The Feeling of Thin/Intuitive Exercising

[Guest guest]

Sorry this post is so long!Interesting about "feeling thin" when you're getting more movement. About six weeks ago (before my post about how it seemed like I was finally making peace with food), I decided that if I couldn't "control" my eating, I could at least get off my butt and start moving more.Roth says to consider what you would do if you were a kid sent outside to play. Well, I'd sit on the curb and read a book, so that obviously wasn't going to work! Ten years ago I liked running, but I destroyed my knee doing so. So I decided to just start walking.In six weeks I've logged over 70 miles. I've also continued my bowling league with my husband (finally broke a 400 series last week!), and I've been taking a four week crash course belly dancing class with a coworker once a week. I've also been

weight training when I feel like it. My husband's been working in a different city, so we've only seen each other a few times a week, but when we do, we go for a long walk or hike together. He loves walking, so it's fun for both of us.At the very beginning, waking up each morning to walk was a should, not a want. But after a week or two, it quickly shifted over to a want. And I love it! I have been feeling sooooo good.I have found a bird's nest, a robin's egg, and money on my walks. I saw a squirrel do a sideways flying leap onto a tree, and I laughed so hard, because I've never seen a squirrel move like that. I saw a Tony the Tiger statue sitting on the sidewalk (???) and I've run into former students.I walked past a man playing ball with his kid one evening and he declared, "I just moved here! I love this neighborhood!" I run into the same woman, gardening, at least once a

week, and an older gentlemen and I exchange greetings several mornings a week. I feel like I'm really getting to know this neighborhood in a way I haven't known it in the nearly three years we've lived here.When I was a runner, I followed schedules. Run this far on Monday, rest on Tuesday, run a shorter distance on Wednesday with weight training, etc. But this time, I just leave the house and go. Some days I go farther. Some days I go faster. Some days I naturally do intervals as a game. Since I usually go before work, time sometimes limits me. Some days I don't go in the morning and I think my body needs a break, but by the evening, I really need a walk. And I go then.This morning I woke up 45 minutes late. Considering that hasn't happened all month, I decided my body needed the sleep. If I feel like going out later, I will. If not, no big deal.I feel REALLY good.

And I don't feel good because I feel virtuous or because I "should" exercise. I feel good because I go fast or long when I want, as slow or short as I want. I'm reacting to what my BODY, heart, mind, and soul want rather than what some random schedule SAYS it should do.If dieting teaches us we can't trust ourselves with food, I suspect following exercise schedules does the same with movement. I've been feeling thinner lately because of my exercising, even though I

don't think I've lost weight. Heck, I don't even really care if I've lost weight, because I feel better. And apparently I have Venus dimples I didn't even know about! I keep seeing them in the mirror!And I don't think it's any surprise that once I started moving more naturally, without worrying about what I "should" do, I started eating more naturally, too.I have been getting a lot of activity lately. I was sick so much this winter that I really wasn't doing anything and my endurance was at a very low point. I don't like the way that makes me feel, so this month I have tried to make time every day for some sort of physical activity. (Ooooh, I feel so much

better!) Two days that was 'gardening' and one day I have taken off due to feeling yucky (PMS, thank you), but for the most part I have gone swimming, biking, walking, or something daily. Yesterday and today I noticed that I feel thinner.