Little Motivations

It's cold, it's dark, and there are special events every day. I need help getting moving. I like exercise, except for the getting-off-the-couch and the first-five-minutes parts. It takes a nudge to get me going.

Strategies I'm employing:

I have a dog!  He nudges, literally. And he is much better behaved (ie, sleeps more versus looking for something else to eat) if he is tired and not bored. I have a small part of my yard fenced, so I do NOT have to put on the leash and walk. But he really really likes it, and lets me know by inserting his nose between my hand and whatever I'm doing. So out we go.

I'm continuing with personal training, though now I have a new gym. It was good to change it up, and I like the more social scene at the big gym.I certainly would NOT have gone to the gym several times in the last couple of months, except that I have to pay if I simply no-show.  I am planning ahead and cancelling more often, though, on fairly flimsy excuses.  I know I work much harder for the trainer than I would for myself, but I need to get the trainer to push slightly less hard. I don't think she is used to working with old folks like me, and I know what my body is doing pretty well, so I will be speaking up some more.

Goals on my fitness tracker. This is silly and trivial, but it's part of what keeps me moving. I lowered my step goal to within reach, but not a slam-dunk:  9,000 steps a day. Now, the Jawbone app gives me kudos when I make it, and for making it several days in a row - a "streak". Getting that little message has kept me moving more. Last Friday, for example, I was less than half way there in the evening. I went out with the dog, in the dark and cold and light rain, and we took a circuitous walk through the neighborhood - two and a half miles, about 45 minutes. Without the quantitative goal, it would have been shorter. Without the dog, it wouldn't have happened (or else it would have been inside on the treadmill, I suppose, maybe with the ipad).

All those Norwegian genes in my body are expressing themselves by sending messages to every cell:  "Slow down and bulk up! Or else you won't make it to summer!".  I read recently a theory that depression is an adaptive mechanism, to get you through a cold, dark period with scarce food - there is an evolutionary advantage to wanting to lie in the dark and not move.  What makes us different from the animals is we so not have to behave the way our genes suggest. But it definitely takes more effort. It's good to have some immediate, little, nudges and feedback rather than have to rely on longer term, more abstract goals.