The Trainer I Love to Hate

The things I won’t do for a smiley face! I have become almost addicted to them. Rephrase…actually addicted. They’re proof that I’m living a more balanced life. Weight Watchers gives them to me.

Let me back up a little. Weight Watchers asks me to track my daily water, dairy, fruits/vegetables, multivitamin, and healthy oil intake along with daily exercise. As I meet certain thresholds (say, ingesting a combination of five fruits and vegetables for the day), I get a smiley face. I love those little guys! Since I started the weight-loss plan the first of the year, I find the thought of earning yet another smiley face compelling me to exercise when it’s the last thing I feel like doing.

But what to do in this cold weather? Enter my incline trainer.

My incline trainer has never done anything against me. On the contrary, it has always performed any feat I ever asked of it. It has needed no cajoling from me. No prompting or begging or bribes. All I have ever had to do is push its button and it has rolled into action, aiding and encouraging me toward my next smiley face.

So why do I hate this poor incline trainer so much? Maybe it’s because I’d rather be sucking in the beauty of the outdoors than traveling like a hamster on a wheel. Maybe it’s because it reminds me of all I have yet to accomplish – how unfit I really am. Maybe it’s because it’s always perfectly tuned and ready while I know how much I have to do to rev myself up.

As much as I hate it, I gotta love it, too. Without my incline trainer this time of year, no exercise smiley face, at least no exercise smiley face in any regular measure. With it, I have been able to log a little over 50 minutes a day, a minimum of five days per week, despite a couple feet of snow on the ground.

I figured I would share with you how I stay motivated to use this necessary evil, day after day. If it challenges you to join me on this venture, so much the better:

1. The incline trainer takes no pity on me. Sure, I can manipulate the suggested pace or incline, but I like the idea of challenging myself to keep up with the programmed plan. I lean into it. I’m competing against myself but, as goofy as it sounds, I feel like I’m competing against the incline trainer, too. Kind of like, “Is that all ya got?!?”
2. I get a charge out of actually tracking how fast I’m walking and at what incline. I know it’s more severe than if I were out in nature, walking on my own, which helps me mentally reconcile myself to the process.
3. I’m more loyal to my 50+ minutes if I take it in spurts (15-20 minutes at a time, three times a day). I have found that I can use a greater incline and move at a higher pace than I would be able to sustain if I took the 50+ minutes all in at one time.
4. Since I don’t have to see where I’m going, I often close my eyes while on the incline trainer, paying attention to my breaths, the length of my strides, and how each step makes me feel stronger and more capable.

How have you managed to balance your life with physical fitness during these winter months?

Enjoy your day. Enjoy this blog.