Le Pant, Le Wheeze...
“Exercise to stimulate, not to annihilate. The world wasn’t formed in a day, and neither were we. Set small goals and build upon them.”
In last week’s blog, we looked at why getting back to exercise after a hiatus (or getting to it for the first time ever) is often so difficult. Muscle aches, nutrition, demoralization, naysayers, injuries, and fickle inspiration were discussed, and should be considered part of the experience to be planned for. I don’t suggest this because dreading them will help in any way, but because it’s best to go into a new exercise routine with eyes open about the beasts you will encounter in the wild and to set out armed for bear! Another important challenge I want to mention this week is subtle, but I've found it to be a very real factor in the first few weeks of a new exercise regime, so I’m adding it here as part two of last week’s discussion. It's the tendency for people to encounter strange emotional mood patterns during this time. I’m talking about moods that don’t seem to track to anything that’s going on in your life on a concrete level, that don’t make sense, and that can blindside and confuse you.
I’ve encountered this several times myself personally, and others I know have as well. I'm not going to pretend that I have all the answers about why this happens, but for many people, it really does. I'll venture a guess here about a few factors that may be involved in this:
· First, working out changes your body chemistry. In many ways this is for the better in the long run, but immediately, it can be disorienting. As soon as the body starts doing things we don't recognize, it's easy to panic. One of the first things that's on the menu is likely some level of detox. As soon as you start moving and burning fat, you’re getting rid of old stuff, including toxins. You may feel nauseated, dizzy, notice that your sweat seems very acidic, or have other physical reactions. It's essential to drink plenty of water at this time, which will help your body to clean itself out as you increase the level of toxins being processed. It's also important to consult a doctor before getting started so you know what you’re working with, and a nutritionist if you have any questions about supporting new levels of activity, both before and throughout your process of change. If you’re going to be making greater demands on your body, even if you have fat to burn, it’s going to be impossible to maintain good habits of physical movement, and eventually fitness, if you’re chronically malnourished. And make no mistake, if your eating patterns include more chips and soda than healthy proteins and fruits and vegetables, you are not providing your body with the substances necessary to carry on its basic functions successfully, so you’ll definitely have trouble maintaining the energy to work toward fitness.
· Another thing to note is that more sleep may be necessary at this time to help your body recover, especially if you’re someone who tends to sleep less than seven hours per night. It may seem like exercise is making your life worse if this need is intense, but I find this general drowsiness to be pretty normal when you start working out, and usually this passes after about a month (this will, of course, vary depending on your starting level of fitness, your nutrition, and other factors unique to you). Again, as you initiate a process of change and challenge your body to adjust, it may display some discomfort. Just as when you’re sick, you need to give it the time it needs to handle extra internal activity, and sleep is important to the healing process. Sleep deprivation also affects mood and your ability to think clearly, so if you’re creating more of a need for rest and healing by increasing your activity levels, but just trying to power through it all without adding any extra sleep time, you’re going to be fighting the inevitable—a rising tide of pessimism and annoyance at every little thing. And guess how useful all that is for staying in the game?
· If you’re trying to change your diet at the same time as beginning to increase your physical activity, you’ll also be dealing with the emotional irritation that can result from exerting willpower over your desires. Most of us have a complicated relationship with food that includes the use of food for self-medicating our emotions to some degree or another. This need not be extreme to provoke a reaction—you might just be someone who looks forward to a delicious dinner each night after a long day—but if you take away some of the enjoyment factor, you might find that the loss of some creature comfort leaves you downright angry. With a self-help tool like EFT/Tapping to help manage cravings and calm emotions that pop up, you’ll be far more likely to be able to keep your perspective about the changes you’re making to reach your goals.
· Finally, I want to mention something of a wild card that you may or may not encounter, and it may sound improbable if you haven’t experienced it. I include it because my own experiences started me thinking about it, and I went looking for corroboration. I’ve found some, but nothing scientifically proven or even specifically explained—mostly just other people’s stories and hints. Even so, I’m going to mention it, so here we go. India’s time-tested Ayurvedic medicine puts forth a concept that emotions are stored in the body's fat and muscle. That actually tracks perfectly with an experience I and many others have had while moving toward fitness, in which we encounter old emotions or even memories as we clear out the old by burning fat and building muscle. In Molecules of Emotion, Candace Pert (a respected neuroscientist who later branched out into other scientific areas) writes that the chemicals that make up the physical aspects of emotion are stored in each cell’s receptors; it would make more sense to me if we had evidence that emotions were stored inside the cell, which is where the material that is actually burned as fuel is stored. However, there has been comparatively little scientific research done, from what I can find, on the subject of how our emotions correlate with chemical processes in the body, or even how our emotions function from the standpoint of outside observation. I suspect that there’s an undiscovered world to be found in this quarter whenever we get around to seriously looking. My point is that when we burn fat, I think we end up faced with some mood changes that seem random, but that are due to emotion-carrying chemicals in the old fat cells we're emptying being stirred up and added back into the mix. I'll write more about such things in future blogs if I can find better information going forward, but I think this factor is worth considering if you find those first weeks of exercise to be an emotional rollercoaster for reasons you just can't seem to identify. If it does seem to be happening, know that you’re not alone.
As you strike out into new territory with your levels of physical activity, you’re going to confront most or all of these challenges. Defending yourself and your goals against them will depend on the strength of your planning and your ability to adjust on the fly. Flexibility and creativity are essential tools as you navigate the obstacle course that is daily life while you continue to work on your fitness and nutrition. You will run up against tough times when you feel like you’re just not going to make it. You will fall off the wagon here and there and have to find ways to jump back on. Just keep moving and look for ways to outwit your obstacles. This is essential to your health and quality of life, and you can do it with resolve and practice. I believe in you!