The Dodo Munches cannot and does not contain medical/health advice. The information is provided for general informational and educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional advice. Please read the full disclaimer here.
Is “exercise more” on your New Year’s Resolutions list? If so, I get it. It used to be on my list in one form or other too. I’m not even sure how many times I started a running habit, then stopped again, and repeat. I used to think that discipline and freezing winters were the issue. Now I know that I exercise was hard because my body was sick.
Looking healthy ≠ being healthy
Even at my chubbiest, I didn’t look unhealthy. I’m almost forty now. Bigger hips and a growing belly is just part of getting older, I thought. I rarely had colds so I used think of myself as being super-healthy.
But my liver was sick. For decades, I had been eating far too many carbs. My glucose metabolism no longer functioned because I had insuline resistance. Even though I didn’t look sick, I was.
Dead weight
Looking back, it’s no wonder that exercising felt terrible and really, really hard! Not to mention exhausting so that I’d need days to recover. I was trying to exercise with a sick body.
All my body wanted to do was be left alone to cope with all the sugar and carbs I was eating. Instead, I tried to make it run. Of course, exercise was difficult and no fun at all. I would never have tried to start a running habit while I suffered from the flu, but because I didn’t realise I was sick, I kept pushing myself.
Healthy first
Everything changed when I stopped eating sugar and processed foods. Don’t get me wrong. I already had an exercise routine. Daily Yoga and several long walks a week. Sure, I felt winded walking uphil, but reminded myself that I wasn’t getting younger.
Oh, how wrong I was! Today, I feel better than I felt in my early twenties. I didn’t even know what being healthy really feels like until now.
Don’t get me wrong. I expected a few changes. I did assume I’d lose weight and that maybe exercise would become a little bit easier because of that. But the changes were overwhelming!
I became stronger. Yoga poses I had been practising for three years, like crow pose, suddenly worked. I could hold them easily.
Through Yoga I had learned to pay attention to my body. I feel much stronger now. What started as a 10min practise is now 90min of strength exercises. And then my body actually asked for more.
A healthy body wants to move
I was walking in a park when a jogger ran past me and I thought to myself: “I want to run too again.” So I did. The next day, I jogged for 30 minutes. Two days later I increased it easily to 45 minutes. The best part was I enjoyed running.
My body moved easily, my breath flowed and when I was done I felt fantastic. I didn’t need three days to recover either. No stiff muscles or back pain or burning lungs. Nothing.
These days I run for an hour. Not because I think I should but because it feels so great it does not even occur to me to stop sooner. There’s no arguing anymore (“just five more minutes to reach your goal!”), no need for motivational speeches (“You can do this!”), and no need for breaks. My body loves to move.
Designed to move
Our bodies are designed for movement. Not standing still, and definitely not sitting all day. I bet you already knew that. I bet you are already trying to build in as much movement into your day as you can and maybe even the occasional exercise.
But you’re tired after work. And exercise is hard and exhausting. Sure, it’s healthy and all, but afterwards everything hurts and you’re even more tired! No thank you!
I get it. That’s exactly how I used to feel until I stopped eating sugar and processed foods. And now? My New Years’ Resolution is to make sure I get enough rest.