Are you too tired to even think about working out or participating in your fitness program? Sometimes it’s a struggle to get through your teaching day, let alone worrying about getting to the gym. What if you can make working out so fun that you look forward to it? Involve your “people”and create a lifestyle of fitness with friends and family to make working out more fun!

As many of you may know, I have been running for over 30 years. My initiation into fitness started long ago, when my oldest daughter Sarah was born. I started running back and forth in the backyard when she was six weeks old to drop the 50+ pounds I gained while pregnant. I didn’t want to be too far from home, so that’s literally how I started. I quickly dropped my extra baby weight and my lifestyle of fitness was born.

I started running down my street, back and forth, until I was running a mile, then, two, and then I fell in love with the sport. I built up slowly enough to where I never hated it or dreaded it. Start slowly and be kind to yourself. Remind yourself that are improving yourself, and there is no rush. Rome was not built in a day! As you become more fit, your motivation becomes easier because you can see the results of all of your work.

Today is our last day of spring break, so instead of going to the gym, we decided to go on a hike to our local hiking place in Orange; Peter’s Canyon. It was burned in the fires last fall, and I haven’t been there since it was charred. We started at the opposite end of the fire, so fortunately the beauty and nature we remembered was still there, but we’ve heard the other end of the park is like a brown moonscape.

I hiked with my daughters Sarah and Kayla, and our good family friend, Emily. We hiked, talked, solved problems, and inspired each other. Although we were burning calories, it felt more like a social outing, providing time to “catch up” on our week’s events.

Embed social exercise events into your week; you’ll be burning more calories and having more fun!