So 2020 was a thing. We all know that. And amidst a world pandemic, I realized that it was time to invest in myself. Literally invest. So in early fall, I hired an amazing wellness coach. Someone to guide me through the emotional and physical challenges I was facing. Someone to teach me all that I needed to know - to make all in my life right. I had so many goals: weight loss, eating better, exercising more, blogging more, sleeping better, reducing the swelling in my legs, run a 5K, write a cookbook, the list goes on. (I literally have PAGES of goals for my 2021 vision board.)
My wellness coach is amazing. My timing, not so much. It was fall of 2020. We were in the middle of a world wide pandemic. My daughter was getting married. And we were heading into a Wisconsin winter. Not the most opportune time to try to take on all of your demons. But we started. And I have journals and journals from those first months as I tried to work my way through my thoughts. And while I had valiant ideas, the BEST of intentions, the timing was just not right.
So I muddled through a surgery, a wedding, the holidays, and the new year. And just like that, 2020 was over and I hadn't really changed a thing. I'd done a two week clean eating. I'd made sure I got my steps in. I'd answered all the journaling prompts. But in all honesty I hadn't changed a thing. Not really.
And my amazing coach realized this. So last month she changed her tactics. We were going to break down some of my goals - and focus on really small parts in a two week time frame. I realized that for me, truly committing to exercising was critical, so my first goal was 15 minutes of deliberate exercise 5 days/week, on top of anything I get while at work. This was much more mental than physical. I needed to commit to changing my lifestyle.
What happened in those two weeks surprised me. I made my goal. No week went by without at least 5 days of deliberate exercise. And not just 15 minutes. Most nights I went 25 or more. But not even that is the most surprising.
Much of my exercise was simply walking. Walking our country roads. But there is something that most don't know about me. Inside, I crave running. Only my body doesn't allow that. So in these last two weeks, I started adding a little running. Just a minute here and there, but I was able to run, and it felt amazing. The day after the first time I was so worried, but I felt fine! So I continued.
Here is the funny. I am fat. I am an UGLY runner. But I have a LONG driveway. So I run, are you ready? I run, after dark, up and down my 1/4 mile driveway. But I don't CARE! Because I am RUNNING. Even though so little, this is a huge moment for me.
Tonight I went for a 30 minute walk, and ran 3 1-minute segments. And tonight, with my wellness coach, I decided that the 5K thing can happen. In all of the mess that is my mind right now, I can do this. I can control this. So I am taking this running thing on 1 minute at a time.
I added a healthy cooking goal for this two weeks, and a daily journal goal, journaling about losing mom as I am coming up on the 15 year anniversary.
My wellness coach knows I have a love for writing. It was her suggestion that take to my blog to share my successes and my failures. The ups and downs. Because there are both. I can tell you that. For now, I am riding this UP. I am beginning to work towards my goal.
