school, I was very used to wearing uniforms; you know the pressed shirts, pants, tie, blazer, socks, shoes, and a neat haircut. It is a shame to come to school where everything is a popularity contest rather than focusing on learning. As for the culture shock, its funny but when I went back to South Africa I had the same feeling when I came to the USA. I guess its been such a long time since I went back to visit, it made me feel like a outsider. This made me miss South Africa even more and myself as a boy growing up in South Africa.