Jump, Start, Cruise

There's got to be something that gets you started on a path to wellness.  Something that happens (or doesn't happen) that makes you change for the better.

For me, that something was a threat.  Not from a person, but from my body.  I had found bellydance and fallen in love when my knees started to put up a fight.  Dancing around with my 240 pounds was too much for them and they let me know in no uncertain terms.  The threat of surgery or giving up dancing was real enough for me to jump into action.

I started my path to wellness by tackling my diet, feeling like I was already active enough - I was a dancer after all.  I did a fair amount of research into a variety of options (from meal replacement plans to surgery to "solution" diets) and landed on Weight Watchers.  It was hard to walk into that first meeting and face the fact that I had, according to the charts in the book, over 100 pounds to move, but it was a START.  And that was what I needed.  I tend to finish things I start (except for knitting and quilting) so taking that first step was super important.  I also went public with my plan by posting my intention on Facebook.  Now I had to do it, right?

I changed my eating habits with the help of their Core plan (which doesn't exist anymore, sadly) - I started eating regularly throughout my day instead of forgetting to eat for hours at a time.  I started eating tons of fruits and veggies and whole foods.  I started paying attention to portion sizes and nutrition labels.  I started losing weight.

I cruised through my first 20 pounds, going down every week, before physical fitness really came up.  When it did, I first tried to brush it off (again, I was a dancer...I was "active") but I really wanted to stay successful at my weight-loss process so I looked at my options.  I was working at the YMCA at the time and had a membership as an employee perk. I started on the treadmills and knew that wasn't something I wasn't likely to do long-term.  I tried a Zumba class on a whim since it happened right before a class I taught.  It was AWESOME - I danced for an hour and they called it "a workout"!  That was something I could get behind!  I did, however, know myself well enough to know that I wouldn't keep it up if I didn't *have* to. 

At over 200 pounds I was, by far, the largest person in the Zumba licensing workshop.  I didn't fit the mold (or the Zumba clothes they were selling), but I made it through the training and set out to teach my first class.

A year and a half later, I was 75 pounds lighter, my entire lifestyle had changed, and I was truly an Active, Healthy, Well person.  

Today a woman took a jump into the unknown by emailing me with questions about the studio, at the start of her journey to wellness.  I really hope I get the chance to help her find her cruise setting!

Anemia

I am, for the most part, a very healthy person.  I get well over the recommended amount of physical activity in per week, I eat a balanced diet focusing on proteins and vegetables, I have healthy relationships with both family and friends.  I avoid processed foods and empty calories.  I read food labels and shop conscientiously. 

And, as I discovered this month, I am anemic.

After feeling run down and generally unwell I FINALLY went to the doctor.  Well, a student clinic (no health insurance here) at our somewhat local Naturapathic college.  The lovely student interns led by two wonderful docs have, so far, diagnosed me with iron-deficient anemia.  The full fun is yet to come as we try to figure out why I am anemic, but that will be a story for another day.

The result of my anemia is that it is a bit harder for me to make it through my active days unscathed.  Zumba takes more out of me than it should, and Moxie Boxing pushes me to my limit.  Sundays, when I teach from 8 am - 5 pm, require buckets of resolve.  It’s hard, but in some ways it feels good.

Yes – it feels good to struggle a bit.  To push past that little voice in my head that’s trying to tell me I can’t do a class…that feels good.  It reminds me of all the benefits I’m getting from that workout, of all the other things that seem hard but are awesome from the other side, and of the simple fact that I’m human.

We all have barriers that keep us from working out and taking care of ourselves.  For some it’s time, or all the other people we need to tend to first, or fear of being welcomed, or the weather, or work stress, or whatever.  Pushing past those barriers make us that much stronger on the other side of the workout, don’t you think?  It feels good to step away from that never-ending pile of to-dos to sweat and focus on ourselves for 30 – 75 minutes, both because of the benefits of the workout AND because we’ve overcome a barrier.

What’s getting in the way of your quest for wellness, and what are you going to do to push past that barrier this week?