Aruba Walking Path Pictures, Winter Workouts & Finding Motivation

Hi Friends!  I was cleaning off my memory stick and realized I hadn’t posted these photos.  Hope you enjoy them!

As I mentioned many times, it rained here most of December.  And had been raining for months, previously.  Most everything was flooded, most of the time.  This is nothingcompared to most of the flooding on most of the roads but it just happened to be on our walking path so I snapped a couple pictures.

If you want to see our walking and exercise path on a different day, with different scenes and better different weather, there’s this post, too.

And I have an Aruba Trip Highlights Post, too

Thanks to everyone who chimed in about making soup and my latest soup recipe for Spicy Vegetable, Corn, & Bean Soup
One pot, under an hour to make from start to finish, and everyone in the family ate it.  That’s a hit in my book. 

Questions
1. How do you stay motivated to workout in the winter?
Most of the time I really do love my workouts because they are about more than just the physical benefits for me.  It’s a chance to clear my head and recharge my batteries mentally, emotionally, and even spiritually if I can hit the right zone while walking, running, or doing yoga.


But sometimes it is just hard to get started; to get going.  Sometimes I think everyone needs that proverbial kick in the butt, just to get out the door.  When that happens, I always tell myself just to start, just try it.  And if in 10-15 minutes I am still not feeling it, I give myself permission to stop and quit, and save my energy for another day and try again another day.

Most of the time though, it’s simply just getting out the door that’s the hardest part and once I start, I am fine.  After all, most of my workouts are only 20 minutes of cardio, 20 minutes of lifting/yoga, so they’re over with pretty quickly, anyway.


2. Do you find it easier, harder, or no difference to workout in the winter vs. summer?
I hate being cold, I hate bundling up in layers, and so for me, it’s much easier to workout in the summer where I know I will sweat not freeze, and don’t have to put on layers of shirts, vests, and jackets if I want to be outside.  So it is more challenging for me to find the motivation to workout outside in the winter.

And I hate indoor cardio machines like treadmills, stairclimbers, stairsteppers, ellipitcals, etc so I never do cardio indoors.  If I can’t walk or run outside, I won’t do it.   

Lifting, lifting heavy, and strength training are important for me anyway, so I can take advantage of the cold weather and stay indoors for more lifting or yoga, anyway.


3. Do the holidays effect your workouts?  Is it easier or harder for you to stay motivated or on track around the holidays?
I actually find no difference around the holidays or not.  For some people the holidays make a difference but for me, it’s more weather-dependent than holiday dependent.

Also, for me, if I am stressing about things, i.e. the holidays, working out gives me stress relief and I am motivated to keep up with my workouts.

With all that, I hope I have a great Workout later on.  Enjoy the last day of 2010, everyone!