by Missy
Back-to-school time is exciting. The weather is changing, great new clothes are out in the stores, and football begins. The beginning of the school year always brings new goals for teachers, students, and parents. If you have been behind on your fitness goals, you can use “back to school” as a reason to re-evaluate where you are and where you would like to be. Think of your self-evaluation like going back to school. Here are your class assignments: English class: Read a book about your favorite fitness activity or an inspiration athlete. Here are a few titles to get you started: Yoga from the Inside Out by Christina Sell, Quiet Strength by Tony Dungy, Born to Run by Christopher McDougall, Drawn to the Rhythm by Sara Hall. You can always download a book or two to your iPod and listen to it while you exercise. Math class: Evaluate your “numbers” to determine your starting point. Look at how fast you can run, how much weight you can lift, how many pushups you can do, how far you can jump, etc. Create a chart to watch how you get stronger and faster. History class: Go back to the basics. Try a boot camp workout session, or plan time to work out with jumping jacks, pushups, high knees, and maybe even some square dancing (just like when you were a kid way back in history). Science class: Experiment with some new nutritional foods. Make some tasty shakes from whole fruit, grains, veggies, and more. See what you like. Don’t forget to keep the portions under control. Check out the yummy ideas on Pinterest and start pinning healthy foods, but don’t forget to make them! Art class: Take a before picture of yourself and post it somewhere that will be inspirational to you. Look for some other inspirational pictures and quotes and place them around your space at work, in your wallet, in your refrigerator or snack cabinet, and in your car. You can even use one as a bookmark in your English class book. Gym class: For this assignment, your task is to try a new type of exercise. It is easy to get burned out with doing just one type of exercise. So, as you reevaluate your fitness goals, it might be time to make a goal to try a new some new classes or exercises to expand your knowledge of fitness. You just never know exactly what you might find.