Having fun

I figured out long ago that I just won't exercise for the sake of exercising. Not consistently. I have to be tricked into it and the best way to trick me into it is to make it fun. Walking with a friend is fun. Doing challenging resistance training with a friend is fun. Bike riding is fun, both outdoors and on the peloton. Running outside in the heat with good music is fun. Stomping in the woods is fun. Bike riding on trails in the woods is fun. Writing is fun. Cooking is fun.

I re-connected with my friend Sherry last month. We were half of a small group personal training group. (That was FUN!) She and I "saw" each other on social media over the years, but somehow or other we started going on walks together on the weekend. OK, we went on two walks, but it's been fun. Fun is important to me.

What isn't fun? Restricting what I can or cannot eat. Weighing and measuring food. Being winded when I walk up a steep hill. Tracking anything on an app/spreadsheet/piece of paper/fitbit. If someone wants to do it for me, knock yourself out. I hate doing it.

A key, personal tenant is "Why do it if it isn't fun?" When Sherry told me that a friend of hers is building a personal training business and did I want to join in the fun, I said 'yes.' She and I are going to train together with her friend as a coach. It's the first time I've looked forward to exercise in a couple of years. I could have been working out for years on my own, but I haven't. It's boring by myself. I find all kinds of reasons to do something else. Working out with Sherry is going to be fun. We start Wednesday.

The coaching program that I signed up for encourages people to track their efforts at learning new habits. I started out OK for the first two weeks, but I have never done well with tracking. It leads to all or nothing thinking with me. Either I end up with an unhealthy obsession or I get rebellious. I stopped tracking macronutrients and calories because it became unhealthy. Tracking the new habits lead to me rebelling against the new habits.

The coaching program also has a very good tools to help sort out thoughts and feelings. I used it for my rebellion over the tracking. I have reached out to a coach to help me with the results of that thinking. (Much of it is above.) Blogging is fun and I look forward to doing it. I can use this as a way for me to keep myself accountable with the new habits rather than checking off boxes several times a day.

Tomorrow I'm going to do some food prep. I'm going to eat balanced meals. I'm going to go for a bike ride or for a walk. I'll let you know how I do.