How to really motivate a quilter; tell the world you are going to do something!

Today I started the first day, of the first week, of my journey towards running a 12K. That may sound really formal, but I need to keep reminding myself that this is a process. It will probably come as no surprise to the people who know me that I am something of a Type “A” personality. In fact, my picture might even be next to the definition of a Type “A” personality in the dictionary. I tend to do things very quickly and I don’t always think them all the way through before I start. What I do; however, is throw myself into a project wholeheartedly.

This works well for a show quilt that I need to get done in the next 6 weeks, but not so well for getting in shape. I have tried to get into shape before, but I always tend to be just a tad over zealous. You know, if 20 squats are good 200 are better right? The last time I really made a concerted effort to lose weight and get in shape, I started running 3 miles a day, stopped drinking coke, and measured everything I ate. This worked great, initially. I lost 30 pounds, but I also wound up with a stress fracture. I was not really impressed. When I was fat and happy on the couch, I was fine. When I got into shape, I broke my leg.

Fortunately, I do learn from my mistakes. As my husband keeps reminding me, “How do you eat a giant cookie? One bite at a time.” Yes I know that food analogies are probably not the right tone for this conversation, but you get the point. This time around, I’m going to work on the concept of moderation.

I have downloaded an AP from the Google Play Store called how to train for a 10K that works on gradually building up to even running one mile, let alone the roughly 7 1/2 miles I will eventually be running. I am writing down my goals, and I am keeping them reasonable for a change. My plan is to do this one day, one week, one moth at a time. I am also not going to try to change everything at once. I want to work towards a lifestyle change, not a weight loss goal. The one will follow the other, but will only continue if I truly change the way I live.

So my daily exercise goal for this week is to get in 10,000 steps a day, and to do some form of strength training (will post more on this later) 2x’s this week. My food goals (notice I am not calling this a diet; dieting implies a temporary change, I want this to be permanent) are to write down everything that I eat, and to cut out one high calorie item. In my case, that will be soda.

Remember I want moderation not deprivation. Last, but not least, my studio/workspace goal is to change one aspect of my studio to encourage more exercise. I will be moving my ironing board to the other side of the room from my domestic sewing machine. As you can see from the picture above, space is kind of at a premium for me, so I don’t have a lot of room to play with, but I’m going to do my best.  Do you have goals for your week?

Don’t worry if you can’t or don’t want to run a 12k at the end of this process. Set yourself a goal that will make you feel better and help you get moving more. Also, remember that writing down your goals and telling other people will help you to stay accountable and on track. You probably don’t need to follow my lead and announce it to the world, but like I said I tend to go all in when I decide to do something. I just need to keep reminding myself baby steps.

Oh and lest I forget the really important stuff, Quilting goals for the week: finish two customer quilts, piece a t-shirt quilt, and update my books to start getting ready for tax season. Just got to keep telling myself “one bite at a time!”