Last year at this time, my best friend and I would encourage each other to go to the gym together. We would go to the local Planet Fitness and work out together, and this made exercising a lot more manageable for me as well as somewhat fun. I did not realize how much I like going to the gym and being able to work out with my best friend until quarantine started.
When quarantine began, I was still a student as well as an essential worker at a grocery store. I really believed the news when they told us, “It’ll only be two more weeks and we will be back to normal.”
I planned on finishing my senior year and returning to the gym with my best friend. I told myself I would let myself go during these two weeks, I wouldn’t work out and I would eat whatever I wanted to. However, the original two weeks turned into two more weeks, then two more weeks, and the cases were rising at an astronomical rate. I knew I wasn’t returning to school and I knew I wouldn’t be able to go to the gym for a long time.
I told myself, “It’s okay, I’ll just workout at home.”
In my small and cluttered room I did the first video of fitness YouTuber Blogilates’ 7 Day Ab Challenge. I was out of breath and immediately gave up on myself. Throughout quarantine, I kept trying to finish the 7 Day Ab Challenge but I could not make it past one day. I felt really down on myself. However, the year turned to 2021 and I decided I would give the 7 Day Ab Challenge one more shot.
At the beginning of this spring semester we had a “stay-in-room order” for the first week of the semester. This was the perfect opportunity for me because doing these videos would give me something to do while also allowing me to take a break from the constant Zoom classes and all of the work that comes along with it.
Finishing the first day of the ab challenge made me feel very proud of myself. I felt that this was my opportunity to start fresh and take care of myself. The second day came along and it felt like the simple twenty minute video lasted lifetimes. My body was sore and I just wanted to eat the chocolate cake from the dining hall. However, I controlled myself and told myself that I needed to get through it. Not necessarily for fitness purposes, but to know that I finally completed this challenge.
I did the challenge every day for the next week, even if I had to force myself to on some days. On the seventh day, when the last video finally ended, I felt accomplished. It was a great way to start off the semester. Although it took me about a year, that’s okay. It’s never easy to push yourself to do something out of the ordinary or go out of your comfort zone, but once you do it, it feels very rewarding.