Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Waging War Against 'The Wiggle'

It's that time of year.  The holiday decorations have come down.  The presents are put away.  But something remains: The Wiggle.  What is The Wiggle? It's the illegitimate lovechild of too many holiday indulgences and slothful couch-dwelling.  It leads to formerly toned body parts developing a jello-like jiggle, pants that feel a little too snug, and generally feeling crappy.

In my case, it means that I'm several pounds over my happy weight and I've lost a lot of fitness.  The way I see it, I have two choices: buy bigger pants or declare war on The Wiggle.  I've chosen option number 2.  My battle strategy is simple.  I'm cleaning up my eating habits and increasing my activity level.  The ultimate goal is to be back in top form by the start of the spring racing season (and fit comfortably into my pants).

(source)
I began implementing my battle strategy yesterday.  The clean-eating was easy enough.  The activity part took a little more effort!  After work, I piled on several layers and set off for an easy-paced 3 miler around the office.  My rationale was that if I didn't go home before I worked out, there was no chance that I'd get sucked in by the gravitational pull of the couch!  The first mile was interesting.  I enjoyed feeling like a total badass   I laughed when a guy waiting at a bus stop shouted "You're crazy!"  I was not happy about the playing  - it usually does. Frogger when I encountered a freeway on ramp.  By Mile 2, I was sweating and the cold, dry air was beginning to make breathing a little difficult.  Then came Mile 3. Somewhere at the beginning of that mile I found my rhythm and the run finally started to feel like fun instead of a chore.  I looped through the parking lot at work back to my car and called it a day.  The overall pace wasn't very good compared to where I was a few months ago, but it was a start.

To further enhance my 'battle plan', I set up a "Goal" on my Garmin.  In the period between January 3rd and January 31st (28 days), I'm going to attempt to do something active on 20 days.  I'll be defining 'active' as running, hiking, practicing yoga, hiking, lifting weights, and walking (minimum distance is 5 miles).  The goal tracker is essentially a 'star chart for grown ups'.  What do I get if I get all 20 gold stars?  Stay tuned to find out!

What do you do to motivate yourself?  What do you do to reward yourself for achieving goals?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I want a star chart! I'm totally going to do that! I'll never be wiggle free, it's how I'm built. But the spare tire belongs in the trunk of the car not on me! *runs off to make a star chart*

Rae said...

Excellent plan! I declare a WIGGLE WAR, too! The activity is easy for me....now to work on clean eating :-P Good luck!