Early with this posting today as I read the chapter this morning when I first woke up because I knew I'd be busy tonight and might not get to it.
I laughed out loud when I read the title of Day 9 - Select An Exercise Plan.
Why did I laugh?
I can select an exercise plan. I have done that - many times. Selecting an exercise plan is not a problem. Doing an exercise plan is the problem!
Beck addresses the doing part as well as the selecting part and it goes back to Day 8 - planning and making time for what's important. She also addresses unrealistic expectations and that the reason most people fail because they want to be an athlete from Day 1 or expect to see amazing results within just a few days. It also goes back to giving myself credit when I do exercise, even if it doesn't meet my expectations, even if it's not as much as other people do.
Exercise is a game for the patient and the persistent. Every little bit adds up. Every little bit works towards weight loss, stronger muscles and a healthier heart. These changes won't appear within a few days or even weeks, but they will if you keep at it. If you stop - then nothing happens - or things get worse.
Yes - I know all that in my head. I still hate exercise. There are a million other things I would rather do. The only exercise I have ever stuck with consistently is walking on the treadmill (or outside in the Fall/Spring) and aquafit and even those I have bouts of gung-ho and bouts of nothing. It's only in the last few months that I've been consistent and exercised 3-5 x a week. I know if I exercise more, I would see better and faster results.
I've tried the JUST DO IT approach, and it works for awhile, til I just don't do it and fall off the exercise wagon and then get run over as it passes me by.
Beck suggests having two plans of attack. Spontaneous and planned exercise. She describes spontaneous exercise as moving more in every day situations. Some examples I came up with: taking the stairs instead of elevator, getting off the bus a few stops early, using a manual lawnmower instead of gas or electric, parking in a further spot from the building and going up and down the stairs at home as much as possible instead of carrying it all in one trip. Planned exercise is scheduling time for a specific activity: hiking, walking, playing sports or going to the gym.
I make plans, I have time. I just don't like it.
Now, I do lots of other things in my life I don't like and I just cowboy up (I love that expression!) and do it because I have to. But....exercise? It's like a mental block. It is one I need to blast away, climb over, obliterate - but how? Still working on that one.
What seems to work best for me is taking one day at a time. Wake up each morning and tell myself I will move more TODAY. And then I find a way to fit it in, sometimes it's walking on the treadmill, sometimes it's going for a walk at lunch, sometimes it's parking my car as far from the mall as possible, sometimes I just go up down the stairs at home for 20 minutes while I'm waiting for dinner to cook. This works for me. I still want my Y membership cause I know I would go to aquafit regularly and I'm still working on fitting that into my recently overloaded budget. In the meantime, I do something every day.
I made another card for me to read every day.
Exercise is part of a healthy lifestyle. Every minute adds up and contributes to a healthier me. Move more today.
Taking credit for:
- Reading Chapter 9 first thing this morning so I wouldn't miss a day.
- Planning meals for today.
- Moving more today.
Good for you! :) You're doing so well with this book and it sure is nice how it makes you think things through.
ReplyDeleteI love exercise, for me it's the fitting it in. Financially and time wise. It's nice Spring/Summer/Fall, cause then I can go swimming with the kids, walks, etc. but now it's indoors only and the Y costs, it costs money and it costs me a lunchtime I don't normally take and therefore get paid for, so I suffer a little that way. But well, getting healthier isn't free, and I need to realise that I'm important too, and I can't take care of others if I don't take care of myself!
Good for another card, curious to see whether you'll need a seperate bag to hold them by the end of the book ;) x
The biggest change for me, in terms of spontaneous excercise, is that I no longer 'store up' my errands. Like, if I had to go to the post office (in the Shoppers) I would wait until I had other things I need at the drug store before I went. But now I just do stuff when it needs to be done rather than accumulating a list. Same at work -- I used to wait until I had two or three people I needed to talk to on the other side of the office before walking over, now I just go.
ReplyDeleteI always do my excersice at the end of they day. It works best. Getting up early just doesn't work because of the kids, I would need to get up at 4 to get a workout in. During the day I'm busy cleaning, cooking and playing. At night after the kids have gone to bed it is MY time and I chose to excersice. It's a great release from the stress of the day, i find it just works for me.
ReplyDeleteYou are doing so well with the Beck book Enz. I honestly could not get past Day 1 and ending up shipping the book to a friend in Ottawa.
ReplyDeleteGreat great post... and a challenge that MANY deal with every single day.
ReplyDeleteIt's all about this day, this moment. Take action every day, no matter how small. As you said, "just move more every day..." That's all that's needed to succeed in the long term.
Your action doesn't have to make the Earth stop spinning... it doesn't have to be life changing now, but by taking a tiny bit every day, it definitely WILL be in the future.
We all get wrapped up in having to do it all right now, which puts excess pressure on us, eventually leading to fear, and unfortunately quitting.
Try this: Write what your motivation is for wanting to lose the weight. Put it somewhere you'll read every day... and just let the action take care of itself. Fill you mind and soul full of your MOTIVATION, rather than goals, and watch the improvement. "Goals" make us feel fear ~ fear of failure, mostly. Motivations make us feel positive about what we want.
The word, alone, isn't threatening at all... unlike goals.
What's your motivation? Focus on it, see yourself reaching that motivation, and feel the emotions that come from reaching them. Let the day to day stuff just... be.
Good luck. Have fun. Remember, creating a "new you" should be fun, yeah?
Dayne