"Stop talking. Start walking." -L.M. HerouxA dear friend of mine sent me an email yesterday in which he encouraged me to begin my relationship with my treadmill. While to some that may seem like something you don't tell a woman, I really appreciated his advice. He too had set forth to get real about his diet and exercise some time ago and has done exceptionally well. While the advice he gave wasn't revolutionary, it was sensible; and it made me see that nothing but my laziness was holding me back from starting to exercise. Here was my "aha" moment:
"Most of all: find what works for you! If something doesn't work for you, then you will try to avoid it." -J.H.
I had kept telling myself I would get on my treadmill after work each day, completely ignoring the reality that I am always too tired to follow through. If I wanted to get real about moving, I had to focus more on what works for me. So before bed I set out my workout clothes, even untied my shoelaces, set my asthma inhaler and favorite magazine on the railing, and bottle of water within reach. I was taking away the hurdles for myself. I even took the time to adjust the incline on the treadmill beforehand so I couldn't lazy out of just leaving it at the lowest setting.
And it worked! This morning I got up and got moving! I was so surprised that it really wasn't as bad as I had made it out to be in my head. Even the cat was surprised that the giant clothes hanger moved!
Now I am not going to fold it up when I am done, and will leave it ready to go for tomorrow. Once I make this part of my routine, maybe I won't even need to set everything out for myself. But until then, I'll be untying my laces in the evening and maybe leaving myself encouraging notes to find in the morning.
Today's mini-milestone: Walked 1 mile at the highest incline (10) in 20 minutes.
Next challenge: Repeat tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment