Today is a very special day for me. It was five years ago today that I started working out every day — a decision that changed my life forever.
Back then I had no expectation of success, having failed so many times before. I wish I could have seen into the future to today, to see that I could do it. That I did it!
I’ve learned so much on this journey, and that’s what this website is about. So today, rather than reiterate all of that, I’m going to post about how I’m celebrating this milestone. No, it’s not with a big chocolate cake — though feel free to go ahead and make me one!
I decided to give myself a present: a workout room.
Our oldest child has graduated from college, started her career and moved into a place of her own. That left our third bedroom empty. The “bonus room” above the garage has been my office, and where I keep my treadmill. With a newly empty room downstairs, it was the perfect opportunity to move the office downstairs to the third bedroom, and make the upstairs room a dedicated workout space.
My husband and I are doing the work ourselves, and on a modest budget. To begin, I looked to Pinterest and Google to find ideas for what I wanted. Then I came up with the following wish list: fresh paint in an energizing color; remove the two ceiling fans/light fixtures because they hang too low, and replace with track lighting; new window blind; large wall mirrors; a built-in barre; mount the TV in the corner; and create a place to store weights and other supplies.
I quickly found that a large wall mirror would be the most expensive part of the project, but we found some more affordable smaller mirrors at Lowe’s that can be mounted together and should work just fine. And my husband researched barres online and found a kit to order. When I’m done with the project, I will do a post detailing everything we did and where to find the items.
But first things first. Last weekend we moved the office downstairs, and now my husband is spackling and prepping the walls upstairs. We bought our primer and paint today, and if all goes well we should start painting next weekend.
I’m so excited about this new workout room. I’m finally going to have room for dancing, workout videos, Zumba and whatever else I want to do. It will also be a space our whole family can use. My husband is interested in maybe getting a punching bag, and I’m also hoping to add a weight set.
The treadmill in the photo, which I found five years ago on Craigslist for $100, started it all and is still going strong! I really can’t think of a better present than this wonderful new room to celebrate my 5th anniversary and to start the next phase of my fitness journey.
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