Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Motivation

So, as I've twittered about, the Wii complained to me this morning that I missed a workout yesterday. I thought it was funny, the manner in which it informed me that I missed the workout, but I wasn't offended. I went out on Monday night with Joey and Fallon and had a late dinner (10:30PM start time... sacrilege!) so I didn't get to bed until around 1PM that night. This led to me REALLY not wanting to get up at 6AM to work out, but instead vowing to work out after work (I ended up biking to and playing tennis with Joe). I'm not complaining one bit, I wouldn't trade going out with great friends for any workout! The point is, even with minor interruptions you can still make progress.

Any diet/workout regimen is an exercise (pun intended) in consistency. I can't tell you how many times I've been doing well on a workout schedule, and then get sidetracked (a weekend in New York, a trip home to see the family, a friend's 21st birthday, etc) over a few days, lose my motivation, and stop. These sorts of things are KILLER. NO ONE wants to work out on a Saturday after being wasted on Friday, but it's a necessary evil. I've been very good about it this time around, and I'm determined to not let anything get in my way of achieving healthiness and happiness. This weekend will be a real test as I'll be heading to Put-In Bay. Regardless of how I feel the mornings after, I have to get up and do... something!

Speaking of how I feel, working out makes me feel great! Physically I'm sore which is an all-day reminder that I did something good that morning. Mentally I'm sharper and happier than I've been in a long LONG time. It's amazing the mental toll video games will take on you. I literally feel like I've been in a coma/sleep for five years and I'm just now waking up to the beauty of life. I hope this feeling never goes away, and with a continuous regimen it never will. Healthy body, healthy mind.

What motivated me to get started down this path? Well first, as I've alluded to, I quit playing so many video games. I've become more active socially. It's kind of funny and cliche but being away from "real" people does hamper your social skills. I had never been so awkward, from a social standpoint, in my life. I used to be the guy that wasn't afraid to say anything to anyone (and I don't mean that in a bad sense, I'm talking about telling people I like their clothes or they did a great job on a speech, stuff like that) but what I had become was a shell of my former self. Unable to express myself, and feeling awkward (and I hate to keep using that word, but that's exactly it) when I did. Couple this with the breakup and subsequent breakdown of the relationship I was in and you can begin to see my motivations.

Health-wise I was in the worst condition I'd ever been. I saw myself going down a path to heart disease, all the afflictions that go with being overweight, and even mental lapses. Remember, healthy body healthy mind! There are a lot of diets out there but the truth of the matter is you can only lose weight in one way: eat better and exercise. It's that simple. A lot of people have these notions that a diet has to be complicated and take a lot of different factors into account, but it's simply not true. I don't care about carbs, about fiber, about Omega-3 fatty acids, or any of that stuff. I eat what I want (within reason of course!), I just watch the quantity. Do you know what I ate for dinner last night? This. That's right, I had Wendy's. Two Jr Cheeseburger Deluxe, no cheese, no mayo. Warm. Delicious. Cheap. And just over 450 calories. In a 2000, 1700, or even 1500 calorie diet, that's right on par for a dinner. The point is you don't have become a rabbit when you go on a diet, just eat smarter and smaller. My biggest goal on this food-expedition? Never be full. I'm getting rumblings in my stomach these days when I'm hungry, something I haven't experienced in YEARS! You know what that means? I'm actually listening to my body. Your body knows what's good for it, you just have to listen.

One of the most influential things I've done to help cement my thoughts about getting healthy is to read The Hacker's Diet. Maybe it's because it's written by an engineer, but the thing just speaks to me. It's everything I already knew, but it's presented in a way that still makes me go "ah ha!". It's all about calories in and calories out. One of the strongest pieces of advice I took away from reading it was about snacking. Think of this: you can work out for 45 minutes on a bike in the morning and burn 300 calories. You feel good about yourself, right? Well, later in the day it's 2PM and you're sitting at your desk feeling pretty drained. Well if you're hungry, why wait? You've just completely blown away 40 minutes of your 45 minute workout with one candybar. Same thing if you go for that second helping of spaghetti at dinner because you had a long day (getting up at 6am is not easy!) and it tasted really great after the unfulfilling salad at lunch. It's THESE small things that I'm really focusing on, and so far I've been doing very well.

I'm already seeing results from my efforts. Pants are fitting better, my memory has improved, I feel more open and uninhibited socially, and I feel happier every day. That's really the key, happiness. If you're not happy with yourself, you only have to get some motivation and make the change. It's not an overnight process, but in the end it will be all worth it, for both your body and your mind.

2 comments:

Nomakk said...

Awesome!!!!! Keep it up man! You rock!

Dave said...

Thanks buddy :) Feels great to have the help of my motivated friends!