Anyone who has ever decided that THIS YEAR would be the year to get fit, eat better, and exercise more, knows that is much easier said than done. I’m no exception to this rule. I have promised myself, month after month, year after year, that NOW was the time to change my lifestyle, and THIS TIME I would do it right.
Yet, here I am in 2013, with several health and fitness related goals, none of which I have started or seem to have any willpower to get to, one month into the year.
Why is that?
The truth includes two things. A lot of excuses, and a lot of hating how uncomfortable the whole process of CHANGING can be. Really, those two things are very much alike, but there you have it. Every day when I wake up, there’s another excuse in my mind as to why today is NOT the day I’ll be exercising, or eating better, or finding the time to cook some healthy meals.
Linda linked me to an amazing article in my post last week about writing. The piece is called ‘Discomfort‘ and I strongly urge you to go read it, because it is absolutely fantastic. The writer discusses how we all need to learn to be comfortable with discomfort; a notion I’ve come to embrace in many aspects of my life, although it is lacking in many others (like, being healthy for example).
Some points of the article stayed with me more than others, most likely because these are the parts of my life I’ve truly been wanting to focus on- namely, living a healthier lifestyle. Why is it so difficult for me to pick up, say, an apple, instead of reaching for a second cup of coffee?
“Think about this: many people don’t eat vegetables because they don’t like the taste. We’re not talking about soul-wrenching pain here, not Guantanamo torture, but a taste that’s just not something you’re used to. And so they eat what they already like, which is sweets and fried stuff and meats and cheeses and salty things and lots of processed flour.
The simple act of learning to get used to something that tastes different — not really that hard in the grand scheme of life — makes people unhealthy, often overweight.”
And this is exactly the problem, isn’t it? Embracing discomfort in my life doesn’t just mean taking more chances in my everyday life, or focusing more on my writing. It’s about the parts of my life that I’m less apt to pay attention to, like my diet, which can so easily go out the window when I’m stressed and have a million other things to worry about. I don’t want to worry about getting into some kind of new routine- I just want to enjoy the food that I enjoy, and I don’t want to feel guilty about it. Because I’m busy, after all.
Can we just take a step back for a second, and think of how little this makes sense? It’s like I turn into an ostrich when I’m too stressed; I stick my head in the ground and pretend that certain aspects of my life don’t exist, don’t need to be thought about.
I hate when I do it, but I am great at avoiding. I have avoided exercising so far in 2013 because it’s been too inconvenient. I have avoided cutting my daily crappy-food intake because it’s available, it’s easy, and I’m too busy. It’s just too uncomfortable to have to think of more than necessary.
I want to change this way of thinking. I want to spend more time in a zone of discomfort, even if I hate it almost as much as I hate avoiding these things, because at least this way I am doing something that is good for myself in the process.
I’ll start off small, but my hope is to start crossing off those healthy habit goals from my 2013 resolutions very soon. It’s time to get my head out of the ground, and into some good, healthy living habits. The article even states to ‘start small’. Starting somewhere is better than not doing it at all.
Will you join me in a little healthy discomfort?
Love this! My whole theme for this year “do the work” means being very comfortable with discomfort. From denying my wants as I try to save money to losing weight and kicking bad habits, it’s going to be a year where I have to be a little uncomfortable as I navigate big changes in my life.
The good thing about it, though, is that as you do it more and more, it starts becoming natural and NOT doing it begins to feel weird. I think that was my biggest change in 2012 is exercising more and it became a natural part of my world. Now I feel *off* if I don’t get 5-6 workouts in a week!
You know I’m all about this, too. I love the article Linda linked to and it pushes me to want to do even more with healthy living – figuring out which areas I need to work on the most and attacking it full force.
Totally agree. I have the worst impulse control of anyone I know, and that’s not an exaggeration. When I want chocolate, dammit, I want chocolate and no apple is going to satisfy that craving. But what a stupid first-world problem, right? By the same token, when I think about it like that I start to shame myself (“why can’t you f*cking do this you idiot?”) and that just makes it even worse. Such a weird problem but it’s a big one to fix!
I’m ranting, my apologies.
Oh it’s okay I am the EXACT same way. When I crave something, if I don’t get it RIGHT THAT SECOND, I get very upset. I am as impulsive as any child I’ve ever met. IT’s ridiculous. Even when I try not to be, it’s just part of who I am. But again, I don’t think we need to take our favorite things out of our diet entirely, but rather just in moderation (the impulsive me disagrees, but I know it’s the right thing anyway!).
Great post! I think starting small is the best way to make any kind of change. I need to get my butt in gear, start working out, and eating healthier but like you I’ve been putting it off. =(
I have been thinking about a lot of the things you’ve pointed out in this post. When I was single, it was easy to avoid certain foods, because I just didn’t bring them into the house. It’s a lot harder now that I have a husband (who may or may not want to shadow my efforts) and a toddler (who does generally eat healthy, but also for whom we have certain snacks in the house). Anyway, you’re right – it’s not supposed to be easy. And I’m going to try try try to figure out small steps that will put me in the right direction, too.
Sometimes I wish the RIGHT things were the EASY ones, but of course life wouldn’t be interesting if that were the case! Besides, a little emotional discomfort could do us all some good, I think. Small steps are exactly where we all need to start. Me included for sure!
I completely agree! It is so much easier to complain about things we don’t like about ourselves, than actually something about it.
Cheers to growing pains!!
I LOVED that you linked this on Facebook, because I’ve been thinking about it ever since I read it. I avoid discomfort at all costs, and procrastinate to a fault, and both have affected my health, my education, and other aspects of my life.
And I’m ready to do something about it.
Hell yes girl. I’m glad you’ve been thinking about it as much as I have. It’s been on my mind ever since, too!
I read that post the other day and loved it! It’s so true that we need to get more comfortable with being uncomfortable. Eventually being “uncomfortable” becomes comfortable again anyways. I say for now just take it one day at a time. Do something healthy every day, whether it’s a 10 minute walk, an hour long workout or reaching for that apple over coffee.
Great post… I think we are programmed as humans to avoid discomfort, but a little bit here and there is probably healthy and good for us as it makes us grow. I think training for and running a marathon has taught me alot about dealing with discomfort. When we are training our coaches often say – it’s not supposed to be comfortable, and it’s good to have that reminder because I think it’s natural to think ‘ok I am uncomfortable, I should stop doing this.’ But you have to just push through that discomfort. One area I’d had to work on pushing through discomfort is networking at client events and other work events. I am more of an introvert so it’s not always easy to walk up to people and introduce myself. I want to hang back and watch the action instead of putting myself out there, but I know that is the cowardly thing to do, so I am trying to face that discomfort and have the confidence to walk up to more people!