This week, the Eat. Live. Be. crew is addressing challenges. What ours are. How we deal with them. Challenges. I have a few. Yesterday I told a personal trainer that one of my challenges is working out with the kids during the Winter. I don’t want to drag them out in the cold more than I have to, but with nobody else at home to watch them, I also need to be able to strike a reasonable balance to get work-outs during my least favorite of the four seasons.
During yesterday morning’s Zumba class, the instructor shouted in my direction, “You can move your hips better than that – you HAVE BABIES!” She might peg that as my biggest challenge. During the body roll segment of the song, it totally was.
So you see, it depends on who you ask when. Challenges, I have a few. But what do I think? My greatest challenge? The first step.
I have a bit of a, um, compulsive personality. A friend and I were debating the merits of the right word today. He said addictive, in defining his own similar trait. We settled on “committed,” because that sounds awesome, right? My thing is this … one I make the decision to do something, anything, I am in it 150%. Whether it’s recycling. Working out. Or reorganizing my entire closet. I jump in, feet first, eyes closed and don’t look back. Heck, most of the time I don’t even look forward. I just commit wholeheartedly with every ounce of my being. But the challenge is in taking that first step. Dipping that little toe in the water down the shore on the first day of full-out sunshine to see if the water is cold enough. It takes a lot to muster up the courage to do that. To turn that corner. To make that decision. Therein lies my challenge.
Along my journey, many people have asked how they could get started on a similar path. How I could help them. See, the thing is, I can’t. Once you’re on the road, I am right there with you, ready to give you all the encouragement, tips and advice you need. iVillage asked me for ten tips to help someone with weight loss and I spouted them off in nothing flat. But that first step? I can’t do it for you. Your husband can’t. Your family can’t. NO ONE can do it except you. Which is why it’s such a challenge.
The last time I got serious about losing weight was right before my wedding. That was in 1998. I fell off the wagon, so to speak, the next year. Folks, this is 2011. It took me nearly 13 years to take that first step again. I wasn’t kidding when I said it was my biggest challenge. Now some 13 months after the first step, it is a way of life. For the most part, it doesn’t require thought. It just is.
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