So … there’s this new group that’s formed in the personal finance blogosphere.  You may have heard of them.  They go by…

The Yakezie

The Yakezie group’s motto is “selflessly promoting others”.  Sounds great – sign me up!

The main goal of members is to increase their Alexa ranking.  And since I just launched this blog 3 weeks ago, my Alexa ranking is pretty pitiful.  It’s standing at a weak 1,485,538 as of today.   Yikes.

At my old blog, I somehow attained a page rank of 4 and my Alexa rank was in the 400,000s at one point (surely, it’s not anymore).

I don’t blog for traffic, I blog because I love to.  But I also want my blog to be successful and I want to meet more of the awesome people I’ve met over the past 18 months.

So, here we go!  I’m gonna Yakezie my socks off for the next six months and see how things go!  Wish me luck!

Have you ever heard that saying, “The more you lay around, the more you’ll want to lay around”?

I’d be surprised if you had since the only person I’ve ever known to say it is my best friend who heard it from her dad, so I’m pretty sure it was just one of those all-knowing dad-phrases that he coined when the kids were younger.  Smart guy.

Every time  I’m laying around like a lazy bum when I should be doing something, that phrase plays over and over and over and over in my mind.  The more you lay around, the more you’ll want to lay around.  The more you lay around, the more you’ll want to lay around.  Sometimes it wins and sometimes my laziness wins, but in the end, it is always right.

There’s a reason that phrase has stayed with me over the years: It’s one of the truest, yet simplest, observations of life.  How hard is it to get up off the couch after you’ve become perfectly snuggled into the cushions under a soft, warm blanket with your favorite reality TV show dancing on the screen in front of you?  It’s pretty tough … and the longer you lay there, the harder and harder it becomes to get up and get going.

As I was finishing up my run the other day, I realized the phrase not only applies to being lazy in life, it also applies to being lazy in fitness.

Making exercise feel easy and natural

Lately, my runs have been coming as easy and naturally to me as it is to love Lloyd (I’m engaged, people – sorry).  In non-lovey-dovey speak: my runs have been off the chain lately.  Or, even more simply:  lately, me run good.

There is nothing worse than a bad run.  That moment in a bad run when you lift your leg off the ground for that first stride and it feels like a limp sand bag is one of the worst feelings I ever experience when working out.  You know that this run is going to drag on and on and you’re going to be in extreme pain and agony for every millisecond of the next 30 minutes.

But a good run – there is nothing better than a good run (when it comes to living well, that is).  These are the runs where it feels effortless, your mind wanders to happy thoughts, you completely forget you’re running, the sweat feels good, the physical movement feels good, your breath feels good – you feel like you could run forever!  No, there is definitely nothing better than a good run.

Good runs come to those who commit

A good run takes time to achieve.  I remember when I went on my first run way back in 2002.  I couldn’t run a half mile before I felt like I was going to die.  My muscles were on fire, my lungs were burning, my breath was wheezy and harsh, I felt like my body and legs weighed a ton and I could barely move one foot in front of the other.

The easy solution is to give up.  To just quit.  It’s only natural to worry that this is how exercise will feel forever.  That it will be constant, excruciating pain.  Who wants to commit to a daily activity that you dread and that only makes you miserable?  How can anyone possibly stick to a workout regime if it’s this painful?

But it does get better.  A lot better.

Once you commit to running and start running regularly, you will reap great rewards.  Eventually, you’ll start having excellent runs.  At work, you’ll look forward to your upcoming run that night.  And during your run, all the stress, frustration, and annoyance from your work-life will dissolve from your body.  The sweat will cleanse you.  Your legs will feel strong and at the end of it all, you’ll feel happy, content, accomplished, and calm.

Stick With It

It isn’t just running.  All exercise becomes easier over time.  Not easier in the sense that the movements are easy to do, but in the sense that you’re stronger and healthier and your body can handle more.

This is why those quick-fix workout plans never work.  In high school, I would jump on an intense, 4-week workout program to drop weight, but I never finished.  I always got burnt out and discouraged.  Workouts should be hard and intense 90% of the time, but going from zilch to 100 miles per hour isn’t the best means to the end and usually always ends in disaster.

I am like everyone else in the world who jumped on and off the workout bandwagon for years.  I didn’t want to make a commitment to my health, I just wanted to make a commitment to the boot cut jeans I planned to wear that night.

It takes time to become committed.  It took me years to get hooked on exercise.  And sometimes I still waver.  But I do know one thing – the more you stick with it and the longer you regularly work out, the more you’ll want to work out.  You’ll crave those feel-good sweat droplets licking your brow line.  You’ll want more of that confidence and happiness that comes with health and exercise-produced endorphins.  But, it doesn’t happen over night; it takes years.  It takes change.

Becoming committed to working out and leading a healthy, balanced lifestyle was one of the best things I ever did for myself.  Sometimes life happens and my commitment falters a bit, but it’s always there to welcome me back with open arms when I’m ready.  It doesn’t beat me up for stumbling, it just encourages me to keep on running.

Do you struggle to commit to a workout plan?  Why do you workout?  Do you hate working out or love it?  Share your thoughts in the comments!

As you all know, I spent my weekend in Dallas.

