11.16.2011

if not now, when?


there has been an incredible influx of folks at the gym these last couple of weeks.  recently i asked a fellow patron, "what gives?" and she offered her opinion which is probably pretty accurate, "people getting ready to eat all that turkey."  have to look your best for the big day, right?  good for them. i guess.  sometime is better than no time but it's interesting.

then there's those other folks who are waiting for "after the holidays" to make a move (or move).   i've heard it several times over the last little while and thinking about it took up a lot of mental space the other day as i tried to finish my b.o.r.i.n.g. eight mile treadmill run.  i wondered, "why?"  what after the holidays?  what changes after the holidays?  

let me tell you what i think about this (because two of you care to know what i think).  living a healthy lifestyle is something that happens before, during and after the holidays.  you can't fake it by waiting until "after."  at that point, you're basically setting yourself up.  'cause the holidays don't just happen one time.  they're pretty consistent which means that at some point, if the whole "starting after the holidays" is your plan, you're going to run into another holiday season.  what then?  do you quit what you started?  

most people do.

don't be most people. make your plan part of your life.  not something that is "in addition to" your life.  

consider yourself challenged.

2 comments:

Marianne and Matt said...

so so true! You might be proud of me that I made it through the whole month of October without eating one peice of candy. Not because I think it's wrong to eat a piece or two, but because I knew I wouldn't stop at one or two or three......and I need get serious about loosing this baby fat(or at least it makes me feel better to call it that:)

Erin Elizabeth said...

I get where you're coming from, I really do. As someone who really tries to make fitness a priority in my life, the holidays really put a damper on working out. Both my family and my in-laws live out of state and my husband and I split time between the both of them. That means we both take off on a Friday directly after work..drive down and spend as much time with friends in the area and family members as we can before driving up Sunday a week after and getting up for work after a late arrival the night before. When we're there, it's really difficult to find both the space and time to work out..and then the holidays just get in the way. Even for a person with the best of intentions..it's sometimes easier to set aside those intentions and acknowledge there just aren't enough hours in the day during the holidays. It's not an excuse so much as a kindness to myself to stop beating myself up for missing yet another morning workout because I was either sleeping on an air mattress in the nursery of my in-laws or just too tired from Christmas shopping and cooking for a party the same night. Thank you for your insight, and I hope this gave you a different perspective; not lazy or weak...just busy and worn down.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...