Last September 2011, I found out I was going to be a grandmother for the first time. As I thought about my little future grandchild, I began to contemplate what I wanted to teach her/him and what kind of legacy I wanted to leave all my future grandchildren. My first thought was, "I want to live to see them all grown... and I want to be healthy and in good shape so I can play with them." All of my life, I have wanted to get in great shape. I've always been a pretty active person, and have never been more than 20 lbs overweight, but I have never really been a fitness minded person. I took karate with my children when they were young, and I got into pretty good physical condition then. I remembered how much I enjoyed not only the karate and getting in good physical shape, but also doing it and sharing it with my kids. Bingo! The light went on... I would begin to get into really good physical health and conditioning, and I would share this legacy of health and fitness with my grandchildren. Being a registered nurse, this idea satisfied my desire to make an impact for the better on the future health of myself and my descendants. So began a journey...
Because I have never really been a person who was motivated toward exercise for the sake of my health, I struggled with how to begin my journey into physical fitness. After some soul searching, I realized several important things about myself that factored into my strategy on getting in shape. First, I knew that I am not a person who enjoys exercising by myself. I just am not motivated enough to make myself exercise regularly on my own. Second, I do not like being out in the elements in inclement weather. I enjoy being outside and working in sunny, warm weather- but cold, rain, wind, or ice/snow quickly drive me indoors. Last, I knew I needed to be able to track my progress and have goals I could measure. After reviewing these points and evaluating different options, I decided a membership at a fitness center was my first step. This would allow me to exercise indoors, with people present, and I could keep up with my progress easily. Also, I knew there would be trainers and "fitness nuts" readily available who could help me work out a routine that would suit me, as well as steer me clear of doing things that would injure me instead of help me.
Finding a fitness center was my next step. After doing a little research, I decided to join SNAP Fitness for several reasons. First, they were open 24/7, which was very important to me because I work odd hours sometimes, and I have horses that require me to be flexible with my time. Second, they have locations all over the nation, most notably for me in Forest, MS where I was hoping to move soon, and recently did. Because I enjoy traveling, and was considering doing travel nursing, the nationwide chains appealed to me a lot. Other things that influenced my decision was their equipment, fitness programs available to log my progress with, and... they had a tanning bed! I do enjoy tanning in the summer months, and this would combine that nicely with my fitness routine. Also, I liked the fact that only members could get into the buildings with their member card, so this added to the safety factor. The price for membership wasn't bad either, so it all added up to a great place to begin. I went to my local SNAP Fitness Center and signed up. I felt better just knowing I was actually now a member of a "health club". My next stop was for workout clothes. My brain is wired so that if I invest in a "uniform" for something, I am much more likely to do that "something". I also knew it was important to be able to move freely, as well as to feel like I "fit in" with everybody else. Now, I was ready to get started!
At first, I was nervous and somewhat uncomfortable when I worked out. I felt like I wasn't doing it "right", and I was sure everyone else there was staring at me and laughing. After going a couple of times, I realized that everyone was into their own thing, and nobody was paying any attention to me unless I asked them a question. All of the people I came into contact with were super helpful and nice, and more than willing to share their fitness tips with a "newbie". I began on the treadmill, just walking. I could barely walk a medium paced mile before I got out of breath and tired. I was easily discouraged, and found every excuse to chop my routine short. I began to skip going to SNAP, and I felt really defeated. After a couple of months of this, I was ready to cancel my membership. Just when I was ready to throw in the towel, I met someone who showed me some great stretching techniques, as well as helped me learn how to ground myself and do meditation and focusing inward. I was having a great deal of hip pain from an old injury and surgeries, and the stretching really helped the pain. This, along with the focusing/meditation, also helped me gain more confidence in myself, and motivated me to get serious about my workouts. I realized that part of my problem was that I didn't have a set routine to my days. I sat down and made up a schedule for myself, including everything from what time I got up to what time I ate and went to bed. I also realized that I wasn't eating as healthy as I should, and that my eating habits were leaving me tired, and often carrying extra fluid due to things I consumed. I wrote out a basic dietary plan for myself, along with times to eat each meal. This really helped me to organize my days, focusing on my goals. It also helped me feel like I was winning the fitness game, since I could look at my schedule and my meal plans and say to myself, "I accomplished everything on my list today". I quickly learned that I needed to be forgiving of myself, since I am human, and that if/when I got off my schedule or meal plan, not to throw in the towel, but to take it in stride, and continue with the plan the next day/meal. Giving myself the freedom to stray a little was a real emotional/mental/spiritual boost... I didn't feel like I was denying myself or punishing myself. Instead, I began to feel like I was rewarding myself with good physical and nutritional habits.
