A year and a half ago my daughter began diving. Not the scuba kind but the type of diving off of bouncy boards. At first her progress was slow, but in the last several months, she’s made a quantum leap, so to speak, in her skill.
Then, about six weeks ago, she informed me and my wife that she no longer wanted to continue. This came as quite a shock seeing as just prior to this announcement, my daughter had decided to kick things up a notch and join the competitive team. This meant way more time in the pool and at the dry-land training facility - about 8 hours a week total. We had our doubts about whether or not it would be too much for her…and it turns out we were right.
After some discussion, we learned it wasn’t diving she had grown tired of, but rather having to get up at 6:00 a.m.every Saturday and 6:30 a.m every Sunday to make it to the pool. It turns out, 8 hours was way too much. She was happy to find an alternative solution to quitting.
She returned to her diving with a renewed sense of purpose and excitement. Each week she continues to improve. But most importantly, she’s having a bunch of fun doing it.
So what does this have to do with getting fit and strong and losing weight, you ask? Well…
For so many people, losing weight or getting in-shape is an all or nothing affair. If they don’t experience constant and never ending success from start to finish, they give up and return to their old ways.
What I’m suggesting is, the next time you feel like throwing in the towel, sit and think about what adjustments you can make to your program so you can continue moving forward? Even if it takes you a little longer than you originally intended to achieve your goal, isn’t it better than having to start from scratch…again?
For my daughter, the answer was to switch one weekend morning diving session to a weekday evening. It turns out she handles being up late once during the week much better than having to get up so early both days on the weekend.
I’m happy to report she’s progressing nicely, but most importantly, she loves doing it.
So if you’re at a crossroads in your program, how could you adjust things so you not only continue moving forward but even enjoy the process?
Here’s what’s worked for me recently:
I have to admit that I’d fallen into the trap of eating too much crappy food and not getting enough exercise. And with summer coming, I really wanted to trim up.
The first thing I did was decide to do a thirty day challenge where I would eat no junk food ( I also cut out T.V. for a month, but that’s a story for another day. ) I could have simply cut down on the junk food, but I wanted/needed something more dramatic.
I announced it at work to my co-workers. I told my parents and my sister. I made sure everyone around me knew what I was doing so they could help hold me accountable. Next, I needed to increase my activity level.
Like many places in North America, the price of gas has skyrocketed over the past year. So now I’ve started riding my bike to work. It’s 23 km’s or about 14 miles each way and I do this two or three times a week.
I’ve also started diving with my daughter. The club she belongs to offers an adult learn-to-dive class. I started about six weeks ago and now I’m hooked.
Next, a friend asked me to play floor hockey with him, so now I play floor hockey on a full-sized hockey rink for 90-minutes every Sunday evening. It gives me a great anaerobic workout with lots of stopping and starting. Great for the lower body.
Finally, I do two full-body weight training workouts on Wednesday and Saturday. I used to do three, but with everything else, two’s enough.
The results of these changes…
In three weeks, I’ve dropped an inch around my waist. And…
Because I’ve chosen activities I enjoy, the exercise seems effortless. I look forward to my diving class all week. I can’t wait to get out and play hockey and riding my bike has given me a chance to save a pile of money while enjoying the great outdoors.
Tell me, what can you do or have your already done to get through the dip and succeed?
