Plenty has been lectured, spoken, and written about regarding the power of our thoughts. They can make or break us. I am going to add to the pile for this post. I believe it’s important to express the baby step thinking which can catapult us to new levels of performance.
I personally hate the feeling of not doing enough. Yes, it’s a feeling. It can actually become a slow burn feeling of procrastination – thinking about it make me uncomfortable. I remember for years I felt this way regarding my physical health. The dreaded words of “work out” haunted me. Here, I was a mom of young girls for several years – primarily because I decided to space the oldest and middle out by 5 years. The middle and the youngest are almost 3 years apart. This meant I was raising toddlers and infants for a while. My kids didn’t sleep through the night, probably operator error on my part. I haven’t always been the best at discipline. I played sports as a young girl, I participated on the high school jv-varsity basketball team, and the varsity gymnastics team. I have always enjoyed physical activity. However, I also enjoy my sleep. When the girls were young I made a decision to not let my mental state concerning lack of exercise turn negative and eat me alive while my girls were young. Did I add I have always worked full time in addition to raising my kids? I essentially took myself off the hook of expectation. It worked for years. Then the girls got bigger.
Another motivating force in my life is getting older. Life looks different at 40 then it did at 26, 30, and 35. When 40 started to approach I realized the food wasn’t burning off as fast anymore. Now, I still wasn’t prepared to jump into the gym or working out. I was willing to start hot yoga. This is was the beginning, however even prior to I did something which eventually contributed to my overall disciplined workout routine I have today. You ready for it? The solution to all your work out issues! I started to think about working out. That’s it. Just thinking about it. The idea of it. I wouldn’t do this for long, only a brief moment, a small amount of willingness to someday workout. I did this for almost a year and half while I would attend a hot yoga now and then. This was the beginning.
Eventually, it took. I turned 40 in November. By the end of December, after Christmas I pulled the trigger. I pulled into the nearby gym and signed up my husband and myself. I also got a personal trainer – I figure why act like I know what I am doing at the gym, when I don’t know. I hadn’t worked out in a gym for years, probably 20. I worked with him a ½ hour a week for a year. The results from the gym made me feel good, the food and diet followed. I’m not perfect at it, but my eating style has drastically changed.
Being a recovered addict and alcoholic, I tend to like anything not good for me. Ya know, sugar, grease, fast food, doritos, ice cream, etc.. One by one they have been removed. Sometimes, nature does the trick because my body doesn’t handle deep fry anymore – pain always is a motivator for me.