I love Dallas.

One side of my entire family lives in Dallas so I’ve been all over the great state of Texas many times.  I am a WARM weather girl.  I LOVE a good warm day (but mostly despise cold weather).  And while Kansas City enjoys deliciously warm weather for about 75% of the year, it also has about 3-4 months of miserable, painful, and depressing snow, ice, and sub-freezing degree temperatures.  During those months, I long for the 50, 60, and 70 degree winter days in Dallas (and all of Texas really).  And it doesn’t hurt that the cost of living is fairly low as well.

So, Dallas and I – we get along great (yes, I’ve considered, and am still considering, naming my first-born son Dallas).  I’ve also propositioned Lloyd to move there on more than one occasion, but he has repeatedly turned me down.  The best I can do is get him to agree to a beach house in Texas where we’ll spend our summers when we’re retired.

But, this weekend, I received a lovely dose of reality from my beloved Texas.  While it was a beautiful, breezy 70 degrees up in Kansas City, it was a blistering 90+ degrees in Dallas.  And while I’ve seen my fair share of 100+ degree days in KC, I found myself a little jealous of my KC peeps enjoying the cooler fall weather while I was getting cooked under the powerful Texas sun.

So, I guess Kansas City will always be my one true love, but Dallas still comes in at a close second. 

On to the articles!  Various links about all my favorite things…

One Balanced Blog Roundup:

• The Powerful Voice of Bloggers and Why It’s Getting Easier to Make Money Online @ 20s Money
• Obama Proposes Tax Breaks For Businesses: Too Little, Too Late? @ The Tax Girl
• Book-Review: The Skinny on Real-Estate Investing @ Get Rich Slowly (never read these books, but they sound great!)
• Sweet Southern Wedding by Ruth Rackley Photography @Style Me Pretty (I read a lot of wedding blogs these days…and this wedding/bride was so beautiful!)
• Life Without A Budget: 4 Questions To Ask @ Well-Heeled Blog
• I Did Something Crazy Yesterday @ TeacHer Finance (Wow!  Go TeacHer!)
• Homemade or A La Jar? @ The Fitnessista
• The Four Levels of Social Entrapment @ Hyperbole and a Half (<———- Hi-larious!  And oh, so true.)
• Top 10 All-Time Best Money Movies @ Budgets Are Sexy
• Would You Exercise For Money? @ MSN Money (Interesting… but you should exercise for your health first!)

(image via Style Me Pretty)

I’m currently sitting on a Friday night flight to Dallas, Texas, where I’ll be spending the weekend.  I love Friday night flights because the airport is dead-empty and the flights aren’t usually filled to capacity (at least the ones I’ve ever been on).  In fact, I got so lucky that I actually have the entire first row of seats to myself!  Well, the first row of coach that is…

Oh, pardon my bag in your face, sir…

When you fly coach, there’s always an odd tension or vibe on the airplane as you awkwardly squeeze past those first 3 or 4 rows of first class.  Everyone is already seated with some brilliant novella at their fingertips and a nice glass of scotch or some aged, fine wine.  They look cozy in their expanded seats and their legs are stretched any which way they like.  And sometimes … I even feel like they kind of judge me as I begrudgingly trudge back to … coach.   (I actually feel like I’m in first class right now with this entire front row to myself, so I guess the joke’s on them.)

Exactly how much do one of those bigger seats go for…?

And I really do think the joke is on them: My flight to Dallas – a whole hour and 13 minute flight – was already over $300.  Three hundred dollars to fly to a city that I’ve driven to in 8 and half hours a bazillion times in my life (most of my dad’s family is there).  When I was booking my flight on Travelocity, I even saw a coach seat to Dallas on another airline for over one thousand dollars.  If my seat in coach was that much and the price range went so far up as one grand, I can only imagine how much those first class seats must have set them back?  I can only presume that they must have cost at least $500 or more.  Probably more.

And for what? A couple extra inches of seat and floor space?  Or to board first before us lowly coach flyers can get on?  (Which really doesn’t make sense because it’s much better to board last since it’s that much less time you have to sit on a cramped plane and us coach peasants are always knocking them in the face with our big duffle bags.  Whoops … sorry about that.)

If I were a rich girl…

I guess if I were loaded beyond belief, I might fly first class.  But I’d much rather blow my money on feel-good stuff like ridiculously over-tipping, buying my nieces and nephews way cooler toys than any of their friends have, and giving more money to my church than they know what to do with.  I definitely wouldn’t blow an extra couple hundred bucks on a cushy seat on a one hour flight (now, if I were flying to Europe or some place really far away, I would definitely consider it.)  And even if I was flying on business, I still don’t think I’d go first class on such a short flight – I’ve never understood that mentality of “it’s okay to waste my employer’s money, but not my own”.

I guess I’ve just always wondered what people think when they buy first class for short trips.  Of course, it’s not my money, so they can really do whatever they want.  And some people probably rightly deserve those first class seats.  But, it if was me, I definitely would just save my money, opt for a slightly smaller coach seat, and use that couple hundred bucks for more worthwhile activities.

Do you fly first class or coach?  Have you ever flown first class?  Did you think it was worth it?  If you don’t fly first class, why don’t you?