BUT WHY?? I don't want to get off the couch!
08/12/2012 19:45Before having skin removal surgery this summer, I was somewhat addicted to my exercise routine. I slept better. I felt better. I ate better. I didn't run 15 miles a day or spend hours at the gym, but I did attempt to get at least 30 minutes of intense exercise at a minimum of 5 days per week. After surgery I was forbidden and completely unable to do anything that even resembled exercise. After almost 8 weeks of recovery, today was the day I had to get back on the wagon. After so many weeks of doing absolutely NOTHING strenuous, my body had no desire to do anything that could make it sore or tired. However, my brain was in dire need! Before I started this journey, I always laughed when people would say that exercise was essential for them because it made them feel so much better physically and mentally. I couldn't believe that there was any way that sweating profusely, feeling like you were hit by a truck, or being unable to breathe without gasping for air would make you feel BETTER, but I was oh so wrong. Today, my brain wanted to get off the couch, but my body just didn't. I had all of those feelings that I had on the morning of my very first 5k and 10k...butterflies. With a 360 degree scar around my abdomen and thighs that had had fat sucked out of them with a rod, I thought there was no way I could get back on the horse. I've always heard that it takes 30 days to develop a habit and 7 days to break it, and it so most definitely true. My body was accustomed to being on the couch, being in pain, and being tired from very little activity. I had fallen a long way from the exerciser that I was in May. I know what you're thinking...why am I telling you all of this? Here's why...everybody has anxieities when they set their first exercise/weight loss goal. Everyone has the feeling at some point or another that sitting on the couch would just be so much easier than getting up and getting out there. Instead of sweating, it'd be easier to sit in the air conditioner. "I don't have time," you say, but then you watch 2 hours of TV. It takes discipline to get a routine going, but trust me, once you get it going, you will NOT want to quit. Your body begins to crave it, as crazy as that sounds. Change your schedule so that you can change your life. It doesn't take hours upon hours, and you don't even have to leave your house. You got this...SO GET UP AND DO IT! Don't let your inactive brain and body defeat the active mindset and body that is dying to be let loose!