An Interesting Question

Would you keep working out if you did not have to?

What a question. When I was first asked this question I flippantly said, "of course not." There you go, it was short, quick, and to the point. But then it began to gnaw at me. Why did I answer so quickly. Would I really stop? And why is this bothering me so much. I started to ponder this. Would I never work out again if I didn't need to? I really needed to find out for myself.

So I started a list of pros and cons to work through this.

First, the cons. Working out is hard. It takes a lot of your time. You have sore muscles. You lose sleep in order to get up early. You sweat a lot - no, I really mean a lot. You sweat so much you ruin clothes. You have to take showers all the time. You have to go a gym and workout next to skinny spandex people. You always have sore muscles. Finally, you have to lift heavy objects. Okay, I think I just talked myself out of ever working out again.

But to be fair, lets move on to the pros. What have I gained through working out? When I really think about it, I have gained my life back. I know that sounds dramatic, but it is really true. I have begun to believe in myself again and made changes to become the person I want to be. Working out has taken me farther than I ever thought I could go. I have gained self respect and pride in my accomplishments. It has taught me how to plan and set goals, and push myself past my limits. It has allowed me a lot of time with God to praise Him and pray for people, and myself. It has given me the ability to earn respect from my family, friends, and people I don't even know from the gym and Internet. It has also allowed me to encourage and inspire people, and a drive for life that I have never known before. It has given me so many sweet family times - I no longer sit and watch my family do things, I can join in.

The journey I am on is the journey of a lifetime and it will last that whole lifetime. It has also given me sore muscles, early mornings, sweaty clothes, and at time, pain - physical and emotional. But when you take time to think about it, it is so worth the effort I have gone through.

I ran into a few people who had not seen me in a few years. They asked me if I had weight loss surgery. I was kind of insulted because I had dropped every pound through hard work and sweat. Although it would be tempting, if given a magic wand, to instantly get to my ideal weight and never have to workout again, I would not do it because I would miss out on this journey and what richness it has brought to my life. It has been filled with ups and downs, but they are my ups and downs.

If you've read my blog before, you know how inspired I am by music. I ran across a song that puts it perfectly, how I feel about my path, or climb:

There's always gonna be another mountain,

I'm always gonna make it move,

Always gonna be an uphill battle,

Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose.

Ain't about how fast I get there,

Ain't about what's waiting on the other side,

It's the climb.

The struggles I'm facing,

The chances I'm taking,

Sometimes might knock me down.

But, no I'm not breaking.

I may not know it,

But these are the moments

That I'm gonna remember most,

You've gotta keep going.

I know, I know, it's a Miley Cyrus song, but at least she didn't write the lyrics - they were written by adults.

I will stay on my path and I pray that you will stay on yours.

The Process Never Ends Until We Die

"In the long run, we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die, the choices we make are ultimately our responsibility." Eleanor Roosevelt

Responsibility, what a heavy word. But in the end it is truly up to each of us. Wouldn't it be easier if we could pay someone to walk this path for us. If we could have a "pinch weight-loss runner" who we could trade places with at the finish line, thin, healthy and fit. But I guess we would miss out on all this journey has to offer.

Each week is a blank canvas on which you can paint a beautiful picture filled with vivid colors, or scribble a black and white stick figure drawing. We all have to live each week, but it is our choice how we shape that week. And, we must accept that this process will never end, but is always filled with change along the way.

They say the secret to survival is the ability to adapt to change. I can tell you that I hate change, always have, and always will. Lately I have been struggling with all the changes involved on my path to fitness. I used to think that it was pretty straight forward - exercise, eat less, and you lose weight. And it is true that calories in / calories out is basically what it is about. But to be truly successful, you need to switch up your workout and your calories, and don't get me started on metabolism! I wish there was a manual that told you everything you need to do, but being fit does not seem to work like that.

Last week, I needed to change my workout because I was getting bored and unmotivated, so I knew that I needed to change up some things. My husband encouraged me to try the rowing machine at the gym. I always wanted to try it, but didn't think I would be able to do it. So, I thought, what do I have to lose. My husband strapped me in and away I went. I was going to try it for five minutes. My husband went to take a shower, but at the end of five minutes, I couldn't get unstrapped. So, I decided to keep going until my husband came out to help me. I went 15 minutes and burned a bunch of calories. So, the next day I wanted to see if I could go 30 minutes. Sure enough, I could. Then, I set a goal of going 3 miles which I already accomplished and am now on to new goals. And then it hit me - by changing up my workout, I was not bored anymore and in fact, excited to see how far I could go. Now I have some variety for my cardio. So I guess change is not so bad after all, which is good, because now I need to change my weight workout at the end of the month. You see change never ends.

So what is the moral of the story? We all need to relax and walk the path that God has given each of us. Don't get set in our ways. If we want to truly survive and thrive, we need to develop the ability to change. Look around, do you see any dinosaurs on your path? They could not adapt to change. We don't want to end up like them do we?