The MomUnit has a quote in her email signature that says, "Growing old is not for pansies."
I'd like to revise that to read, "Getting a healthier lifestyle is not for pansies."
This becoming healthy thing is hard. The decisions that one must make on a regular basis is hard.
But I've never really backed down from something hard. I mean I laced up my tennis shoes and trained to walk 60 miles for god sakes...I think I can manage to lose a few lbs.
My approach this time around isn't, or hasn't been, about "losing weight". Yes. I want to lose weight. Yes I know that's the major factor here. But its more than that to me. I want to be healthy. I want to live longer. And since it dawned on me in kinda a "dah" moment that I have complete control over living longer (well relatively speaking) - then darn it do something about it.
This journey isn't really a journey. I mean it is, at least for now, but eventually it will just be life. And that, my friends, is what I'm looking forward to. The day when these difficult decisions aren't decisions so much as lifestyle that comes naturally.
It took me years to train myself to eat poorly and not exercise. Albeit that training was easy. This eating healthy, working out, and making good decisions that promote my healthy lifestyle is NOT going to happen over night.
And guess what, some days, I'm going to choose poorly grasshoppa! And that's okay. I'm not interested in the self deprecating talk that all too often happens when people fall off the better eating wagon.
Dining out will most likely ALWAYS be part of my social life. Some times I'll choose the healthy meal, sometimes I'll choose the not so healthy. The key is making up for that bad decision.
I met a group of girls for dinner last night at a local restaurant. I knew I needed a plan if I was going to make the good, healthy choice for myself. I had researched the menu prior to going and determined what on the menu I thought would be "less" fattening and better for me. There were a couple of options I had in my mind before I sat down. I chose to not have alcohol - HARD to do when you're out with the girls. And I chose a meal that wasn't perfect, but it was better than previous choices. But the best part...
I chose to work out afterwards.
Never in my life would I have imagined me driving from a night out with the girls, directly to the gym to do some cardio. I felt great after I finished my 1.7 miles on the elliptical. I know, not earth shattering to most of you, but for me it was huge. I showed myself AGAIN that I can, and I am making the right choices. And that, my friends, is all I can ask of myself right now.
2 comments:
I saw your checkin at the gym last night and thought GO YOU! You are doing so well!
You talk about the hard part of making all those choices, but I find it sort of comforting, too. Every choice is a chance to do better and feel better. It's not all or nothing - it's taking incremental steps to health.
I like that I get a second chance (and third and fourth) with every meal or every day - it makes it seem like it's not a HUGE monolithic task, but a series of tiny steps. And tiny steps I can totally handle :)
It is so not for pansies! However, you are no pansy, my dear, and you are handling it beautifully!!!
So much of what you've written really resonates with me. I've had quite a few "Aha! moments" along the way (and I still have them now) but I know that things really changed for me once I realized that I didn't need perfection, I just needed progress. Realizing that helped me to forgive myself for any food/exercise transgressions and move on, rather than saying "Oh, the hell with it! This day/week/month is shot, so I'm not going to even try!"
Well anyway, I'm so stinkin' proud of you. And I'm cheering for you all the way from New Jersey!
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