Pep Talk

Today marks four months since I started walking five mornings a week.

This morning I got the brilliant idea to weigh myself. You see, I was thinking that, with four months of exercising under my belt, I’ve now completed 1/3 of a year of working out. So, you know, just to “mark my progress” or whatever.

You might recall that I didn’t weigh myself before I started. You might recall that my fear was that if I started looking at numbers on the scale, I would get discouraged.

That’s EXACTLY what happened today. Now, I have no idea how many pounds I’ve actually lost, but I suspect it’s not many. I do feel slimmer, and I can tell I actually look slimmer on certain parts of my body, as well. I feel a zillion times better than I did before I started walking. But I think the fat on my body, rather than “melting off,” must have just relocated. For instance, my lower thighs look slimmer; so that fat must have migrated up to my upper thighs. My upper torso looks slimmer; so that fat must now be in my stomach.

I tried on my “goal jeans” again this morning and found that this theory of migrating fat must really be true: whereas the last two times I tried them on I could button and zip them (they were still too tight to wear, though), today there was no way I could fasten them—yet they seemed looser than before in the legs!

Totally depressing.

This is the kind of thing that could easily make me give up on exercise altogether. But I know without a doubt that would be the wrong thing to do.

And so, this morning, as I walked, I gave myself the following pep talk, listing all the reasons why I should continue walking and not let the number on the scale get me down:

• All this walking is great for my heart.
• I’m helping control my blood pressure and blood sugar levels, keeping them in the healthy range.
• Walking builds strong bones, so I won’t get osteoporosis.
• I’m building muscle, which weighs more than fat.
• This new muscle I’m building helps increase my metabolism, so I’ll burn more fat even while at rest.
• The sunlight helps my body produce Vitamin D, which is essential for good health.
• Exercise helps fend off inflammation—and I need to fend that off, because I’m already prone to infections like pleurisy and pericarditis.
• I get to enjoy the beautiful flowers and trees and see what cool things the neighbors are doing to make their yards look nice.
• The scents of confederate jasmine and honeysuckle and sweet olive are a delight—aromatherapy!
• Walking seems to get my creative juices flowing—I get lots of good ideas for my novel, solve plot dilemmas, invent interesting dialogue as I walk along.
• This is time I have all to myself—a rare commodity for a stay-at-home mom.
• It gives me a chance to pray when I really need to—like when Father C- gave me a penance of spending a whole hour thanking God.
• Best of all about walking—it lifts my spirits and keeps me from sinking into the doldrums.  I rarely get depressed when I am in an exercise groove.

So you see, even if I don’t lose a single pound, all this walking is so worth it. All these other benefits mean way more than does the verdict when I step on the scale.

Having said that, though, I also realized a couple of things: 1) I’m going to need to pay closer attention to what I eat if I really want to drop weight more quickly; and 2) This might be God’s way of letting me know that I need to look to Him and not rely so much on my own machinations in order to obtain the kind of radiant health I so desire. How that will all pan out, I’m not exactly sure. I’ll keep you posted.