Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, the greatest food focused holiday of the year. I cannot wait to have stuffing and wine and slowly slip into a long weekend of shopping, sleeping and starting to count down the days until Christmas.
As I write, I'm waiting for the timer to go off for the pumpkin pie that's in the oven and thinking about some recent changes in my life. Mainly, my leap into the world of this thing they call getting into shape. You may have read my post titled 'Diet Cleanup On Isle One' - the one where I told you I'd post on my planned successes with eating cleaner. Well, my update wasn't posted because with the stress of daily life at the time, and my inability to stick to the commitment of shopping for food, cooking, repeat during the week, I fell back into devouring what was available immediately or free at work instead giving some real thought to what I was doing.
Fast forward to the end of October - I was waiting on another contract to start up and found myself with lots of free time. The previous gap I had between contracts lasted longer than I'd like to admit, and yet I made every excuse to not get off my butt and put the focus on myself as much as I was focusing on finding new work. My friend S works at a gym downtown and I must have mentioned signing up to her at least 6 times - followed by 'I'm just not a gym person, you know?' A close friend of mine, M, had started up a serious workout routine and guess what, she wasn't a gym person either. In fact, the first time she told me she had been going it was with a punchy line close to 'I've been doing this crazy thing called exercise!' M is a beautiful woman, and by no means in need to lose weight, but she made a commitment to herself to take on this new experience and it inspired me to stop making excuses.
As I'd mentioned in my other post, it was important to me to never feel badly for eating something that wasn't perfectly good for my body, we all deserve indulgences sometimes. It was also important to me that I wasn't basing my success on weight loss - because weight loss doesn't always reflect a healthy person.
I signed up to start November 2nd. I wanted to start before January 1st, as all too often the pressure of the typical New Year's resolution sets us up for failure. I figure having a routine in place before the year turns over would be my best chance to keep things going in 2012.
I arrived at the gym to meet with a trainer - running on only a few hours of sleep and an empty stomach. I assumed before arriving she was going to beat me up (she's 5'3) and that she was going to scream at me (she didn't appear to be a yeller), but instead of jumping into a kick-my-ass-and-make-me-cry-routine, we spent a good 45 minutes talking about why I was there, what I wanted to accomplish and assessing where I was on a scale of healthy to could use a little work...
I made a list before I went and recited the answers to the questions I thought I would be asked.
Why are you here?
Well, I feel like crap.
My job often means not having time to put thought and effort into taking care of myself.
My body doesn't bounce back as easily when I overeat, spend time going without exercise, or generally don't look out for my health.
My family has a history of being overweight, thyroid issues, cancer, high blood pressure, high cholesterol - It's a fact some of this is preventable and not doing something about it feels irresponsible.
I have a hard time controlling why and when I use food for other reasons that sustenance.
I am uncomfortable.
I have trouble opening orange juice, tomato sauce jars and have the upper body strength of a kitten.
(Losing weight, working out suddenly felt more emotional than I had anticipated after making this list.)
What do you want to accomplish?
I want to feel stronger.
I want to feel less puffy, bloated, tired.
I want to plan a preemptive attack when I have deemed "Holiday Baked Good Bootie"
Do you care about getting down to a certain clothing size or number on the scale?
Now, this one took some thought. And after much consideration, I realize how much I tell women around me - don't look at the number on the dress you're buying as a reflection on your looks. Clothing makers use all kinds of measurements that change from designer to designer, and you should wear what fits and flatters you. You are not the number on the tag.
No, I don't have a dress size I want to be at. However, if being healthy, more comfortable and less sedentary means knocking off a few pounds on the scale, I'll take that as a positive reflection of my hard work.
So it's been about 20 or so days, and I feel better. Improvements have been slow, but it's good to know that I'm doing something for myself - putting aside time every day to make a conscious decision to take care of my body by working out and eating better. I still don't always enjoy working out - but it's a necessary evil and I always feel better after.
I have a realistic idea about what I want and can achieve, which is a nice change from expecting huge changes quickly. I think if I had started this routine in my early twenties it would have been about vanity, now I think it's about maintenance and prevention. And hell, if I look better in my clothes that's a great benefit, too. My 30th is coming up in February and this is just one small step in the direction of paying better attention to what's good for me and growing up.
What role do you think nutrition and exercise play in your life?
Wishing you all a happy start to the holiday season.
Cheers,
BR
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