EXERCISE IS HARD!

EXERCISE IS HARD!

There I said it!  I know when I was over 300 pounds, I wasn’t impressed by people who exercised.  They were normal size or even small.  How difficult could it be?  They just get up and jog or run.  When they go workout at the gym it is a piece of cake.  I doubted they ever sweated or even got out of breath.

As I have travelled this road of my last weight loss journey, I have seen the light.  I have experienced the truth.  I’m going to share it with you.  Anyone who is exercising is working hard.  And I mean HARD!  The same commitment it takes for me to exercise is no more or less than the commitment it takes for a body builder or skinny person.     We all start at the beginning.

Just because someone is lean or their muscles are cut doesn’t mean they were born that way or were there when they started their exercise routine.  Chances are they were far from where they have ended up after months of exercise!  Nothing comes easy when we talk about changing our bodies.  It is work!

We all start where we are, wherever that is.   We start slow.  We set small goals and build on them like a foundation.   We set new goals and push ourselves.    We don’t exercise if we have time; we make time to exercise.  When someone tells me they don’t have time to exercise, I ask them how much time they spend watching television or posting on Facebook (or other social media) or playing games?  If it’s more than 30 minutes a day, you have time to exercise.  You just choose not to exercise.  It’s not a matter of time;  it is a matter of choice.

Now, I admit, I’m nowhere close to my goal weight or even my exercise goals.  I don’t focus on that.  I focus on what I am doing.   I set those small goals for myself.  I push myself hard even when it hurts.  I don’t listen to my body complain about exercising.  I listen to my mind telling me “YOU CAN DO THIS!  JUST KEEP MOVING!”

Every week I see improvements in my stamina, my endurance and my body.  I notice my calves beginning to look like runner’s calves.  I see how my knees are getting smaller and smaller.  Although my inner thighs still jiggle, my outer thighs and the backs are my thighs are becoming hard and lean.  Each time I notice improvement, it spurs me on to keep going.

When I started jogging the first week of June 2014, I was happy when I made it to ½ mile.  Now, 14 weeks later I have completed a 5K (no walking) and I’m training for a 10K within 6 weeks from now.  Yesterday I jogged/ran almost 4 miles in an hour.    When I started I was a slow jogger.  My pace has picked up and I now intersperse running with my jogging.  I started with 100 steps of running.  Now, I am running between 200 and 225 steps at a time.  By the 10K, my goal is to jog ½ and run ½.  I believe I will do it!

So why am I telling you that exercise is hard?  Because I believe in keeping it real and telling the truth.    I don’t jog every day.  There are days that I battle with my body and mind just to get out there.  Even then I get in 4-5 days a week.  Some days I only put in 2 miles.  But I still get out there and do it.  You can too.

When it comes to exercise you have to start where you are.  It’s not a competition with anyone but yourself.    You can start by walking 20 steps a day.  By the end of a month, I guarantee you can be walking at least ½ mile.  Maybe more.  Depends on your commitment and focus.

The best thing I have done this year was to start moving.  I chose jogging.  I do enjoy jogging but there are days that it is a battle.   Make a commitment to yourself to start moving.  Choose your own exercise.  Yours might be dance, or skating, or walking or Tae-Bo or Richard Simmons.  It doesn’t really matter.  What matters is that you have to move, you have to commit to it and you have to keep your focus.  That’s what matters.  And remember this:  your body will follow wherever your mind leads.  Always.

copyrighted 2014

caryn cannatella

Skinny Fiber Sales:  www.caryncann.com