The Revolutionary Act of Healthy Living

For those keeping score at home, I joined a gym on November 1 in an effort to shed about 25 pounds of lingering baby weight from my daughter’s March 2010 arrival. I go to the gym an average of three times a week (but last week I went six times!). I map out the gym schedule at the start of the week and stick to it. It’s non-negotiable: honor your commitments, not your feelings. To date, I’ve lost 13 pounds. That’s amazing to write.

But I’ve never been one to focus on my weight. I generally gauge my weight by how I feel and how I look.

Working out at the gym several times a week has given me a tremendous boost in energy. I move more quickly throughout the day, and feel like I make up for some of the time I spend at the gym by being more efficient throughout the day. I beat the alarm clock in the morning and don’t need coffee to jump start my day.

My gym is very corporate. That has its pluses and minuses. But one big plus is an amazing article I read in the Lifetime Fitness magazine: Being Healthy is a Revolutionary Act: Renegade Perspectives for Thriving in a Mixed-Up World. It has seriously increased my level of commitment for being active every day.

The article states that being healthy is a “revolutionary act” in our crazy world. That we have to fight to make the time for healthy living: time for exercise, time for good food choices, time for rest. Rather than being a downer, the article is incredibly inspiring and motivational. It weaves together the tapestry of challenges we face to make the point that making health a priority is a revolutionary idea: and revolutionaries are wanted. The article isn’t trying to plug the gym: it’s trying to plug and motivate a mindset shift.

I really hope you’ll check out the article. It’s worth your time to read it.

Don’t slip on that ice out there today – yikes!