The “Better Bod” Project Part 1

Originally posted on @ http://followmeg.com June 2, 2012    

I don’t know how many of you have ever tried starting a new diet or workout regimen, only to slip up and then give up due to feeling bad, getting down on yourself, losing willpower or coming up with lame-yet-legitimate-seeming excuses. I know I have.

I never used to workout. At all. Probably the first 25 years of my life I never worked out on any kind of a regular basis, except maybe in gym class in high school. And if you are reading this, thinking “I just can’t get started” or “I’m not that athletic of a person” or “I don’t like working out” or “I just can’t find the motivation” or any other of the nearly endless lame excuses, know that I say that with love, and not with judgment, being a master lame-excuse giver for never working out up until a few years ago. It started out with the famous last words “Oh, I’ll get into the best shape of my life before I get married.” Well that deadline came and went, and though I’ve always been thin, I haven’t been as toned or muscular or healthy as I’d like to be. So, then the new famous last words became “Oh, I’ll do it before I have kids.” Even now reading that I realize how idiotic it is.  That’s like saying, oh, my new-years resolution is to… “get in the best shape of my life”. That’ll be my new year’s resolution this next year. The reason?

Listen and listen well. If you don’t start today, you’ll NEVER start.

That’s my theory anyway. Really. I tend to always say “oh, I’ll start tomorrow” or “I’ll start next Monday” or “I’ll start on the first of this next month”. But ask yourself the question “when are you thinking about starting? Not planning to start, but thinking about starting? Answer: NOW!!! So why not start?

And trust me, I can come up with a plethora of excuses to answer that one. Just to make you feel better about yours, these are all REAL excuses I came up with that I felt I had to have in-place before I could even start.

• *Oh, well, I need to get organized first, with months of meal plans, shopping lists and workouts.
• *I need to get new workout clothes before I start.
• *I need some good workout equipment.
• *I need a good variety of workout videos, or I’ll get bored.
• *I need a gym membership.
• *I need to join another gym that has free classes. and more equipment. and a pool.
• *I need to have a personal trainer.
• *I need to have a great playlist to listen to while I workout.
• *I need to make a motivation board with points I can earn and rewards I can spend them on to help keep me motivated. (true story) What am I? Five?
• *I need a friend to work out with me and help to keep me motivated.
• *I really need a treadmill at home.

(By the way, these are ALL excuses that I actually came up with.)

• *I need to get my bike tuned up so I can ride and burn more calories while still having fun.*
• *I need to join a co-ed softball team first, so I can get more exercise doing something I want to do.

Whew! Geez! I mean wow, I am a lazy, silly BUM. And that’s not even touching on the classic excuses. Such as…

• I don’t have the energy to workout.
• I’m too tired, I think I’m getting sick and need to go take a nap instead.
• Ooh I’m too sore and tired from yesterdays (the first day’s) workout.
• I have to go to work later today or tomorrow so I don’t want to be too sore and tired to work.

So, the embarrassing and bewildering truth is that every single one of those excuses I listed (except of the one about the bike) has been a true, honest-to-God reason that I’ve put up as a legitimate excuse to not start or continue working out (and the bike thing has been on my mind). The good news is that ultimately NONE of those excuses kept me from working out and changing my eating habits as of now. And no amount of complaining, excuses or slip-ups, mess-ups, give-ups and start-overs have lessened my resolve to get into the best shape of my life. To start NOW! I am proud to say that I am actually 4 days in to a 7-day metabolism jump-start diet change and exercise regimen.

You see, the fact is, I will never “arrive” at being in the best shape of my life; a bikini-wearing bomb-shell, unless I chose to start one day. And then do it the next day. And the next day, and the next until a habit is formed and I have disciplined myself to work hard for it!That’s the bottom line. (I will touch more on this idea in a later blog to come.)

That’s why I’ve started. You have to start a journey before you can get to where you are going. Day after day, one step at a time, one good decision after another, one dedicated, disciplined meal and workout after another. AND, you have to have a good reason to do it and continue doing it.

Here are just a few of my reasons.

• *I have self-confidence issues (don’t we all?) and I think looking and feeling better will help me be more confident.
• *I have Crohn’s disease, so making poor food choices makes me literally sick in the short-term and could shorten my life literally in the long-term. Plus I don’t like taking pills, so I am determined to manage the disease with diet and exercise.
• *I am going to Hawaii in March, and I want to look HOT in my little black bikini.
• *It is item #1 on my 30 before 30 list (listed in a blog to come).
• *I always said I would. It’s a good idea

Somebody call the Waaaammbulance!!! Wow, what a whiner!!

So, before this blog becomes EPIC tonight, I’ll pause there and continue later on. More on this subject another day. All I can say is (four days in) I feel fantastic! More energy and feeling great, inside and out!