Three and a half months ago, I was looking at pictures of myself and was horrified at how wide and old I looked. I could’ve easily passed for young-looking grandmother watching after her teen daughter’s two small children (mine) ... seriously!
I was dragging my feet on starting the dieting and exercising thing. I feared physical pain and change. My favorite excuse was “Gavin is only six months and I’m still nursing.” Wouldn’t my supply dwindle and thus, my son suffer if that happened?
I finally got so tired of looking and feeling sloth-ish that I decided to just start by moving more. You know, walking a little here. An exercise video there. And jogging on occasion. Then a funny thing happened. As I slowly became fit, I began to want and like to exercise. Wow?! I just startled myself. When, I say that word exercise it is no longer a dirty word to me, and three months ago it was!!! And speaking of dirt … I literally showered in my own sweat this morning after I ran and loved it! I think that when we push ourselves hard enough and get our sweat-on, I really think we get our happy-on too.
Now it is time to talk about numbers and results. I’ve lost a whopping thirty-eight pounds to date (I lost thirteen pounds within the past three months) and I’m only three pounds away from reaching my initial goal of getting back to my pre-pregnancy weight. Once I get there I will work on my ultimate weight-loss goal. I kind of have a ballpark range of where I want to be but I will cross that bridge when it is time to.
Moving more
I posted an article awhile back on the science behind making behavioral changes and one of the lessons I learned was that in order to adopt the habit of exercising, one needed to find their unique dopamine-inducing-activity (or activities). The key word here is activity. In short, our brains are wired to seek out dopamine-inducing-activities (DIA’s). For some it is eating. Playing videogames. Facebooking. For me it is eating sweets and now, running. Take a guess on which one has helped me lose weight? Okay. Point made.
The trouble is when too many of our DIA’s revolve around sedentary activities (anything where you sit for long periods of time such as excessive gaming, reading, computer use etc.) or unhealthy activities (overeating, mindless eating) or maladaptive activities (heavy drinking, smoking, drug use, etc.) So, for a person to pick up exercising, it is really important to start slow and to do something one likes to do. All you have to do is to stick to doing this activity for twenty-one days and you will make a habit of it. I know that sounds like a long time. But I did it. With two small kids! You almost have to treat yourself like a dog and “teach yourself” this new trick until you get it. Not just know how to do it. But to do it to the point where it becomes a part of who you are.
