I felt really crappy last week so I decided to do my introspective thing. All I could come up with for causes are working too many hours lately, my back acting up, and stress over money. But that wasn't it, something else was nagging me. Then it hit me: I hadn't been to the gym in over a week. If it's possible to do a double take with my consciousness, I did it. I immediately had two thoughts: what an odd thing to feel crappy about, and what did I do to make exercise such a high priority in my life (something I consider a good thing, by the way).
I should throw this disclaimer out there: I'm not in what you would call fantastic shape. I'm definitely soft around the middle and although I lift weights, I'm not someone you would consider muscular. Let's just say I'm not turning any heads at the beach. However, I can say this: I have lost over 30 pounds on three separate occasions. Over the past four years I have put on as much as ten pounds but I always lose it again. I also weigh about 30 pounds less than I did when I graduated from high school ten years ago. I also have good blood pressure. My point is that I am in relatively decent shape and I know how to lose weight.
Over the years I've tried different exercise programs and diets resulting in a wide range successes and failures. Over the last four years, my most consistent stretch of healthy weightyness, I haven't followed any plan. Even better, I don't think it is important. I think following a plan puts the cart before the horse. So what's been my secret? Making exercise a habit. It's easier than you think.
When I first started my gym membership five years ago, I could only run on the elliptical for ten minutes. Each week I added a minute until I was running for 40 minutes a clip, as much as seven times a week. Looking back, that was the most important element, starting at a rate I could handle. You know why people's gym memberships go stale after their January surge? They hate going to the gym.
So here is my proposal: it's not the type of exercise you do, how long you do it, how hard you work, or what specific plan you follow. It's all about showing up and the rest falls into place. Pick the number of days you'd like to go to the gym a week and add one to that number (invariably you will have to cancel a day due to life's road blocks).
Then, just show up. If you're tired, sore, or just not in the mood to work out - show up anyway. Do just one exercise, walk for ten minutes, or do some light stretching - it's really not that important. All you need to do is make going to the gym a habit. It takes about six weeks to form a habit. Once that habit is established you will want to go to the gym and feel a bit "off" when you start missing days. Then you can look at what program works best for you and try to reach a goal of 30 minutes of solid cardio four times a week.
To paraphrase Yogi Berra, ninety percent of weight loss is half mental, the other half is physical.
