My Fitness Journey Part 1

Edit: I edited this post to remove some language that was insensitive and not up to my own standards for inclusiveness. I apologize for my…

Edit: I edited this post to remove some language that was insensitive and not up to my own standards for inclusiveness. I apologize for my carelessness.

Like a lot of people, my overall fitness took a backseat during the pandemic. By January of 2021 I was really unhappy with how I felt.

Since then, I’ve started a new fitness regimen and achieved some very ambitious goals I set for myself. I repeated a similar experience that I had about 20 years ago, when I trained for and ran a marathon. It took a little longer this time but I’m in better shape now than I was then.

I understand that not everybody has the same options when it comes to health and fitness. Everybody should make choices that they feel work for them. I don’t want to pressure anybody to do anything, but if you are looking to make changes, I want to share a few observations about what has worked for me.

In my earlier workout history, I spent countless hours in a gym working out 1:1 with personal trainers. Personal training — as frequently as you can manage and afford — is amazing! It gives you confidence, accountability, and it’s tons of fun. You’ll also have access to an expert who can give you advice so you are less prone to getting ideas from strangers on the internet.

If you can get yourself to a gym, and you can afford the investment in a trainer, do it. The financial part can be difficult and is different for everybody. My advice would be to ask yourself what on your list of budget priorities should come before this expense.

The investment can be a short-term, month-to-month expense. In my experience, it will help you build the skills and confidence that you can use to take you all the way through your fitness journey on your own. If 1:1 training isn’t feasible, try group training or fitness classes. Try different trainers and classes until you start having fun.

I am really prone to impatience and spent a lot of time obsessing about how long it was going to take to get the results I wanted. Now that I’ve gotten somewhere, I wish I hadn’t wasted all that energy.

Give yourself a year. That’s only a long time if you’re not doing anything else. If you get really religious about it like I did, you can get things moving a lot faster than that.

The most important thing is to get started. You can’t win the race from the starting line. You have to take the first step, and then the second, and before you know it you have a habit. That’s how you do this.

When I started this journey in January 2021, going to a gym wasn’t on the menu. That’s when I discovered the Mirror which is now my favorite fitness product. I’ll write about that tomorrow.