Finding Me Again

I'm a napper. There's no way around it. I love to go home at noon, eat a quick lunch and then sit down in my lazyboy for 30-40 minutes. My nap time is a time when I contemplate (before snoozing overtakes) and have, what I think, are great ideas/thoughts. I had one of those 'great thoughts' today.

We were out in Colorado a couple months ago on a backpacking trip. For me parts of it were the trip from the fiery furnace below. Why, you ask? How can being out in the wilderness, hiking in areas with the most spectacular views on this planet (provided by our most generous and loving Father), and spending time with close friends not be entirely wonderful? Well, let me tell you. I was not in shape for the kind of hiking we were doing. It was extremely difficult for me. I was too heavy, my cardio wasn't where it should have been, my leg strength was mediocre and my upper body strength was basically non-existent.

After returning home and whining (yes, Mike, I did have cheese with it) about how tough the trip was for me for a couple weeks, I somewhere found the motivation to change all that I hated about my present self. Okay, don't get on me about hating myself. It's not myself I hate, it was my physical condition - or lack of good physical condition. Everything I believe about being healthy, I had let slide. I had gotten lazy and out-of-shape.

My reform came when my oldest son stayed with us for a weekend. He wanted to go to the local health club down the street and workout. I didn't want him to have to go alone so I tagged along. He challenged me to do his workout with him. I did and boy did it feel good. We went back the next day for the second of his workouts. When we went home he wrote down all of the machines and weights I should be using for the two-day, two times a week schedule.

The first couple of weeks I went sporadically. I wasn't feeling too motivated and I was extremely intimidated by all of the 'fit' people there. Somewhere along the line (two weeks ago to be specific) all of that changed. I started enjoying going the four days a week. I was increasing the weights I was lifting. It wasn't a chore to get up a 4:45 am everyday. Not only am I going to the health club for an hour, when I leave there I put in an hour of cardio - all before work. I feel absolutely great by time I get to work every morning. Feeling pretty good about trying to put my physical health back to where it should be.

All of this had me thinking about how I have changed from being interested in my health and my commitment to changing it. When you're interested in doing something, you do it only when it's convenient or when you feel like it. When you're committed to something, you accept no excuses.

I'm finding myself becoming very competitive. The competition is with myself. I want to lift heavier weight, I carry a stopwatch when I walk/run so that I can see if I walked faster than the day before. I don't think this is a bad thing. It worked for me in the past training for a marathon. I competed with me, not the other people running. I read this quote that expresses how I'm feeling "The best inspiration is not to outdo others, but to outdo ourselves."

So maybe outward changes can't be seen by others, but I can certainly see the inward changes going on and I'm likin' it!!!