Take a Hike! And I mean that in a good way!

I'm loving the nicer weather, especially since I have Layla this year to be active with me! She can be a little ball of energy so I like to take her places where she can burn all that off. My friend told me about a dog park near my house that we've gone to and had puppy play dates before! Layla loves going to meet other dogs and I think it's really important for her to socialize plus it just makes her happy :)

We're pretty lucky since we have a nice wooded part near my house with a creek and all sorts of trails. It's not nearly as busy as some of the other parks around so it's the perfect training opportunity for her! There's not as many people or dogs around to distract her so we practiced having her off the leash. I'm proud to say that she did wonderful! She stayed close by, didn't get into much, and came back when we called. I made sure to not let her wander that far without calling her back and eventually she would just check in with me out of habit! It was super cute because she would be running around then all of a sudden see something interesting, perk her ears up and look back at us as if to say "Is this okay?" and then wait for the go ahead from us.

I'm not going to pretend that training a puppy is all fun and games because it required a lot of patience and faith in her. I'm happy to say though that all our hard work is starting to pay off! She's blossoming into quite the lovely little lady and I'm so proud of her! The next step is to slowly transition her to more public places with more distractions to teach her to still respond to us even when there's a million more interesting things going on.

Okay, enough rambling about my puppy, back to the main point of this post. This past weekend my sister and I took Layla to the woods near our house for a hike/training session. It was beautiful out and the perfect temperature! There were plenty of hills and rocks to climb over that we all got a good workout. Even though we weren't really pushing ourselves the point is that we were off our butts and out in the sunshine enjoying nature! People may not always think of walking as a good workout but it's one of my favorite ways to just get outside and get my blood flowing. Now that I have Layla, it's even more of a reason of why I should be getting outside. It's just as important for her health as it is for mine. I can't wait until she's old enough so that I can take her running with me! Sorry Amanda but she's a much cuter running buddy :)

So maybe today you should shut off your computer and go outside to enjoy the day! Now that the weather is warmer and it's lighter in the evening, I like to go for walks after dinner. I've slacked off lately but it's something that I want to start doing again. It doesn't have to be every evening but I'm aiming for a few days a week. If you don't have a dog then grab a friend or take your ipod and just listen to your favorite music! I think you'll be surprised of how relaxing that can be, just shutting the world out for an hour or so while you walk around with your thoughts.

It doesn't matter what kind of workout you're doing, just as long as you're getting active and doing something that you love! I wouldn't go for runs or walk Layla if I didn't enjoy it! The fresh air can do wonders for you and those endorphins will cut your stress level.

So who's with me?? An easy way to get started is just begin to plan out some time over the coming days when you can incorporate more exercise in your life. If you're a gym rat and get plenty of exercise there, why don't you try doing more workouts outside? There's plenty of ways to transition indoor workouts to the backyard! I drive by a cross-fit gym on my way home and they're all outside now that the weather is nice. I understand that obviously there are certain exercises that require the machines inside but try to get creative and see what other stuff you can do outside. I don't know about you guys but the fresh air boosts my mood that much more on top of my workout. I have a much better run/walk when the weather is great!

Each day just add a little bit more time to devote to exercise and before you know it, that will become a habit! Just like anything else, give it 21 days and soon it'll seem like second nature. You'll find that you won't have to push yourself to get it started because it's just part of your day now. I know, it's easier said than done but I plan on doing a post about keeping motivation soon that I hope will help! For now though, I just have some pictures to share from this weekend! I hope they will inspire you to get moving!

Like I said, it was the perfect day to be outside!

Layla's favorite part of the day? Being able to swim in the creek! We ended up taking my car because I don't mind if she gets a little wet and smelly. The sacrifices I make to spoil her :)

Getting that hill workout in! Actually she would just panic if the bank would get too high so that she couldn't see us up on the trail. I have zero worries of this dog ever trying to run away, she doesn't like to let us out of her sight!

Checking in with us <3

We also brought one of her tennis balls and she spent a good chunk just running around in the creek chasing it while we played fetch with her. 

What are your exercise plans for this week?!