I have become THAT GIRL!

My alarm went off at 4:30 (Pacific) this morning, and I promptly arose, turned the coffee-maker on, and put my work-out gear into the dryer.

It is now 4:50, and I had my breakfast of "peanut-butter-pancake" (last night I combined 3 chocolate chip pancakes with 1 soft-serve peanut butter, 1/2 tsp baking powder and baked it like a cake making 4 servings of Medifast Meals), I had my perfect cup of coffee, and am just waiting a few more minutes for my clothes to dry so I can leave by 5:00 or so to get to my mountain for a trail run before it gets too hot (Arizona in June can be pretty unforgiving after 8:00 am)

Yes.  I have become "that girl".  That girl who is willing to get up before the sun in order to accomplish her exercise goals for the day.  Did I ever think I would become "that girl"?

Yes.  You see, when I began this program at 272 pounds, a BMI of over 47, and walking with a cane, I wanted to be her.  I wasn't her YET, but I had a vision of her, crystal clear in my  mind.  So I did what I needed to do in order to become a healthier weight so that I COULD begin to BECOME her. 

When I hit the "just obese" category of 39.9 I began walking a couple of times per week.  Nothing extreme, just walking.  Once I hit "overweight" of 29.9 I began lightly jogging.  Again, nothing extreme, just jogging a few times per week, starting out very slow. 

I remember one time when I was very close to a "normal weight" BMI deciding, last year, to do a sprint-distance triathlon in San Francisco.  My first ever.  It involved swimming in the San Francisco Bay for 1/2 mile, then biking 13 miles, then running a 10K.  In order to participate in the triathlon, I had to wake up at 3:30 in the morning and, in the pitch black of the San Francisco early morning, bicycle ACROSS town (1 hour ride) to the starting point with all of my gear.  When that alarm went off it was EVERYTHING I could do to get myself out of bed.

What kind of crazy person gets up at 3:30 to accomplish her exercise goals?  I was NOT that girl yet, but I pretended that I was and I DID it.

This is called "identity-based behavior change" and I believe that it WORKS.  It basically says what the great philosopher Epictetus said "First say it is what you would be, then do what you have to do."

It means deciding who you want to be.  Then asking yourself "well, what would THAT person do in this situation?" and doing THAT.

A triathlete gets up at 3:30 to cycle across town for an hour to get to her race.  So I did that.

Within the last 6 weeks I have begun to work with a personal trainer.  I remember our first session was at 5:00 am at a gym across town, so I had to get up at 3:45.  I had flashbacks of the triathlon.  At first my thought was "Who does that??!!!???!! Who gets up BEFORE 4:00 am to go exercise?.....oh yes, I did that already once....ok, I guess I do that."

And I did it.  Because I decided that is who I am.

And guess what?  Because I keep doing the things that fit and healthy people do, I become more fit and healthy every day.

Ever go into a restaurant and see a fit and healthy person pigging out on ribs, beer, a bloomin' onion and cheesecake for dessert?  Honestly I have not.  Fit and healthy people are always making choices that fall in line with them being fit and healthy people.  Choices that make sense for fit and healthy people to make.  In other words, fit and healthy people most always act like fit and healthy people.

When it became the norm for me to be up before 5:00 am to accomplish my goals, I knew I had passed some sort of crossroads from just "doing what fit and healthy people do" to "being a fit and healthy person doing what fit and healthy people do".

I don't know if this makes ANY sense, but the way it can be applied in your life if you are just beginning your journey to health is this:

Decide who it is you want to be.  Is that a fit and healthy person, or is that a person who will always struggle with her weight, never reach her goals and be a martyr trying?

Because the difference between those two journeys is extreme.  The first one is a joyful journey.  It is a journey of creating health in your own life.  The second journey is someone who really is not engaged in their own process, their own decision, still pines for the ribs, the bloomin' onion and the cheesecake, and who will likely never reach his/her goals or if they do it will be very brief because everyone has to come up for oxygen sometime.

Change your oxygen.  Become the person you always knew you could be.  It will change your entire world.  Make a list of the things the person you WANT to become thinks and does.  Then begin thinking and doing those things.  At some point, you BECOME that person, instead of just ACTING like you are that person.  You are changing WHO YOU ARE based on WHO YOU WANT TO BECOME.  One small incremental sustainable daily improvement at a time.

Rinse and Repeat!