Gym Out, Nature In: Same Exercise with Twice the Joy

Today I canceled my Gymnasium subscription.

I have weight problems. Adding to that, I also have a stressed life, mostly due to my day job. Exercising is the natural solution for both problems.

Before deciding to go to the Gym, I exercised very sporadically. Sometimes I exercised at home on my treadmill, other times I went for a 30 min walk, or I ran, in an outdoor sports complex near my house. I was not getting results so I decided to join a gymnasium. My expectation was that the Gym would give me the extra motivation to exercise, now I realize that most of the motivation was based on a negative point: the obligation to go to compensate the subscription fee.

But the gym did work … for a while. The Gym is very good, the people there are professional and friendly and after 1 month I lost 5 pounds! I was thrilled to see the results and confident on having made the right choice. The sky was the limit now, everything made sense and nothing could stop me for reaching my weight goal.  But, because of life’s circumstances sometimes I compromised my Gym schedule, and week after week, miss after miss, I packed up pound after pound. The result was disastrous. My weight now was more or less the same before going to the Gym 4 months ago.

I identified the problem as lack of organization and insufficient commitment to go to the gym. It was just a discipline and schedule issue I thought. So, I decided to be stricter with my schedule and not allow any booking of any kind on my gym days. To achieve this I designed and followed a strict plan.

But then something happened…

So, one of these sunny spring days I did not feel like going to the gym. I was more in the mood for a stroll in the park. I  decided to go for a walk, and a fast run, in that outdoor sports complex near my house. Then I realized: “Why am I still going to the Gym? I can do here, in the open air, in this sports complex the same as I would do indoors at the Gym!”.

And more, I realized two things. The first is that the Gym really works if you are organized and you stick to the plan. It does work; you just need a bit of discipline. The second thing I’ve realized is that exercising in the outdoors ALSO works, if you apply the same discipline methods.

So the conclusion was simple and the decision obvious. I decided to cancel my Gym subscription and now I go to the outdoor sports complex for my workout. I exercise the same amount of time and I do the exact same exercises as I did in the gym. But now I’m in contact with nature, I can feel the sun in my face, watch the trees, the flowers and hear the birds sing.

I don’t know yet what will happen when the cold and rainy days return in the next fall and winter. For now I’ll stick to the plan of exercising outdoors. In the winter, depending on circumstances and depending also on how well I can adapt to the harsh weather I’ll decide if I should return or not to the Gym.

Exercise Freely and in Contact with Nature

So if you’re in the same situation as I was, doing the same kind of exercises (mostly cardio:  walking and running) I suggest you stop for a second and realize if you can do the same exercises you are doing now at a gym at home or outside in a park or at an outdoor sports  complex near your house or your working place.

The benefits are obvious. With the same kind of organization and discipline methods you can do the same exercises, reduce the same amount of weight, relieve the same amount of stress (or possibly even more) and for free! As a bonus you enjoy your workout even more by being in contact with nature.

So what’s stopping you? Put on your running shoes, gear up with your mp3 player (if you enjoy listening to music), or simply step outside to do your exercise and enjoy what nature has to offer.

Subscribe the RSS feed

Read related articles:

• My Plan To Work 2 Jobs and Still Have Time for My Hobbies and Family
• How To Lose Weight With Little Sacrifice and Without Going to the Gym – Week #0
• How To Lose Weight With Little Sacrifice and Without Going to the Gym – Week #4
• How To Lose Weight With Little Sacrifice and Without Going to the Gym – Week #2
• Happiness Golden Rule: The Secret of Socrates