As many of you know, this year has been a challenging one for me physically. As a result, my entire outlook on fitness, and what it means to be healthy has changed. I wasn’t entirely out of shape before I was hospitalized back in December 2013, but I wasn’t a size 6 either. Then when I actually lost the ability to walk properly, I really could care less what size I was, I just wanted to walk straight again. My first goal was to get off of the walker, then the cane, and then to stop limping. By July of this year, I achieved all of those goals.
However, by the end of it all I was heavier than I’d ever been in my life. Partly, because I was pretty freaked out about what had happened to me, and through emotional eating, I felt I “deserved” that piece of cake or pie, or that mixed drink. Add to that the knowledge that (at the time) doctors really didn’t know what would cause a healthy woman, with no high blood pressure, diabetes or blocked arteries to have a stroke…I had the attitude…Hey, start living! It doesn’t matter anyway.
Today, I am happy to say, that I am still growing and healing. Have I lost a little weight? Sure. (No. You will not be seeing any before/after pics on here. Because, no). That’s not my goal anymore. Before, my fitness goal was to get through all 90 days of P90X. Today, it’s focusing on getting 8 hours of sleep (still not quite there yet), eating several small meals (mostly protein and veggies) every day, drinking much more water than any other liquid and to find ways of reducing the stress in my life.
The most important fitness change I’ve made is that I exercise in some way every day. Whether it’s a 10 minute workout I found on Pinterest, a short but heart-pumping kettle bell workout, a little yoga, or even getting off of the subway one stop earlier so that I have to walk several blocks to the office. Eventually, I want to be back working out at least 3 times a week for an hour straight, (without having to be in bed for the rest of the day) but until then….I do a little something every day.
And that’s the key to fitness really. That’s how I learned to walk again, how I regained the use of my hand. How I convinced my brain that my hip was still working. It’s how I increased my stamina bit-by-bit. Months of rehabilitation taught me that my physical goals should be tangible, not temporal. In other words, don’t worry about how long it takes you to do something, just keep chipping away at it until you can see/feel physical results.
And do SOMETHING every.damn.day.
Header image credit: anetlanda / 123RF Stock Photo
• What does fitness mean to you?
