How our DINK lifestyle fuels our Fitness Journey
When was the last time you did something for you?
Even Dinks get caught up in the cycle of work, eat, sleep, repeat. After all, the dual-income part is pretty important for living the DINK lifestyle. It’s easy to fall into a routine and forget to take time for yourself. That was the case for Mark and I in January 2024. That January we decided to participate in the first RunDisney event to return after the Covid Pandemic, and we thought it would be a piece of cake. Needless to say we were hit with a cold dose of our fitness reality when walking 3.1 miles felt like the end of the world. We barely made it to the finish line and it took almost two hours for us to walk that distance. That was when we knew we had to make some changes.
One of the reasons that we chose the DINK life was to have more time to invest in ourselves and control over our time and energy. But that doesn’t mean choosing exercise over ice cream is easy! After the struggle of that 5k we sat down and made some changes. We knew that the life we wanted to live included mobility, health, and longevity, and we were not currently headed down that road.
We decided to stick with RunDisney events as our main motivator because they are fun! The energy, the costumes, the cute medals, they are a truly great experience. But in order to be successful we had to figure out how to prioritize movement as a couple. Here are some of the ways we made it fun!
Moving Together: planning our walks/runs around each other’s schedule so that we help keep each other accountable and also have a movement buddy has been crucial to keeping us consistent.
Post-Movement Treats: stopping at our local Starbucks for coffee on our weekend walks added a special element to our fitness journey that made it feel even more like a date. We bonded over cold brew while chatting about our weeks after the walks.
Fitness Trackers: tracking isn’t for everyone, but being able to share and see each other’s fitness goals being met was really motivating for us. It really solidified that we are in this together!
Now almost a year and a half later we are doing a 5k a week, and after we finish we still have energy to go on dates at Disneyland!
-The Wandering Dinks
P.S. Follow along on our socials as we continue this journey.
