Starting Over

Last Fall I fell off the exercise wagon, and fell hard. I didn't go to the gym at all after Halloween, and frankly, I had been slacking before that. A combination of just plain being busy and a general lack of motivation completely derailed my workouts and most of my healthy eating. I mean, I didn't eat crap constantly or anything, but let's just say I had more than my share of Christmas cookies this year. And that there is now a "section of shame" in my closet with pants that don't fit me anymore. Wow, do I hate admitting that, but it is a truth I have to face.

So now I'm starting again. Back to the gym, back to counting carbs like a good diabetic, back to not baking except on special occasions. No more trips to Starbucks and no eating free donuts or bagels when they show up at work. And it's not so bad, or at least it won't be. I know I'm happier and I feel better physically when I'm working out regularly and eating the right way. I just have to get through the first two or three weeks of being sore and exhausted as my muscles remember how to exercise again.

And boy do they have some remembering to do. It's really not fair that it is so easy to lose fitness and so much work to get back in to shape. My core still feels pretty strong, but the rest of me is in sad shape. One of the ways I intend to keep it interesting is to go through and do each of the fitness DVDs I have. There are some that I've never even tried! Tonight I grabbed a kettlebell workout and it was a disaster. Right at the start there was this move where you have to hold the bell above your head, get down on the floor and then get back up again, and I hoisted the weight above my head...and then kind of fell over instead of lowering myself to the floor and getting back up. A point in my favor though - I didn't just give up. I grabbed another, slightly easier DVD and fought my way through it.

It's a little humiliating to basically be back at the absolute novice level, but I keep reminding myself that if I keep at it, I'll get back to being as strong as I was. I just have to be patient. I suck at being patient, but it's not like there's an alternative, so here I go. Maybe this time I'll even master doing a proper pushup.