As part of my dietary changes, I eliminated all soft drinks and tea (except hot herbal teas with natural sweetener such as Stevia, honey, or Agave nectar). I cut my coffee down to one cup a day, and eventually cut out the daily coffee. I only drink coffee now about 3 times a week, usually when I visit someone in my family (my family are all big coffee drinkers!) I replaced those things with bottled spring water. I chose bottled spring water because it is convenient to grab and carry with me, it satisfies the habit of having something in my hand to drink (like a coke), and because most tap water tastes terrible and I just won't drink it. Also, I could add no-calorie flavors to it. Just replacing those things with water really helped me to feel better, I found I retained less fluid, and I lost weight easier and kept it off better. Now I drink an average of six 12 oz bottles of water a day, and I can tell a huge difference in my physical well-being as a result. Another thing I did was to cut out my fried foods, processed meats, and high carb foods. I started choosing more naturally prepared foods, organic meats, vegetables, and dairy products, and consuming less chemically preserved foods. I have been an advocate of natural remedies for several years, and as I was already a distributor of Young Living Essential Oils, I began to really incorporate them into my daily life. (YLEO has just come out with a new dietary regime, combining an herbal tea, an oil blend to add to my water to help my appetite, and meal replacements with great vitamin/mineral supplements. They call it the "Slique Kit" and I love it. The products taste great, and as with all YLEO products, it is 100% naturally and organically produced, with none of those toxic commercial preservatives and additives.) The benefits from making these dietary changes are huge: my digestive functions have greatly improved, I retain much less fluid, my weight is dropping, my energy is higher, my stamina has improved, I sleep better, and I am not as prone to catching common communicable diseases.
So, I had my routine worked out, my mental focus was sharper, my spiritual/emotional being was grounded and more stabilized, and my nutritional status was greatly improved. I still found it difficult to get through my routine on the treadmill. Something was missing... but what? I began to notice that pretty much everyone else at SNAP was wearing headphones and listening to music during their workouts. Maybe this was what I needed, good motivational music with a great workout beat. I downloaded SLACKER RADIO and PANDORA RADIO on my smartphone, and programmed my favorite music into them. I listen to a great variety of music, from old country to gospel/contemporary christian and classic rock, with some blues and jazz thrown in now and then. I dug out the earphones that came with my phone, and tried it out... VOILA! This was the final piece in my routine! Listening to my favorite artists and songs, and having a good beat to work out to, really was the finishing touch. I quit focusing on "how long" I had left to work out, and focused on enjoying the music. My workouts went by much faster it seemed, and I found I could push myself further when I listened to a good motivational song.
One of the things that helped me endure through to the end of my planned workout came to me by chance through an article I read in a magazine. It was a story about a woman athlete, and her struggle to keep her young son afloat when they were caught in a deadly riptide in the ocean. She was able to keep herself, and him, from drowning until help could get to him, but when her goal of getting him to safety was reached, she had nothing left to save herself with. The article went on to explain that research has shown when we set a definite goal for ourselves, we are most likely to be able to reach that goal because our mind programs our body to endure whatever it needs to in order to reach that definite goal. It further explained that this is how athletes, soldiers, and ordinary people can perform extreme feats of physical strength or endurance when called upon to do so... they mentally set a definite goal (either consciously or unconsciously) and perform the tasks needed to reach it. Wow! This was a real breakthrough for me! I began to apply this to my workouts, and the results were amazing. I found that when I determined to run a certain distance, and refused to entertain the idea of falling short, I could reach my goal much easier than if I just began to run with no certain goal in mind.
I used all of the information I had learned about structure/routine, focus, meditation, nutrition, motivation with music, and goal setting to gradually increase my workout from barely walking a mile, to running five miles a day now. In addition, I work out 30-45 minutes with weights, doing strength training and toning exercises. What began as a desire to leave a legacy to my grandchildren (my grandaughter was born a little over two weeks ago, and of course she is perfect!), has turned into one of the greatest blessings of my life. I find I am more outgoing, happier, and balanced in my everyday life. I also sleep better, hurt less, have much more energy, and generally feel much younger! So, take it from a former procrastinating, unmotivated and not-so-healthy grandmother-to-be... it is never too late to start "Runnin' Down A Dream"...
SHADOW9 PURPOSES with Young Living Essential Oils
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