Speeding & Discipline

This was originally written March 17, 2011 - I've since edited out all of the parts I didn't really want to post out here in the public domain.

Interesting week - I spent most of it sick and miserable. That's meant no working out - which makes me more miserable. I'm sure my family is ready for me to not be sick anymore. Completely off my topic (which I know I haven't gotten to - but remember, this is MY place for ranting, so if you don't want to read it, click...) ever noticed how those we love the most are those we take for granted and treat the worst? I'm working on that...

Anyway, I've been reading a GREAT book the last couple of weeks: The Speed of Trust by Stephen M.R. Covey (Stephen Covey's son). It's not often I read a book that changes the way I see things - this book has totally changed my perspective, and I find myself looking at the world through the eyes of trust. The first level of trust I'm working on is self-trust. How does this relate to weight-loss and fitness? Wait for it.... wait for it....

How many times have I promised myself that I would get up early, go to bed early, work-out at such and such a time - not eat badly... and every time I do NOT do that it creates what Covey calls a "trust tax" - it makes it that much more difficult to trust myself. He suggests making - and keeping - small promises to yourself to build up a "trust dividend" - a growing confidence in myself that I'll do those things. This week I've been unable to put alot of this to work in terms of fitness due to my illness - but the coming week should be fun! I've made up a list of small promises that I'm going to keep this week - let's see what kind of results THAT brings!

Another book I've been reading is called "What the Dog Saw" by Malcolm Gladwell. I like his way of looking at the world a little differently and asking different questions (same reason I like "Freakanomics" so much.) The book is compilation of his essays that have appeared in the New York Times. Anyway, the title of the book comes from a story he was doing on a dog whisperer - a guy who could take the most hostile canine and with a simple touch turn him into a happy puppy. One of the people studying him asked "wow, what's he THINKING when does that?" Gladwell asked, "What does the dog see?"

The story that caught my eye was that of an experiment conducted with kids - I think they were 6 years old. They were put in a room and shown a small cookie and a large cookie. Then they were given a bell. They were told if they rang the bell, a person would come in and give them the small cookie, but if they WAITED until the person came in on their own they would get the large cookie. Amazing how many of the kids WAITED - and what they did to try and distract themselves from the task of waiting. The self-control and discipline they were exhibiting is amazing. They were willing to sacrifice something "good" for something better - they were willing to be patient and "save" for what they wanted rather than the instant gratification we seem to jump at so often.

So where do we go off the rails? Kids can do it - why do we search for that instant "numbing" with food? And is the answer as simple as finding something to distract us?

I'm finding that exercise does just that for me. When I'm working out hard I don't WANT to eat emotionally - in fact, it's easy. The work-out itself is not what causes me to lose weight - put bluntly, you cannot out-exercise the damage your mouth can cause! Figure that running a marathon burns anywhere from 2600-5000 calories, takes an average of 4-5 hours, and is EXHAUSTING. It doesn't take that long to pound back that many calaories! If you eat badly, no amount of excercise can lose the weight (I think I've mentioned before - I've bicycled 8,000km/year and not lost any weight.) BUT, the act of excercising - excercising HARD, really pushing myself - seems to distract me from the bad food, the bad habits. Is this my answer? Will this give me the insight/discipline to do what needs to be done? I don't really know - the answer will be revealed with time, my young padawan.