It’s been a while since I talked about my struggle with weight. At the beginning of the pandemic, I started making plans. They were reasonable plans, not pushing myself too hard. I was aiming for a slow progression that made sense for long-term progress. But, like everyone else, I had no way of knowing that the restrictions that began then would be necessary for this long. I did really well for a while. Then depression and old self-destructive tendencies caught up with me – talking myself out of exercise, overbuying groceries then justifying overeating by telling myself that wasting food is bad (it is, but that’s not a justification for poor food practices.)
The depression lasted a bit, but the self-destructiveness did not. I am happy to say that I pulled myself out of it before there was any damage done.
It did start me thinking about how goals have changed in this environment and how they differ from pre-pandemic (and perhaps post-pandemic) success. Just holding steady is a win these days.
The thing is, holding steady doesn’t mean I can get away with doing nothing. Holding steady means my average labs don’t get worse. Not actively doing things that would result in a negative impact to my conditions isn’t good enough. I still need exercise and a healthy approach to nutrition to keep myself on an even keel.
The nutrition part is easy enough – buying properly goes a long way, but the switch from Daylight Saving Time back to Standard Time has cut into my exercise window. I will talk myself out of it if I don’t start in the morning, and the sun rises in such a way that I am blinded by about 7:15. The placement of the treadmill is not changeable, and right now an expensive window treatment is out of the question.
Before, when I was successful pursuing my weight goals, I had strong external motivation. That’s not coming back. What I can do is think creatively about removing obstacles. First, I tried tacking up dark sheets to block some of the sun. The weight of the sheets pulled out the tacks in less than one workout. Tape didn’t work, either. But there was this thing I had bought in order to be able to use my balcony more during the DC summer heat – a shade sail. It’s a flat rectangle, and since I am up pretty high, it catches the wind in ways that have already torn a big hole in the screen door. When my building advised us that it was going to be particularly windy during a storm a few months ago, I brought it in, and it has been taking up space on my floor ever since.
As I thought about my dilemma, I wondered if I could make it work for the treadmill. It was made to block the sun, after all. Turns out it did work. Without its cast iron base, it is pretty light. It can be propped up using a couple of dumbbells, and it is easy to move it along the window depending on the position of the sun when I start.
I confess I am pretty proud of myself for that one. It has already resulted in an increase in weekly workouts. Whether it’s sustainable, I don’t know. I can only go one day at a time. However, it does eliminate my biggest obstacle to holding steady.