A New Beginning

If you remember from my post about the yearlong classes my one goal for January’s Move More, Eat Well class was to find a personal trainer. I had sort of been looking for one for a few months without success. To be honest, I didn’t really know how to find one and just kept getting more agitated as time passed. So when I was setting my one goal, I gave myself an out. I wrote that my one goal for January was to find a trainer and to write everything I eat down. I figured this way I could be successful if I hit either of my goals.

Oh the ways we give ourselves a way to get out of jail for free.

I started to track my food in early January but it was so boring that I stopped. I eat almost the same thing everyday so it seemed pointless. And I was making no progress on the trainer either. So last week, as I realized how close the end of January was I started getting annoyed with myself for not achieving either of my goals.

And then things just magically fell into place.

I was at a show with my friend Nicholas and I was complaining about how I was having trouble finding a trainer. He suggested I use Yelp. I did it right then and there on my phone and lo-and-behold there were four trainers I could call right by my home. So I called one the next day and gave her two days to respond.

When she didn’t, I called three other places on Monday and finally found one. As it turned out it was a three-minute drive from my house. I made an appointment for Wednesday and felt good about finally making progress.

In the meantime, I had another session of my The Science of Willpower class on Monday night. During the class, amongst other things, the teacher talked about several studies around increasing willpower. One of the exercises they tested was tracking things that you don’t usually track. I decided that maybe this was the sign I needed to get my other 1-goal going as well.

So Tuesday morning I started tracking my food.

Today, after dropping off the kids and doing my sketching, I drove to the personal trainer center and met with my new trainer. I was there for one hour and he gave me about thirteen exercises (after collecting some baseline information). Now I have a set of exercises, some kind of plan, and another appointment.

And I am sore.

I will admit that I am so very inclined to walk away from this whole thing because I am really aching all over for the first time in a long while. But I know that this means I am using muscles I haven’t used in a while and this was exactly why I wanted to get a trainer. While losing weight is great, my goal is not just that. I want to be healthy and strong. The running is great for my heart but doesn’t really do a huge amount for my core strength. I want my arms, legs, thighs, and stomach to be firm and strong. So I can be healthy and not just thin.

So I have begun yet another part of my “healthy for life” journey. I will admit to being scared and maybe a bit overwhelmed. But I am also determined. I know that a few months into this I will be stronger and the exercises will be easier. I know that this is another part of establishing a new baseline for my body and my overall health. And I know that this is the right thing to do for my body.

Even if it’s a bit hard at the moment. Nothing worthwhile is ever easy after all, is it?

So there we go. Tracking food: Check. Personal trainer: Check.

Tomorrow, I get up and do it all over again.