Thursday 21 June – The exercise factor

This week I decided to step up my game and get back into exercise.

I have been to 2 classes this week and this morning my weight is down again. I’m at dead on 16 stone. So, the next day or two will be critical as I have to navigate the moving across that invisible line into the next stone! Do my scales understand the psychological impact of the difference between 16.0 and 15.13? I doubt it!

I am a fan of exercise, when it is doing something I enjoy. That is the simple and easy secret. Find something that you enjoy and then it doesn’t feel like an effort.

For many years I have been a huge fan of Jazzercise. I went to my very first class in around 1990 and immediately loved it. I immediately knew that I would love to be an instructor. At the time it was expensive to train, so I did not get the chance. Then I moved house to an area with no classes and I lost touch with it. Then I discovered it again in around 2006 in East London. I immediately loved it again, and when I said I’d always wanted to be an instructor, I was told I could, I could start to train straight away.

I loved being on the stage, with my headset mic, dancing and helping everyone to have fun and get fitter. I did it for about 8 years. It was a lot of hard work, there were always routines to learn and set lists to put together, but it was great. I gave it up when the challenge of finding the time was too great.

I also was a regular power walker. My friend and I power walked the London Moonwalk Marathon a couple of times. I even completed the London Marathon in 2016. I walked it, it took forever, but I felt great.

My fitness, much like my weight, goes in fits and spurts. If I have a new challenge lined up, being a Jazzercise Instructor, climbing Ben Nevis, The London Marathon, I get very motivated by the goal, work very hard, achieve the goal, and then stop. Dead.

The moment I passed the finish line of The London Marathon, and they put that medal around my neck, I stopped. That was it. Goal achieved. Motivation gone.

As I am a mindset coach, I am very self-aware of my process. I know that I need a new, exciting, slightly terrifying goal, to kick start me again.

I have always fancied being a runner. I live by the sea, right on the cliff edge, and have the dream spot to go running.

A few weeks ago I started a running program and immediately had such terrible knee pain that I could barely walk for 10 days. So, I stopped again.

That is probably the new dream. Going for a run, along the seafront, listening to my music. It feels possible but challenging, which is just how I like it.

This week I have been to a fab spin class at www.chateauvelo.com  and and an aerobic dance class https://www.facebook.com/ZumbaFitnessPeacehaven

What both of these had in common was how welcoming they made me feel. There was no pressure, no judgement, no expectations, just join in, and have fun.

If you are thinking of joining a class and are nervous because you are not sure of your fitness level or not happy about how you look, I would encourage you to give it a go. In my experience these places are not as scary as you think they are.

This whole process is about re-learning how to be healthy and make better choices. I want this to be a success, not just while I am taking the drug but forever.

I know that the secret lies in using this time to discover what works for me. What foods to eat. What exercise to do. What healthy habits to start and what broken logic to leave behind.

If I lose weight at an average of 2lb per week it is going to take me about 9 months to reach my goal. This seems like forever, March 2025. But the only way this will work is if I act as if this is a forgone conclusion. Next Easter I will be slim and fit.

The intention is that by then, my new lifestyle will be so normal, that it would feel weird to not do it.

So, I am committed to my new fitness classes. I know that it will also be a way of widening my circle of friends. I just need to remind myself that this time it is ok to just go to class, have fun, and then go home. Why is there a little voice in my head going, you could teach this, you could be an instructor again. I think I have enough on my plate right now.