I remember September 3, 2016 very well. That was when I was at my highest peak in my weight loss efforts. I remember being to do walks of 3-6 miles with the greatest of ease! I remember feeling fairly good (for a big guy). I try to keep that in mind and know that it’s possible again.
As I’ve been ramping up my efforts to start walking again, the lack of activity for nearly the past year has hit me in the face. Especially the past 5 months. I remember doing some walks back in August and was able to bust out 3 mile walks (about an hours worth of time). Below is a snapshot of my first attempt at walking last Friday:
To be fair, I accidentally didn’t start it right at the beginning, so those numbers are a little low…by maybe a tenth of a mile or so and 1:30 in time. In a word, humbling. My back struggled so much that I had to adjust to a much shorter route than I had planned. The other thing that I found fascinating was the fatigue my legs had. You hear about muscle loss, but to be able to experience it? When I was at my peak of walking, my legs would eventually get tired near the end of long walks or after I had been done for awhile. But this hit me almost immediately. Again…humbling.
You hear a lot about the idea of “no pain, no gain.” I’ve also heard that’s a ridiculous sentiment and pain is that way your body allows you to know you’re doing something that isn’t right for your body. I choose to look at the happy medium (or unhappy since some discomfiture is involved). Obviously, if I just walk until I’m “uncomfortable” I won’t be able to accomplish much of anything. So in the other times I went walking this week, I pushed myself. As I’ve pushed myself, I’ve held in mind some of the lessons that I learned on and since September 3, 2016. I remembered that if I push myself too hard, my body will try to shut down. I also remembered that when my body reacts negatively, it’s easy for myself to mentally turn against the activity that caused it. I know that I have to persevere through the discomfort, and knowing that I was able to do this before has helped me when I need to stop and take a break, stretch out my back, and give my legs a little rest. I’ve been able to push through and make some progress as shown by the next 4 sessions:
So the next step is breaking that 2 mile barrier, then working up to 3 miles and being able to walk consistently for an hour. Bit by bit, the pain in my back is taking longer to come and the intensity of it is lessening. I’m happy that I was able to triple my walking time in a week. These are still very humbling numbers. But they’re my numbers and by owning them and my current reality, I give myself motivation.
