Are you discriminating against couch potatoes?
I used to be a couch potato. Enjoying my time on the couch after a hard days work. Curling up with a good show/movie, chips on hand and a drink of some description.
This was my life up until a few months ago. Then I decided to make a change. It's not easy giving up something I love so much to do something I really hate. Taking care of my health!
It's hard to be perfect and follow a regime that will give me renewed energy, take me away from the possibility of diabetes.
How did I do it you ask?
I am not really sure and I still don't know what motivated me. Perhaps it was my stomach hanging over my belt that did it? Maybe it was because walking upstairs left me breathless? Maybe I was tired of slip on shoes, lace up ones are a killer when you are trying to bend over your stomach.
Whatever it was, I decided to make a change, and hopefully for the better…
I remember reading a number of years ago in the dark distant past a book on running. Written by some dude who had made a lifetime habit of it. He made it sound like fun, but I was not so sure. Who finds running fun?
Why did I pick running?
When there are so many things I could have done, why did I pick running you might ask?
I am not fond of diets. I don't like the idea of following a meal recommendation diet or curtailing my habits. Mainly because it will interfere with my social life and I didn't want to bore my friends with my new diet.
I wanted to pick something that might work for me of which no one would find out about. I hate it when you go on a diet and when you lose some weight everyone gets involved and ‘tries' to help. No, I had to do something that I could do on my own.
I don't particularly want to go to a gym as there are none near me and I know I wouldn't make the effort to attend a gym. I probably couldn't afford the fee plus they want you on a contract, so those fees would come out whether I was using the gym or not. That to me is a bit of a scam.
Running it is then!
With running I do not need any equipment, I can do it pretty much anywhere and even my outfit can be anything I like.
What turned me on was that the author of this book went through a process of not only making it fun but also worked on how to breathe.
I have run when I was at school and the thing I hated most was being out of breath, shin splints and sore after running.
Here he talks about running within your breath and not ahead of your breath. I had never heard of this before but when I tried this it was joyful. Continuing on he talks about not running because you are in a hurry, you are not in a hurry.
So I try it!
The first time I go out, and I am dreading this but I thought I'd give it a shot, I start a sort of shuffle (my attempt at running) which is not a walk (well it is because I am only going as fast as a walk) because I am lifting my feet a little higher than my walking gait.
My breathing starts to get heavy and I am panting a bit. I back off until my breathing is heavy but not laboured and I carry on.
I can't believe that I am running (okay shuffling then) around this circuit I have chosen. It is not easy but it is not overpowering either, I can do this! As I continue running I notice my foot is going to sleep, you would think it would stay awake for this run?
I get into a rhythm, my breathing seems to be deeper and my running is in sync with my breathing. I am finding that I can keep this up for a while.
Now, I don't know if this will make any difference to my weight but I am going to give it a try.
How long do I have to do this?
This is like saying how long is a piece of string? I will try to do this about 3 times a week for 6 months…ouch! I still don't know if this will affect my weight loss, but hey, I have got to try something if I don't want to remain a blob for the rest of my life.
I hope you have a wonderful day, oh, and if you are interested in the book, you can get it here: