Wouldn’t it be simply peachy and mango-y if all you needed to do to lose weight is simply eat less and sit like a couch potato?
Alas, life just isn’t fair (if it was, those white chocolate macadamia nuts would burn up 849 calories upon consumption), and to really lose weight effectively, you simply must exercise. Get up and go, move those muscles, get the blood flowing and the energy moving…..it’s a plain fact of life.
Exercise works.
But! What happens when you’re on track with your exercise routine and suddenly….life happens, and you have to turn on a dime?
That happened to me last month, actually…and let me tell you, it’s quite a difficult thing through which to work.
You see, I have a lousy bone structure, so intense jogging is out for me. Instead, I used to love becoming one with my beloved elliptical machine at the local YMCA – I had it down pat! HIIT activities, slow paces, fevered dashes, why, I could even do my karate blocking drill while walking backwards!
In a word, I had my exercise routine down perfectly for my particular body and shape.
Well, over the past few months, my weight loss has produced an astonishing negative side-effect – all of that disappearing fat seems to have aggravated a bone tumor I have on my right femur. Joy! Not! All of a sudden, going from sitting to standing started to cause physical pain – it’s gotten to the point that I have to hold in my thigh whenever changing positions like that.
Now…think about this on the elliptical. Knees go up, knees go down, tendons snap over my exostosis, and pain erupts. Wah! No more ellipticals for me!
But….but…..but. It would have been ‘way easy to simply sit down and give up…my delusional healthy view of myself has been shattered by reality!
I gave myself some time to feel a ton of self-pity…and then picked myself up and looked for alternatives. It turns out that the treadmill doesn’t aggravate my condition at all….and so now instead of ellipticalizing, I simply walk on the treadmill at a 15 level incline for 30 minutes, and spend the rest of the 23 minutes at various speeds/levels/etc.
End result? I get drenched in sweat, my cardio workouts seem to get easier and easier….BUT! Because I didn’t choose to give up, I’m still on the right path for my overall health.
Which brings me to my point!! Life….it happens. And when it happens, sometimes you have to simply accept the fact that you’re no longer in the same peak of health you used to be. But that doesn’t mean you must roll over and give up!
Instead, let out the inner warrior in you…give yourself permission to say, I might be down now, but I sure as hell ain’t out! And then pick yourself up and make your success happen. After all, if you cave into fear….nobody else will be there to make things right for you for the future.
The future….it’s in your hands, and your hands alone. Meet it boldly….your body will thank you for it.
Enjoy,
Barbara
ps – Want to see treadmill goodies? Consider:
