A New You Often Means Better Fitness

I can’t tell you how many years I’ve started the new year with a fitness goal that was based on pounds.  As most of you know, that’s a tough one to reach and even tougher to keep.  

image from clker.com

But in the last few years I have come to a much more balanced attitude about weight and fitness.  It is coming from the place of my 2014 “Manifesto”– Be Grateful.

I used to look at exercise as something that I had to do so that I could lose weight.  It was the be-all-and-end-all, the I-have-to-do-this. A goal.  But when I realized that exercise was the way that I thanked my body for all of the good things that it can do, my attitude changed.

Here’s my biggest example:

For years and years I have tried to be a runner.  It seemed the ideal exercise for a person who had a very busy life and needed to exercise in a short amount of time.  But nope.  I just hated it.

I would make myself run, sometimes regularly for months at a time, before I realized that I just felt tortured every time I did it.  The only thing I liked about it was being done.  I loved classes at the gym and riding my bike and hiking and skiing, but running?  No thanks.  

Nearly three years ago, though, I went for a walk for a change of pace in my hilly neighborhood.  When I realized that I wasn’t getting my heart-rate up enough to be considered a cardio workout, I decided that I would use gravity.  I started jogging when I was going downhill, but then just walked uphill.  After a while, I started jogging on the flat, too.  Still walking uphill.  And guess what?  I didn’t feel tortured.  Now I love going out for what I call a “gravity assisted” run.  I never feel guilty about walking uphill, since I know my heart is still pounding (the hills where I live are pretty steep!)

My good friend (who is a true runner), when I told her about my “running” program, said, “That’s a good start!”  Well, no.  It is my workout.  I had discovered that my obsession to always be improving and pushing myself that caused me to hate running.  This is my workout–my way to thank and appreciate my body.  It’s not a goal accomplished or even a step in a larger plan.  It is the physical embodiment of “Be Grateful.”

And I have enjoyed a bonus from my running plan–stronger bones.  Since I have started running, my bone density has actually increased (and these are bones that have lifted weights for many years).  Another bonus is that when I am active, I want to eat in a more healthy way.

What are you planning to do to thank your body in 2014?  In what ways will you move more?

Happy fitness!

Love,

Lassen’s