Daily Prompt: Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes
You need to make a major change in your life. Do you make it all at once, cold turkey style, or incrementally?
I admit I have used both methods to make a change. Not on the same change, at the same time mind you.
When I had an inguinal hernia I had to wait for surgery, then the recovery period afterwards, I gained almost 50 lbs. did try to watch my eating, but back then I was working about 55 hours each week as a carpenter and needed about 3000 calories a day to maintain my weight. The body doesn’t accept a lower intake of food, while not being as active, and for this I blame my distant ancestors, somewhere about the Neanderthal area of my family tree. So once I was able to get active again, however also changing fields of work, I made some changes to get back to a healthier weight. I started walking the seawall around Stanley Park in Vancouver at least three times per week, and walking to and from the grocery store. Walking to the store meant I was limited to what I could carry, so my decision to only buy healthy natural foods was easier to stick to. No temptation to buy that extra-large bag of potato chips, that was on sale, or that Black Forest cake. So those were cold turkey changes, but the results were definitely achieved incrementally.
When I decided to see if I could live without a vehicle, and not replace my pick up truck, I joined a car sharing service, with the intent of trying it for a year. This way I could still have access to a vehicle when needed, allowing me to learn how to live in a major city car free. A year later I found that was the way to go, and have since stayed with the car share idea, as there are times where you just need a vehicle.
I usually do it all at once unless it’s an attitude change. That I need some practice so I try to research my self!
Oh! The sea wall by Stanley Park in Vancouver is beautiful. My wife and I were there a couple years ago while on our honeymoon (a week in Whistler and a day and half in Vancouver on our way home). If I lived near there I could go for a walk there a couple times a week too. I should make a change like that in my life – to go walking or running more regularly to get exercise a couple nights a week; but my neibghborhood isn’t ideal for that and I already spend too much time in the car I haven’t yet justified driving someplace else to go for a run… One of these days I’ll figure something out though.
Is there someplace close to work or on the way to work?
Yes, actually… I could run on some trails by work; but then I’d have to sit in my car for 45 minutes to an hour a sweating mess on my drive home, or pay the monthly fee to have shower privellages at the gym at work… The fee is nominal, but it still seems like a silly thing to have to pay for. I understand these are lame excuses, just as my reasons for not running by my house are lame as well. I’m just not ready to make that choice yet, to make exercise a priority above other things.
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Wow good for you! I don’t which kind of response I have. I would have to think about it…
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