Honestly, I didn't start this program aiming for major change. I want to get fit. I want to feel good. Discipline does pretty fabulous things for your body though (and your mind). Interestingly, I know this. If we get real honest with ourselves, we all know this, and have experienced it in different forms throughout our lives. The trickiest part of discipline is maintaining it. If you're like me, you tend to stick with something for a little while...while it's still fun and fresh and you're still enthusiastic...and then, when it gets hard or painful or embarrassing, or you don't make the progress you think you should make, or boredom sets in, or you get uncomfortable, or somebody says something that makes you throw your hands up and wonder why you bothered...all of a sudden, you find yourself not wanting to get up so early in the morning or pushing yourself to achieve or make a difference like you have been. You decide that all this effort really isn't getting you as far as you thought it would...or worst of all, you think to yourself, "One day off isn't going to hurt my progress. I can sleep in this morning/eat that entire cake/skip reading my Bible so I can get something else done/take a little break from whatever it is I'm doing right and pick back up tomorrow."
For me...that mere thought process is death. Whatever I have achieved suddenly doesn't seem so impressive--or I think, "That wasn't really as hard as I thought it was." Maybe the worst part of that process comes when, for several days, maybe even several weeks after I slack off, I can live off the high that I achieved...I can keep the weight I lost off or maintain the healthy eating habits (mostly) or "feel spiritually full" or look at my muscles in the mirror and still see tone. Sadly, I learned in high school that all it takes is two weeks of inactivity for whatever awesome muscles I (or anyone) built to go back to their state of comfortability (and that applies to things other than physical muscles too, I think). And comfortable...that's what I am continually trying to avoid.
Unfortunately, comfortable is easy. And my body really likes comfortable. I have a "thermostat" or a "happy shape" that I don't have to work at very much at all...and people always tell me when I get down on myself at that shape that, "You look fine, Mindy. Give yourself a break." But see...I know that shape, that thermostat...and I know it's too easy. I mean, if I don't mind heart disease or high cholesterol or diabetes (all of which run rampant in my family) some day...sure...I could just stay comfortable and be happy. And I don't pretend that I will always be as gung-ho and dedicated as I am right now. But taking it easy now means being reeeeaaaaal comfortable when I'm 45 and things start changing with my body...or 55 and things really change. My comfortable shape will very quickly turn into something very much other than fine, because I haven't trained myself to do anything other than be comfortable. I have this awesome mentor/example/preview-of-what-I-will-someday-be in my mother...and I watch her fight "comfortable" every day...she makes me so proud. She is my motivator. She is one of the most in-shape almost fifty-something-year-olds I know (I will not divulge her age... :) ). And I remember, when she was 36, joining her on Saturday mornings as she "felt the burn" with Denise or "stepped" with Joanie. She fought comfortable when she was my age...and she has continued that fight to this day. Every single day.
So, what was I talking about when I got all soap-boxy?? Oh, success. I've had some success over the past week. And I'm thrilled with it. I woke up really not wanting to work out...got through the workout...though my soreness from yesterday has continued to today. I did not perform the workout at nearly as high of a quality as I did last week (remembering it was the same as my Day 1 Routine, Core Synergystics, when I hadn't done anything to destroy my muscles the days prior to that workout), and at the end, weighed and measured all the same stuff I measured last week... :) Even small changes make me happy at times like this. And some of 'em weren't so small. I decided not to take pictures today...I think I would see change, but I really want to notice the big changes after 30, 60, and 90 days, I think. And since I don't intend to publish them anywhere (although watching some of the testimonials on youtube and elsewhere has really encouraged me)...eh. Just boggin' down the hard drive... So, tomorrow, and maybe the next day...I have a feeling I may not struggle quite so much to get out of bed as a result of this past week's successes. And I figured out that the recovery drink I've been drinking isn't helping with my sore muscles for a reason...and have switched to chocolate milk (seriously...proper carb to protein ratio (4:1) and recommended by groups of researchers after prolonged exercise...). I'll let you know how that goes after a few days. :)
Is there something you have striven (I typed strived...really...it's wrong) toward and found success or failure at for prolonged periods of time? What were your tricks for continued success, or your triggers for definitive failure?
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