10/4/2010 - Why I love to Exercise!!!

So, the best part of each day is when I wake up and have that moment where I decide if I should workout or not. . . When you are down 149 pounds, you are enormously inspired to keep heading down, and I MEAN ENORMOUSLY. I am one of those girls who gains weight if I am not on a very strict diet and I certainly will not lose if I am not eating clean and working out consistently. In fact, if I am not recording each morsel that enters my mouth, I gain, ounce by ounce, until it turns into pounds of extra weight. Thyroid and slow metabolism be damned, I have challenged my natural propensity towards obesity, and I WILL win!

So, at that moment in the morning when I have that Hamlet-like decision, To be fat, or not to be fat...that is the question, I usually decide to hop out of bed and head to the gym. Now, as all busy women, I don't have much time to do things I love. The things I love involve traveling, watching movies and tv, reading, writing, hanging out with my family, meditating, and napping. So, the gym has become my all in one "me time." When I am running on the treadmill, I listen to books on tape or read a book. When I am sitting in the sauna, I update my blog. Sometimes, I just let my mind wander and meditate as I row on the rowing machine. But this time in the morning has become my special time, time to rejuvenate and become a better version of myself-enhancing the fitness of my mind and body.

If I have not worked out, those closest can tell. For instance, I will say something snarky and they will give me the head-tilted, beaten dog look and say, "did you work out this morning?" My workout is a huge predictor of how my day will go, so much that I have been known to slip away mid-day to "turn my ship around." Getting in my workout makes or breaks my day.

So, do I work-out to lose weight? Yes and No. I started working out so that I could become more fit. I weighed 370 pounds when I started working out, my knees creaked as I lumbered on the treadmill. My first workout consisted of a walk for 5 minutes. I think it was a speed of 2. I thought I was going to die and had I not kept going, my chances of having a healthy life could have been severely hindered. But I kept at it. I told myself that I would do 5 minutes each time I worked out and once that became doable, I would increase it to 6 minutes. I kept at it until I was at 1 hour! Slowly, very slowly, I began to look forward to that time to start my day on the right foot. I better hit the sack so I can get up at 5:15 to rock out my workout!!