I struggle, like many people, with maintaining long term change. My wife is a wonderful example of long term change. This year she stopped drinking Pepsi. It was difficult for her. Really difficult. Yesterday, she impressed me when she admitted she finally felt like she was done drinking soda.
I am proud of her.
I am less proud of myself. Stepping on a scale recently I discovered I had gained ten pounds. My scale is old, electronic, and unreliable. I couldn't believe my new high weight was 10 pounds over my old high weight. I wanted to believe that my unreliable scale was being unreliable. However, I couldn't deny the fact that my dress pants no longer fit. My wife tells me to buy new pants. I want the old pants to fit. It's time to lose the weight.
It is important I start with a few key statements. My weight loss goal is not about me trying to match a visual image that society says is appealing. It is about health. I want to maintain numbers that research suggests lead to a longer more active life. Those are two things I want. Live longer. Be active.
More immediately, I want to increase my stamina so I can exert myself for longer periods without feeling out of breath. A few weeks ago I played a couple of games of Ultimate Frisbee. I had an immense about of fun. I was also unable to keep up the pace that I wanted to. After a few minutes I was slowing down to a walk and letting my teammates do the legwork. I wish I hadn't had to do that. It will also help me with theatre. Being able to sing and dance at the same time is a valuable ability.
This is not the first time I have attempted to lose some weight and get in better shape. Obviously, previous attempts haven't been entirely successful. Why? I have a problem. On new projects I push myself too hard, burn out quickly, and end projects prematurely before there is lasting change. I want things to be different this time. A different ending requires a different beginning.
There are two things I am doing differently. First, I am keeping a detailed record of my progress. My wife used a calendar pinned on the bedroom wall to mark each day she went without soda. It is now in her bullet journal. I am copying that. I don't have a bullet journal and I was too lazy (not an auspicious beginning) to print my own calendar pages. Instead, I am using the existing Chick-Fil-A calendar we have in the kitchen.
Each day I will write down the basic exercises I did that day including how many of each I did. On Sunday mornings I will weigh myself and mark that down on the calendar as well. Also, I will try on my dress pants. That's not getting recorded on the calendar.
Second, I am starting slow. On August 13th I did 10 push-ups. Then I marked it on the calendar. I could have done more. I chose not to. Slow beginnings. I took Sunday off. I don't work out on Sunday's except for the occasional casual stroll. I marked that on the calendar too.
The real work began on Monday, August 15th. I did 10 push-ups first thing in the morning. Then I marked it on the calendar. I kept that up every day of Week One. Then I reached Saturday. Saturday's are different.
The thing is slow starts are well and good to get you back in the habit of physical activity, but grow requires going a little farther. Humans, in general, can do more than we think we are capable off. My Saturday routine is based off of ideas from this video. Saturday is the day I push myself.
I do not go to the Navy Seal extreme. It is not the day I do 100 pull-ups. There is no goal to be military ready. I am not going crazy, but each Saturday I do more than I did the other days of the week. I push myself a little farther. Then I write it down, and I total up my activity. The first Saturday I did 19 push-ups instead of 10. If you're counting that is 69 push-ups total.
That was Week 1. Each new week has two goals. 1. Add. 2. Increase.
1. Add
Each week I add a new exercise. Week 2 I added sit-ups (20). I was enthusiastic so I added jumping jacks (30) as well. Week 3 I added pull-ups (2). That's not a typo. This week I have added hanging forward knee tucks (10). I still need to add stretching into the routine and wish I had done it earlier. I am not sure what I will add after that. Planks are a possibility or pike position leg lifts. Burpees will never be a possibility.
I managing these additional exercises by not doing them all at once. I do them throughout the day, making opportunities as needed. Push-ups are first thing in the morning immediately after rolling out of bed. Pull-ups shortly after. Jumping jacks are generally in the afternoon. Sit-ups are usually the last exercise I do. That, of course, is risky because it means they are the exercise most likely to be skipped. However, keeping a written record is a great incentive to not miss a day (I missed one day).
The benefit of this method is that I don't have to set aside a portion of my day for exercise. Two minutes are easier to come by than an uninterrupted half hour or more. Also, it keeps my body active throughout the day. This is helpful when I sit for long periods of time. I have read some articles that say this helps the body burn more calories throughout the day. If that's true maybe those pants will fit sooner than I had hoped.
2. Increase
Each week I increase the number of reps I do for each exercise. Push-ups have risen from 10-->15-->20-->21. I will continue to increase push-ups by one each week until I reach 30 push-ups. Then I might add sets. We'll see. Sit-ups, jumping jacks, and pull-ups have all similarly increased. Pull-ups went to a whopping three!
As a last note, except on rare occasions I do not note my outdoor activities (walking, inline skating, swimming, etc.). I don't completely know why I don't include these. Most likely I don't want to take the effort to quantify them. Do I note how long I walked/skated/swam? How far? Mostly, I don't care. Walking has never been a problem. I like to walk. So, I don't track it.
I don't expect to increase and add for forever. Eventually I will run out of exercises I can easily do around the house. At that point I'll stop adding. I won't increase forever either. Eventually I'll hit a point where I am highly satisfied with how much I am doing to keep in shape. Then I'll strive to maintain that.
That is my plan. I will try and keep you updated on how well it is working.
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