I should be at the gym right now. But instead I’m in front of the computer complaining about not being at the gym. I should have been there yesterday as well. But I wasn’t.
On Sunday, Nashville experienced some snow…about one or two inches of accumulation. Not the stuff folks in Buffalo experience, but it was significant to us Southerners who are not as accustomed to the white stuff.
My 4:30 drive to the gym takes me on back roads that are not well-lit. I’m pretty afraid of driving on ice in the dark, and the hubs would rather not get a call from me at an early hour were I to slide into a ditch. So with hub’s encouragement, I’ve skipped working out for two days. And I hate it.
Last night I had a phone consult with Lynn, my friend and exercise mentor. She’s skipping her workouts for the same reasons I am. Only she’s not stressed about it. She reminded me that the rest will do me good (I now know what it feels like to get eight hours of sleep). But my warped mind has convinced me that taking two days off will result in a gymormous weight gain. Intellectually, I know this isn’t true, but these thoughts are remnants of distorted thinking and they are a signal to me that I still have things to work on “between my ears.” No one ever regained 83 pounds by skipping two workouts.
So now I see I must reframe my thinking about working out…or better yet…why I work out. Here’s what I’ve come up with so far:
- I work out because I choose to participate in endurance events…and those events require adherance to a training plan
- I work out because doing so is a natural stress-releaver
- I work out because doing so has helped me lower my blood pressure to a normal range
- I work out because weight-lifting helps women of a certain age prevent bone loss
- I work out because being in shape feels better than being out of shape
- I work out because exercise is the Fountain of Youth. I want to live a long, healthy life…not just a long life.
Those are my “sane” reasons for working out. What are yours?
482gr8 