Ready for a Fitness Change

People look at me and assume that I am fit. While I am the first to admit that I am much healthier than I was eight years ago (before I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes at age 35), I still struggle with fitness.

I am ready for a fitness change.

I am not unlike many other people I know. I sit at my desk all day (I am a copywriter and content marketing strategist), and the activities I enjoy the most are sedentary: reading books, watching hockey on television and cross-stitching. All involve sitting my butt on the comfy chair in the living room.

But 8 years ago when I discovered I was diabetic, I had a choice: to manage this chronic illness with medication or to manage it with diet and exercise.

Back then, I was 165 lbs. and “mushy” from an inactive lifestyle, but the decision was easy for me. I chose diet and exercise because of how young I was. Theoretically, I knew that as I grew older, it would be harder for my body to help manage diabetes, and I didn’t want to be in my 30s popping a lot of pills. I chose diet and exercise to give my body the best chance it had for regulating this illness for as long as possible. My goal was to get my body as lean and strong as I possible could before some other health-related issue affected me later in life.

That probably doesn’t make sense to a lot of people, but for me, that was the only logical decision.

But 8 years later, diet and exercise is still a struggle. While I am more active than I was when I started this journey, I have to admit that over the last few years, I’ve gotten lax. Some of it was caused by our move from Pennsylvania to Arizona and a hundred (or more) life changes that go along with that, but more so, it has just been me being lazy. I’d rather sit on my butt, eat ice cream and tell myself that I’ll do better tomorrow.

Can anyone else relate?

A few weeks ago, I finally woke up from this fog I’ve been in all summer (more on why the summer is so hard in a later post) and started taking steps to get back on track with my diet and exercise.

I signed up for the Desert Boneyard 5K that is happening on October 31. It is a run among historical aircraft (“the boneyard”).

Let me be clear: I am not a runner, but to train for this event, I’ve tapped into the Couch to 5K (C25K) app by ZenLabs to help me get into running. My goal is simple: to complete the race. I am not worried about how fast I am. I just want to jog the entire way and finish knowing I did my best.

About this same time as signing up for the 5K, I also had an amazing conversation with a gal I met through Twitter (yes, that really happens). She lives in St. Louis and over the last few months, she’s shared with me her fitness journey. During those talks, she’s turned me onto “ladies group training programs.” These programs focus on strength and lifestyle changes in a less intimidating environment. Her experience encouraged me to try it myself, and I signed up for a Strong and Healthy Woman program here in Tucson. It starts tomorrow!

Perhaps some of you may be thinking that I am taking action in too many places (learning to run again and strength training), and in the past, I’d agree with you. But I am at a point where I am FED UP with only going backwards in fitness and health. I am ready for a change.