One Year

I read an article today called "Would You Trade One Year for the Perfect Body?" Emphasis here on the word "perfect," although that's not how I initially took it.

The article was about a poll taken of women, most of whom were of normal or below normal weight, but nevertheless nearly all said there are things about their bodies they do not like and/or would change, if they could. The point of the question was to see if women, even those who are already a healthy weight, or even underweight, would rather die a year sooner than they would otherwise in exchange for the "perfect" body. 16% of the 320 British woman polled said yes.

However, when I initially saw the title of the article, I misinterpreted the question to mean "would you be willing to work hard, make changes and sacrifices, for one year, in order to achieve a healthier body?"

Quite a different question, right?

Regardless of the actual content of the article, this really got me thinking. Isn't it worth devoting a year to making changes in my eating and exercise, in order to make lasting changes, and gain (hopefully) many years to come of a healthy, happy life? I certainly think so!

I then realized that it has been about one year now since I first embarked on my journey to start the Transfigured program, and I have stopped and started it several times since then.

I have only recently started making changes again after becoming frustrated with how difficult it is for me to just walk around campus (I'm back in grad school, and the campus has a lot of hills and stairs). Luckily, my roommate and best friend signed up to run a half marathon in September with her boyfriend and siblings, so I started going to the gym with her twice a week. It's not much, but it's a start, and really quite a good one considering I have not been to the gym since probably December, and my last real workout was maybe January or February (and that was an isolated occurrence). On top of that, I am going to be a bridesmaid in my friend's August 30th wedding, so of course that is motivating, if only on a superficial level (i.e. I want to look good in my dress, especially since she will have those photos forever)! So, between all of these things, and many others, I have found myself once again motivated to change my eating and exercise for good.

While it may seem that I have failed at what I tried to start in 2013 when I first wrote out the concept of Transfigured - even with the ups and downs, and months of laxity, I have learned some valuable lessons that I know will help me this time around. And I'm sure I will learn things as I get started these next few weeks that will help me later, whether I end up falling and getting back up again, or just continuing to move forward.

For example, already I have finally truly learned to follow one of the most basic concepts of Transfigured - start slowly! (I may write the guidelines for Transfigured, but I am really bad at following my own "rules").

I have a tendency to want it all, now, or preferably yesterday! Having been a competitive cheerleader in high school, I tend to want to go full speed, as if I had never lost the fitness I had in my competition days (haha, if only). But I know that the surest way to lifelong fitness is patience. Right now, I'm only doing about 30-35 minutes on the treadmill, two days a week, mostly walking. But already, I have noticed improvements. When I first started, I could only walk, but I was surprised that I was still able to maintain the walking speed I had used in the past, when I was exercising more regularly, and this week I even started adding in running intervals of 15-30 seconds. Sure, just a few years ago, I was running for one minute intervals every 4 minutes, but considering where I am with my weight and fitness, those 15-30 seconds 1-3 times in my workout are still an achievement!

With patience, humility, and the celebration of small achievements, I think I can commit to one year of healthy changes in exchange for a lifetime of healthy living. But I truly think this can only be done with small changes. If I try to do too much, too soon, I will end up as I have in the past - going astray, giving up, gaining weight, etc. until I have to start over, and finally find the motivation to start making changes again.

For those of you reading, I want to encourage you - if you have tried a million times to start eating healthier and/or exercising, only to give up, don't lose hope! Start again! But start slowly!

I'd like to commit to one year of healthy changes, but I think we can take that concept and slow it down a bit, and commit to one month, one week, one day, even, if that's what it takes! Every bit counts!

What changes can you commit to today?

Will you give up one day of unhealthy habits in order to start working towards a healthier life?