I told my husband last night, the 26th is an important day for me. He bit and asked why… I said I will have completed the SMSM program. This time I did it! I set a fitness goal and made it through the whole thing. I’d tried SMSM twice before and quite by week 2. This time, I did it! What made the difference? I hit bottom in my mid-40’s this year and I never knew it until wham… there I was.
I’ve spent the last 3 winters of my life helping family members recover from serious surgery. First my dad, had heart by-pass, then my husband had double-hip replacements at 40 due to childhood case of Perthes Disease. Then my father-in-law had open-heart surgery. We farm and winters are my off-season from field work to play catch-up with things I do for me. For three years that didn’t happen and it showed. One evening, I was sitting on the couch with the foot-rest up and I really looked at my ankles in shock… somewhere along the line I had developed my beloved aunts’ ankles. All my dad’s sisters are morbidly obese and have extremely swollen joints with health and mobility problems… The sight of my swollen aching ankles hit me harder than any future-cardiac-patient waist measurement or scale reading. My weight has been a life-long roller-coaster issue and I was convinced that my future had been pre-determined by genetics, but the ankles were the kicker.
So, I pulled out the I-pod, dusted off the treadmill, and made a Lenten commitment to exercise 4 days a week. And here I am. What made the difference this time… hitting bottom left me with no place to go certainly. But also, Scott’s instructions for making small changes, consistency, pushing just a little harder each time, backing off when it hurts, and the LSB method. Two additional things made the 3rd time a charm: 1) The Keeping the Vision podcast which forced me to start slow and let my body warm up, and 2) Scott’s explanation of the moment in your workout when the body switches from burning carbs to burning fat. Why the heck had I never heard this before? Do you know how many times I’ve quit a walking program because I repeatedly fought against this moment and beat myself up because I was breathing hard in the first portion of my workout even though I’d been exercising for a month or so. Now it all makes sense! When I sense that “the switch point” is approaching, I listen to my body and work through the change. If my body complains too much, I back off a bit, keep moving, and presto… I’m in fat burning mode and I can walk forever.
Thank you, thank you, thank you! It’s been one month, I’m down a few pounds, the mirror shows I’ve toned and gotten some muscle back, I look forward to my workout time (& nobody messes with it). The sound of the MTM music and Scott’s voice saying “Well hello there” have me looking forward to my hour of exercise. (Yes, it seems I’ve been programed!) I’m also looking forward to getting the bike out and putting on my motorcycle vest… (yes, I’ve tried it on and yes, it snaps without laces or extenders). It’s going to be a beautiful ride as I continue making small changes a little at a time. This time, it’s not something I have to do… this is an adventure, my adventure.
