I have been sick for twelve days now. Twelve days.
That’s a long time to feel like crap.
Oddly what I miss more than anything—besides feeling good—is working out. I dragged myself kicking and screaming back to boot camp tonight and coughed and hacked my way through 45 minutes of squats and burpees at about 60% effort.
Even though it was really hard to get there, it felt amazing to be moving again. And after five minutes of exercise, I immediately felt better.
This made me think about how difficult it must be for people who don’t exercise on a regular basis to get started.
I know how hard it is for me to get back to working out after a long break—it feels rather overwhelming—so I can imagine that it feels completely insurmountable for people who have never exercised outside of gym class.
But here’s the thing: once you start doing it, it’s like anything else… You get addicted to it. You need it. You feel unhappy without it. Which is exactly how I’ve been feeling these past twelve days.
It seems like this post should end with a silly positive reinforcement for people who don’t exercise… like You can do it! or Just give exercise a try! But honestly I’m not feeling it probably because my head has been pounding for a week and a half. Honestly what I really think is: if you can do it, why wouldn’t you?
Agreed, Molly! After getting a week or two in (if you haven’t exercised in a while, or at all), it becomes easier and, as you said, you may even get addicted to it! I feel very off kilter if I haven’t exercised in several days. Four days is usually my maximum between exercising and I usually feel pretty bad if I’ve gone that long. This is from a person who used to barely move! If you had told me 18 months ago that I would feel this way, this stoked about exercising, I would have laughed and then gone and eaten a box of Lil’ Debbies!
You wrote: “if you can do it, why wouldn’t you?” I used to ask myself this question all the time when I wasn’t exercising and was much heavier. I was so caught up in the habitual nature of overeating/not moving much/watching tv that it just felt SO hard to even think about changing. For me, I had the catalyst of a sick family member that propelled me to take my health more seriously. If that had not happened, perhaps I would still be where I was over one year ago – 60 pounds heavier. It doesn’t matter, I guess. I jumped into that cold lake and haven’t really looked back! Now the water is much warmer, so to speak, and exercise has become the greatest gift I’ve probably ever given myself. I like feeling strong and lean(er). Burpees and push-ups (as hellish as those can be and as hard as they are) and the TRX and so on make me feel like a powerful athlete – there’s no other feeling like it for me! And – occasionally, I still eat Lil’ Debbie’s! I’m all about moderation! Thanks for your article!
Thanks for writing, Tasha! The changes you’ve made in your life are truly inspiring. They really are. I agree that exercise is the greatest gift we can give ourselves–what a great way to look at it! That’s why I hate the term “work out.” Thanks for keeping us all motivated!