As I neared the one year mark in my weight loss journey I had dropped around 100 lbs. I was really in a zone with my eating program but I was starting to get an itch to do more. I could feel that long lost version of me waking up and wanting to start adding in some exercise. I would see a winding road and wonder what it would feel like to run down it. I live near a lake and I began to see myself running along the roads along it’s shores with the autumn leaves falling around me. I was reaching a crossroads and I wasn’t sure if I should mix things up or stay the course.

For most of my readers it probably seems like it should be a no-brainer to add in exercise. After all isn’t that usually part of the whole package DIET & EXERCISE? I certainly understood that adding in exercise would be good for my joints, muscles and cardiovascular health. I had also likely lost some muscle along with fat as I dropped pounds. But, I was really scared to change anything. I was worried I’d sabotage my efforts. I feared falling prey to my usual pitfalls:

• Would adding in exercise throw my diet off? Either because I was more hungry or because I started to tell myself I could eat what I wanted because I’d worked out.
• Could I handle having two points of focus (diet and exercise)
• Would I overdo it like I always did and end up injured or sick?

I was coming to the first of many crossroads in my journey. Would I stay on the well-worn path or ‘scratch the itch’ and pick a new path and choose to add in exercise? I decided to trust how I was feeling and made the decision to add running to my program right with the promise that I’d only start once I hit one year mark and not before.

It gave me a few weeks to put together a plan and lay down some self-imposed ‘rules’ that would guide the next phase of my journey. When the day came to head out for my first ‘run’ I took those first steps with these promises in place:

• I would not track how far or fast I ran.
• I would not ‘compete’ with myself by trying to run faster every day or farther every week.
• I would make sure I was getting joy out of running.
• I would start out slow and make sure I was taking walking breaks.
• I would not put pressure on myself to run a certain number of days each week. If I went every day, great, if not no sweat.
• I would ensure that my diet program would remain the focus with running just being a supplement.

With these ‘rules’ set I started to head out day at lunch time. When I traveled I packed my running gear and would either go to the hotel gym or run outside if I was staying somewhere with a good place to run. At the time I would head to Ipswich MA, where the headquarters for the company I was working for were located. I had a great time running through the local cemeteries with headstones dating back to the 1600’s. I’d even stop and take pictures because running was all about exploration and fun.

I kept on like this through the winter and into the Spring. I was really loving adding running I had even lost a little more weight while adding some muscle to my legs. I was feeling good and cruising along. Here’s a picture I took on March 11, 2020 (the day that COVID was declared a global pandemic). The guy in the picture below had no idea what was about to happen in the world or in his life.

We’ll talk more about setbacks and challenges on Wednesday but sometimes just when we think we have it all together life can hand us a change of plans. Some key takeaways for today.

• Keeping things simple is key.
• An agile mindset goes a long way towards ensuring you can stick with things for the long haul.
• Having a singular focus can limit distractions and complications from ruining our goals, but you can’t be so rigid that you avoid change out of fear.
• Setting guidelines as you make modifications can help mitigate fears and provide some rules to keep you on track.
• Make sure your journey has some joy. It takes work to stay the course on your weight loss journey but that doesn’t mean it should be without an element of happiness. From choosing how you modify your eating to what exercise you do your program has to work for YOU.

Until next time Keep Moving Forward!