Cultivating Health: My 21-day Fitness Challenge

On the first day of September, I was having a day of doldrums...I was feeling bored and unhappy with myself for no particular reason.  Then, I had a thought that was quite unusual for me, "maybe if I do a workout, I'll feel better."

So, I worked out - about 35 minutes or so of callisthenics in my living room - and, sure enough, I did feel better! I felt a sense of pride in myself for having done something for my body that I traditionally have hated doing (for me, exercise has always been associated with injury and feeling wimpy because I never could "keep up.").  I felt a sense of amazement at my increased lung capacity post-smoking.  Most of all, though, I felt a boost in my mood from endorphins that I'd never felt before (likely because I always used to end my workout when it started to hurt rather than push past that point).

Now, generally, when I work out, I'll do it consistently for 2-3 days before injuring myself or being too busy or feeling sick/depressed and not working out again for a while...This time, however, when I hit day 3, I hadn't hurt myself and, instead, I felt pumped - I began to realize I was enjoying the workouts of the past few days and I wanted to continue.

So, I set myself a challenge: I decided I wanted to try working out every day for 21 days (the amount of time it takes to create a habit) and see how I felt about it.  I didn't set a goal on the amount of time I worked out or the intensity of the work on purpose - I just wanted to see if I, a gal who grew up being called a wimp, being told she would never be fit enough to be a Forest Ranger (my childhood dream job), being the last one picked for teams or the last straggler on group hikes, could keep up an active lifestyle for a whole 21 days without giving up...

To stay accountable to myself, I used an app on my phone, Nexercise, to keep track of what exercises I was doing and how often I did them.  There are two things I really like about this app: First, you can see your progress each day as you level up and earn virtual medals. Second, by exercising and recording it, you can earn a virtual currency, M-points, that can be traded in for gift certificates to places I actually like to shop.  Keeping track, even if I was sharing my progress with no-one but myself, was an important part of being able to do this challenge for me - it helped to see what I was doing on a screen, to be able to pat myself on the back for the progress each evening, and to remind myself of the streak I'd be breaking every time I didn't want to work out.

As the days went on, I had to alter my exercises because the jumping jacks that I so dearly love (as well as a few other things I was doing) were exacerbating my plantar faciitis, but regardless, I kept it up.  I completed 21 days of at least one exercise every day - some days, it was yoga, some days, a walk around the neighborhood, or weightlifting, or lunges...  Every day, though, I made sure to sweat, to push myself just a little beyond what I thought I could do, to get that adrenaline rush that makes the pain go away and the happy chemicals flow into my brain. 

It felt, not just good, but truly incredible to complete this challenge.  First, I'd made a lifestyle change that was bringing me enough joy that I wanted to keep it up. Second, my body felt (feels) so different: I'm more flexible, balanced, stronger, and I have a lot more stamina than I have since...well, since I-don't-know-when. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, I no longer felt like a wimp - I no longer felt like I had to say no to active opportunities, like hiking or dancing, because my body just couldn't handle it.

Admittedly, there was a bit of a let-down at the end of the challenge as well: Even though my goal had not been to lose weight, I had, as the 21 days progressed, convinced myself that I must be losing something with all that hard work...Alas, I lost nary a pound.  I was pretty sad about this for a moment...until I remembered that the improvement in my performance was a heck of a lot more important to me than the weight. 

All in all, though, I feel that this 21-day fitness challenge was one of the best things I could have done for myself at this point in my life.  Having been a long-time smoker and never having lost the weight from my pregnancy with the J-Rex, I had been starting to experience those health problems so commonly associated with obesity, like circulation issues, fatigue, foot issues, and more.  Now, at 35 years old, having quit cigarettes and with only a little over a month of every-day exercising under my belt, I feel more youthful than I have in years and every single one of those health problems has begun to show improvement.  The best part, though? I'm happier - happier with myself and with my body - happier than I was and happier than I expected to be.

When I started, I could barely touch my toes, had to use my own body weight in the place of free-weights to prepare myself for weight-training, and could do tons of crunches but not a single sit-up.  Today, I am on day 11 of Richard Hittleman's 28-day Yoga Program and doing moves such as the advanced cobra or advanced triangle without a hint of strain, I was able to move up to the 8 lb weights for my weight-training, and I was able to do 20 sit-ups with mostly still arms.  Today, I feel graceful and move my body just to feel it respond in ways I'd forgotten were possible.  Today, I feel good.

Try it.  You'll feel good, too.