Out of Shape

If I had the proverbial magic wand and could change one thing about my life, it would simply be that I would have never allowed myself to get out of shape. For the past ten years, I have battled back and forth between out of shape and in shape; if you know me well, you know I've spent much more time out of shape. It's quite depressing.

In the past, I've found myself in this vicious cycle. Out of shape. Start working out. Pain everywhere. Be committed to working out for a good month. Miss a day or two. Miss two weeks. Turns into months. Out of shape. Repeat every few months. Like I said, vicious cycle.

This week, I joined a gym, as I am determined to break this cycle once and for all. I won't allow myself to say this in 2010. 2009 must be the year I break the cycle. With all of the free time I have at present, I really have no more excuses. It's time.

In the past, my approach to getting back in shape followed an easing-in approach, start light and slow, ease back into things. I realized as of late why this has failed me. Because with this approach, every day seems like an uphill battle. Each new day you have to take things to a new level. It never ends.

So this time, I'm taking a new approach. I'm going to basically kill myself from the start. Push myself as hard as I can. Endure the pain. Suck it up and keep going. No excuses. No laziness. No easing in. Just go. I figure if I can take this approach for three straight weeks, I will be on my way to having this a habit in my life. My mom claims there's some theory out there that says you have to do something 21 times to make it a habit. I'm too lazy to verify the truth to this, so I'll just believe it and set this goal for myself. 21 days of hell and hard work.

So far, 2 days down. And yes, today's cycling workout definitely kicked my ass. As long as I can walk tomorrow, I figure I'm on my way.