Journey to Health Feb 16, 2021 Update

Journey to Health Update

February 16, 2021

I had wanted to give an update weekly, but I lost 0 lbs the week of January 31 (at least I didn’t gain!), and then I’ve been busy this week. I try to weigh and measure myself Shabbat morning, which is also a time of reflection, introspection, and prayer for me.

So here are the latest stats (I’ll just share the weight for now)

Week of Jan 31: 0 lbs lost, but also nothing gained.

Week of Feb 7: 2 lbs lost!

I actually did reach my goal of 10 Leslie Sansone miles, or 150 minutes, of exercise the week of January 31. I watched what I ate as well. I was disappointed that I hadn’t lost anything that week.

Undaunted, I made some changes, but not the kind of changes you might think:

1. I changed where I exercised, by moving it from the living room to my work studio. This has helped quite a bit, actually. Himmit works smack dab in the middle of the apartment (an internet cable/wall connection really restricts choices). This means that my workout could interrupt his meetings, phone calls, or just get plain annoying (who wants to listen to “walk walk walk” for 45 minutes when you’re already doing something monotonous?) Moving where I worked out allowed me to set a workout time and stick to it without interruptions.

2. Workout time: Believe it or not, there are people out there who aren’t allowed to workout whenever they want. How blessed others are who can do their workouts bright and early in the morning! But Himmit’s “prebright and early” is hours before the apartment’s quiet hours restrictions are lifted. So, I scheduled my workout as early as possible, with a goal of finishing the workout before Himmit’s lunch.

3. Clothes: What started out as me losing patience changing my clothes several times a day, turned into a built-in motivation and reward. Yay! Who wants to get up and dress all nice, change into workout clothes, take a shower, and get all nice again? It’s cumbersome and a waste of time for myself. So, I start the day looking a bit unkempt in my workout-fit ; ) until I finish working out. Do you see the motivation there? Yes, I have to keep my workout-fit on until I finish, which means being chilly, not feeling fully dressed nor ready to meet the day, etc. Also, I begin to look forward to my shower and outfit of the day. Woohoo!

4. Multitasking: I stopped it. I used to try to get things done in between each Leslie Sansone mile. Working out in the living room left me easily distracted with chores. Predictably, I usually wouldn’t get back to those miles. With all of the other changes, I decided to just get my exercise in and have it finished, hopefully before Himmit’s lunchtime. The lunchtime thing is important to me, because I don’t feel like working out after a meal. Also, dinner has become the “end” of my day. Here is where I learned something really important: my exercise is much more impactful on my health if I do all of the miles at once. These aren’t regular jogging miles on the treadmill, by the way. They are less vigorous but still aerobic, which is perfect for apartment complex living. By mile 1, I have an elevated heart rate and breathing pace. By mile 2, my skin is a bit more pink, I’m slightly warm, and I’ve shvitzed a teeny bit (glistening). But, back to back to back through mile 3: my skin is red, my muscles are getting sore, I’m dripping sweat, and I feel really warm.
   

These, along with continued watchfulness and choices in my diet, are what made the difference between not gaining any weight / zero pounds lost, and losing two pounds. *Note: I have begun to weigh myself again because it’s a better and faster indicator of my progress than measurements.

Before you dismiss the small numbers, just multiply that 2 lbs by the 52 weeks in a year. Pretty cool, yeah? I am happy with my progress. This isn’t just a goal to accomplish for me. This is part of my future healthy life.

Please don’t try to lose weight too quickly, as it isn’t necessarily too healthy. The one time I lost 10 lbs in four days was because I was sick. It was very unhealthy and felt awful. And no, I didn’t lose fat weight. Stop making unattainable goals for yourself. Make small changes and little achievable goals. Look for some small habits you can work on and give yourself small built-in rewards to make your everyday a little bit nicer. It’s like adding a few flowers along your journey in life. Do you know that God can do that, add little flowers and bits of comfort here and there in your life? It’s there. You have to search it out. Don’t miss it!