At 6:10 every morning, my iPhone bleats like a lamb brought to slaughter, reminding me that my morning workout is the only thing keeping me from looking like the fatted calf.
I laze around for a few minutes. Sometimes I hit the snooze button and roll over; other times I fire up my social media feeds to get a pulse on the mood of the entire universe.
Eventually my feet slink out of bed, one by one, and my rickety body lumbers downstairs for another run.
My feelings about exercise are vastly different before and after a workout.
I am the queen of excuses, and every morning my brain rattles off a dozen of them - I'm heading out too late to make it to work on time; My yoga pants need a washing before I run in them; The temperature outside is too cold/hot/humid for me to enjoy my workout; I haven't eaten anything this morning; I drank too much wine last night; The dog ate my homework.
You get the drift.
Despite all the excuses, I begrudgingly lace up my shoes and clip my iPod Shuffle to my sports bra and slowly step outside to the darkness of dawn.
My morning exercise consists of a 2.5 mile run through Downtown Cincinnati or a 30-minute spin through the resistance training equipment at the YMCA on Central Parkway.
It's a slow, steady, sweaty endeavor that allows me to purge my toxins, flex some long neglected muscle, and think about my little place in the universe.
Exercising makes me feel good. While I generally regard it as a relentless chore, I know I get back what I put in to it - the endorphins bring on a little bit of euphoria, my cardiovascular system appreciates the jump start, and my sanity deserves a cleaning of the cobwebs.
The pain feels good. My glutes and legs remind me they're there - under a soft layer of skin that refuses to melt away. My muscles stretch and push harder with each pace, and the repeated use brings on a welcome soreness through the day.
We worked hard, they say.
Yes we did.
Disclosure: The YMCA is a client of mine and provided me with a limited membership to experience all they have to offer. My words and opinions are my own and not a reflection of my client or employer. And if you're still reading this, you deserve to watch a funny video.
A woman says deer crossing signs in Minnesota and North Dakota need to be moved to areas with less traffic, because their current locations encourage deer to cross interstates, etc.
Wow. This is truly worth a listen.
Update:
Apparently the woman had no idea these signs are for people. Well, ya don't say.
Five weeks in to Couch to 5K, I'm back to my running routine and I continue to hit the weights at the Y. My heart rate is moving, my muscles are getting stronger, and my physique is changing ever so slightly.
But the scale couldn't care less.
I'm down three or four pounds, depending on how good or bad I've been, but the number seems to be holding, and it's frustrating as hell.
Now, I'll concede that my calorie counting could be better - I've been enjoying my share of cocktails and other elixirs the past couple weeks, and a few sweet treats have gotten the best of me. That said, I'm surprised all of this exercise isn't making any changes with my body.
But maybe it is.
I have to remind myself how much muscle I gained with my marathon training last year, and the niggling detail that muscle weighs more than fat.
So, while my numbers at the scale are slow and steady, the body doesn't lie. Some of my dresses and pants are fitting better and I am getting stronger with each run or resistance training session.
Losing weight and adopting wellness habits isn't a swiftly moving proposition: Everything takes time, and most people will begin to show decent to dramatic changes within 12 to 24 weeks.
It reminds me of one of those inspirational quotes floating around on Pinterest:
I'm grateful I've found the motivation to get up at 6:10 in the morning to go running or work out, but I need to work at making better choices in my diet. All of the wine/cocktails/sweets/heavy food is a betrayal to every time I lace up my Nikes.
It's time to own the scale.
Disclosure: The YMCA of Greater Cincinnati is one of my clients and has provided me with a limited membership to experience their facilities. All opinions are my own.
She's a sassy, funky gal who writes for Huffington Post and has previously worked at HBO and the LA Times. She lives, eats and breathes social media and was a great messenger with an important message.
Geigerich gave a talk on the necessity of digital detox - dialing back from the super connectedness and the importance of seeking real, personal connections that happen in real-time.
She talked about the embarrassing dinner parties we've all experienced - when a table full of people have their faces in their phones, entirely ignoring the people with whom they're dining. It's something I griped about this past summer - the social awkwardness of social media commingling with IRL social behavior.
Lately, I've been curtailing my use of social media, and it has prompted a few inquiries from friends. "Are you okay?" They ask. "How are you? When can we catch up over a cup of coffee or a bite?"
It's those latter questions I relish with delight.
Geigerich described how she experienced her own unintentional detox while bicycling 300 miles through Vietnam and Cambodia. Left without 3G networks and ever-present wi-fi, she was forced to read a book. With real pages. You know - the ones made with paper.
She also took the opportunity to experience the moment - talk to people, enjoy stillness.
It sounded wonderful.
Day in and day out, we experience constant interruptions. Maybe it's your Outlook dinging every time you get an email. Maybe it's all of the notifications you are addicted to get every time you receive a Facebook "like" or Twitter DM.
A study out of Norway shows people are experiencing extreme addictions to social media. In fact, women are particularly vulnerable to the addiction, which can be a stronger addiction than sex.
Texts over sex? You don't say...
As good as social media can make you feel, the pendulum can swing swiftly, leaving you feeling depressed, insecure and lonely (Media Bistro).
Geigerich suggested I listen to a Ted Talk (below) by Sherry Turkle, a professor at MIT who examines human behavior at the intersection of technology and society.
Turkle says people are turning to technology because they are lonely but afraid of intimacy. Social media is a sort of electronic band-aid that allows you to feel like you're connected to others, when in reality its connectedness is a fallacy.
Take 20 minutes today and check out this video. I'm certain it will resonate with you in some way.
Social media has the bewitching trait of making you feel like you're experiencing connection. Click clack clack - I'll send a quick text to connect with Friend X. The text allows you to make a superficial connection that offers no real substance. In reality, Turkle says these connections are investments in isolation.
I started reconsidering how I use social media this spring, and I've come up with a few more rules that are inspired by Geigerich and Turkle:
1. Notifications. I'm turning off all notifications for Twitter, Facebook and most email accounts. I don't really need to know that someone retweeted me. All of those notifications interrupt the tasks I'm working to accomplish, and they steal quality time from moments I'm enjoying in real-time.
2. Airplane Mode (or the Do not Disturb function with iOS 6 for iPhones). I don't need to know that people are texting, FBing or Tweeting me at night. Instead, I should really be spending my evenings in peace or with people I care about. Or sleeping. Uninterrupted.
If something really is a crisis, I expect interested parties will use every avenue they can to find me. And I'm okay with that. Outside of the last 10 years (or less), we've survived with social media just fine.
Some personal time on my end won't kill all of mankind.
3. Phones Down at Dinner and Social Occasions. I experience 50 shades of rage when I am enjoying a meal out with someone, or worse, I'm entertaining a crowd in my home, and I see a bunch of glowing phone screens. I'm making a commitment to keep my phone in my back pocket/purse/out of sight while enjoying the company of others. Similarly, I'll be asking my companions to do the same.
I think my loved ones and friends are worth my undivided attention, and I'd like to think I'm worth the same to them.
4. Personal Email Twice A Day. Work Email Twice A Day on Weekends. Let's be clear here: the tail isn't wagging this dog. I'm more than miffed when people imply disappointment because I didn't promptly reply to their text/email/DM.
Social media and other technology tools are exactly that - tools to stay connected. Just because it's convenient for you to send me an email now doesn't mean it's convenient for me to reply.
And likewise, just because something is your priority doesn't mean it's mine.
But that happy hour/lunch/walk/coffee you want to catch up over? I will always make time for that.
