I'm not going to exercise anymore

So, when you think of exercise, what comes to mind? Hours spent in the gym, pedaling away on one machine or pushing iron on another? Watching the readout to see how many calories you've burned? Doing whatever you can to break a sweat and get your heart rate up?

I've decided I'm done with all of that. It doesn't appeal to me.

I've had an epiphany.

I have suddenly realized that I am now one of those people that needs to run, swim or bike. I crave it. One of those annoying people for whom cardio is like a drug. One day, I'll even look like it. ;)

I think the moment I became one of those people was when I stopped exercising and started training. I don't run because it burns calories. Quite frankly, I don't trust the computers that tell me how many calories I burned anyways. I believe that you can be very successful losing weight without ever breaking a sweat. In fact, I even think it would be easier in many ways.

I train because I want to do something, accomplish something. And once I do it, I want to start doing it better, faster, further. That's why I need to run and do it at 5:00am. That's why I sacrifice sleep in the evening to swim laps. Because I keep finding myself capable of doing more then I ever thought possible.

There's no drug that can beat that feeling.

It's been 4 months and 10 days since I set myself a goal of doing a triathlon. Since then I have gone from being terrified of deep water to swimming over 20 laps without a break. I started out running 1 minute at a time and have now run as much as 8 km (5mi). In those 4 months I have become a new person.

The day I set that goal, I said "I am setting a goal that I don't know if I can complete. But, I do know one thing. This time I'm going to try. Actually try."

Today, my only regret is that triathlon season is over and I have to wait so long until I can do my first one. Today I would say:

I know that I can complete this goal. And I am going to tri. Actually tri.

Do you stretch?

Photo source

Yesterday morning, I did my normal 6km run in the morning and arrived home to 2 year old Sweetpea up and about. Rather then take my usual few minutes to stretch, I immersed myself in Mommyland. (On a side note, could somebody remind Sweetpea that it's okay to sleep in a little more.)

Later in the day I found I was pretty stiff. This morning, I still am, and I have a bit of soreness in some of my leg muscles.

This isn't usual for me. I didn't push myself more then normal yesterday morning, and the distance is one that I do a few times a week, every week. The only thing that is unusual in my routine is that I missed my stretching time.

If you google stretching, you'll find all kinds of recommendations, some of which contradict each other. When I was a preteen, and legwarmers were in style, you were supposed to do bouncing stretches before exercise. Now, you'll find recommendations that you stretch before and after, only after, not at all, etc.

One of the recommendations that makes a lot of sense to me is that you should never stretch cold muscles. So, rather then stretching before I run, I usually do a short walk first. (Although, admittedly, I cut that short yesterday too, since it was cold outside and I wanted to get warm faster.) Then, I run, and I stretch afterwards.

The stretches I do are shown here: Stretching for runners

I have considered stretching after my warm up walk and before running, but to be honest, I just don't feel like it. Since some of the information claims it's not necessary, I've decided to skip stretching then. I do better when I remember to stretch afterwards though, so I need to fit it in.

I know some runners/exercisers that never stretch and do well. I've also seen an article somewhere that claims you can actually injure yourself more by stretching then not. (I'm afraid I can't remember where, so I can't provide the link.)

What about you? Do you stretch?

The Plan - Activity

So, as much as diet is key in losing weight, activity is a vital part of the health equation. I know for myself, being active makes me feel better, have more energy and actually makes it easier for me to stick to healthy eating.

This is why it is a part of my plan. It is way too important to be considered an afterthought.

I have no excuse not to get regular exercise in. I am phenomenally well set up. I live in a town not far from the mountains and am across the street from a beautiful paved pathway system. I have a bike and a chariot with attachments to be used as a bike trailer, jogging stroller and regular stroller. In my basement, I have a recumbent exercise bike, a rowing machine and an elliptical trainer. I also have free weights, a weight bench, and an exercise ball.

So, you see, I have no excuses. So, I'm going to stop making them.

In the winter time, most of my activity will be inside. I have 2 children under the age of three, so I can't fully plan my days, but what is working for me right now is to jump on the bike or rower after the kids go to bed. When the weather is nice enough, we go for walks, even in colder weather, but unless both my kids decide to ride, the pace is pretty slow, so I don't consider it cardio. So, the evening exercise machine it is.

I am looking forward to the spring and summer when the paths are clear again and the mountains are hike-able.

I also feel that strength training is a very important part of the equation, but for the time being, I'm focusing on cardio. I have a couple reasons for that. One is that I am still trying to heal a sprained wrist. I have exercises I do specifically for my wrist, but aside from that I'm a bit paranoid about pushing it.

The other reason to wait is that I simply don't want to overwhelm myself. I am changing alot of parts of my life right now, and this is one that I am waiting a bit on. For these reasons, I am making the commitment to reconsider strength training as of February 1.

So, right now, my commitment is a minimum of 30 minutes of cardio each day as well as my wrist exercises, stretching and foot exercises (for plantar fascitis).

Being ready

One of the things that I can't stress enough is the importance of being ready when you start your journey to better health.

A month and a half ago, I had been trying to lose weight had been spinning my wheels for a long time. I decided I needed a break. I stopped tracking my food. I virtually stopped exercising. I went crazy with food. I was probably eating an entire days worth of calories before noon. I gained another 10 pounds.

Through this process though, I learned some important lessons.

I wasn't even enjoying my food. I don't want to be shoving cookies and cakes into my mouth like they mean nothing. When I am eating well, a small piece of chocolate is delicious and wonderful indulgence. Any kind of treat had lost it's meaning and I didn't even taste it.

The extra 10 pounds has made it even more obvious the strain I've been putting on my body. I've had a noticeable decline in energy. I've found it harder to get up and hard to do things. My already limited wardrobe became even more limited when I found out I couldn't do up one of my 3 pairs of pants. If 10 pounds was having that much of an effect, had I just stopped noticing the effect of the other 50?

Stopping exercise contributed even more to my lack of energy. Sometimes I don't feel like starting a workout, but there's no denying that I always feel good after. In fact I don't think I have ever regretted it. I certainly can't say that about eating a pastry.

This wasn't who I wanted to be.

So I made a decision. I made a decision to change. I decided that after the holidays I was going to do this and I was going to finish it.

Now, in most situations, I think once you make one of these decisions, it's best to follow through immediately. But, this ended up working for me. I continued with my bad habits, and all the time started to question why? I got impatient to begin and started looking forward to the day when I was going to put the overeating, lethargic Deb behind me.

And I've done it. I have a long way to go physically, but now I've won the mental part of the game. I am ready. I am more ready then I have ever been in my life. I'm not doing this to fit into a smaller dress or wear a bikini. I'm not doing it for my husband, friends, or even my children. I am doing this for me. I am doing it because it's what I want and what I need.

I choose not to use words like trying, attempting, failing. Rather, I am doing, succeeding, and winning.