Nashville has finally melted. We’ve been dealing with one of those “don’t get out unless you have to” kind of snows. Because we don’t get weather like this all that often, we don’t have big snow plows or a convoy of salt trucks to clear the side roads.
I was hesitant to drive on icy roads before sunrise and my evenings were booked, so I went three days without working out. I never go three days without working out. A funny thing happened during those three days. By Day 3 my food had started getting sloppy (although I didn’t touch my addictive foods). And on Day 4 (yesterday) I tried to talk myself out of going to the gym.
I took vacation days yesterday and today so that I could assist my mom who was having outpatient surgery. I didn’t have to pick her up until 11 a.m. yesterday. You would think that Ms. 482gr8 would have gotten up early and taken advantage of the extra gym time. But the night before I was out late at an event for my job and yesterday I slept in. When I finally woke up I still had time to go to the gym and work out for at least two hours. But I puttered around the house not doing anything important.
I finally realized that not working out for three days was creating feelings of lethargy and apathy. So I went to the gym with only enough time for 30 minutes of cardio and a bit of upper body weight lifting. I felt better for having made the effort.
Today I decided to go to the gym after attending to my mom. I was still feeling lethargic, missing my old mojo. I arrived at 4 p.m. just in time for Oprah. (I used one of those cardio machines that has a t.v. attached. I was quite the diva.) And there it was, the motivation I so desperately needed.
Oprah’s show was all about Type 2 diabetes. Her guests were Dr. Oz, Dr. Ian Smith (from Celebrity Fit Club), and her trainer Bob Greene.
First Dr. Oz visited a patient as she was receiving dialysis. Both of her kidneys fell victim to poorly managed diabetes. One leg had been amputated just below the knee. She had recently had her toes removed from the other foot, so recently in fact, I couldn’t look as Dr. Oz unwrapped the bandage. She is about my age and looked at least 15 years older.
Dr. Smith visited a group of church ladies, all of whom had diabetes. They were overweight and lived on fried foods. He lectured them on the importance of managing their diabetes. Some of them seemed to care, some didn’t.
Bob Green took this same group of church ladies through a workout routine. They were in really bad shape and most could only lift the tiny, plastic coated, mauve colored weights like I purchased for my 84-year-old mom. I’m not slamming these ladies; we’ve all got to start somewhere. That’s just where they are.
I don’t have diabetes, so why did I find this show so motivating? Dr. Oz provided four risk factors and I have one of them and I may have another. They are:
Belly fat: I still have that.
Smoking: I quit a long time ago, so I don’t count that one.
Being sedentary: other than this week, I’m really active.
Heredity: I’m an adoptee, so I may or may not have this one. I’ll never know.
Dr. Oz said something that really resonated with me. First, you have to know that I read a lot of material on health, diet and fitness. I have a ton of head-knowledge on this topic. Dr. Oz said, “People change not because of what they know, but because of how they feel.” Read that quote again. Go ahead….I’ll wait.
The dialysis patient Dr. Oz visited IS A NURSE. She had all of the head knowledge, but, according to her, she continued to eat sugar and not really try to manage her diabetes because she didn’t feel bad. Believe me, she feels bad now and my heart ached for her.
Seventy pounds ago I felt bad…really bad. Today I realized that I NEVER want to feel that kind of bad again. And in the future I want to feel better than I do today.
Feeling better than I feel today is hard to imagine, because I feel pretty fantastic. I can’t wait to find out what my future holds. Stay tuned!
482gr8 