I've noticed so many times: any task, even the most useful, must be accomplished through obstacles and barriers. I don't know what makes the result so desirable and joyful—the effort expended to achieve it, or the same thing, but overcoming the inevitable surprises that arise.
The most common example is weight loss. It's the dream of more than half of the world's women and a significant portion of the male population. Women really want it, men do too, but they want to see tangible results even more. At the same time, these same men genuinely don't understand why women's stated goals often turn out to be less than they actually want.
Women are even less understanding. Although everyone knows that if we set our minds to something, resisting it—especially ourselves—is not recommended. Because we will inevitably, and involuntarily, sweep away any obstacles in our path to achieve our goals. But not when it comes to weight loss.
Methods, techniques, recommendations, advice, sharing experiences—everyone knows it all. But there are no results. Or they're microscopic. Or rare. It's just not possible to do everything together. Either fasting days followed by loading days, or holidays, or periodic exercise of varying degrees. Somehow, it all just doesn't work out.
There's also something as important as health. It needs some help, at least sometimes. So what can you do? The answer is simple: eat less, move more. If that doesn't help, see a doctor, preferably an endocrinologist.
I've been obsessed with losing weight for years. Ideally, I'd do it by accident and without much effort. And without harming my health, of course. I don't necessarily need to—my outward proportions probably won't change much, but my appearance and health should definitely improve. I've been proven right by occasional positive attempts. But, unfortunately, it's hit or miss. Sometimes before the New Year, sometimes after…
In the fall, I received a gift from life: I signed up for a gym membership without even realizing it. It's not that simple; it's based on medical methods (no advertising, and it doesn't work for everyone). I was fed up with my morning back complaints. And anyway, it had all piled up, you know—I eat so much, and I'd never exercised, only dreamed of it. And then my dream came true: I joined the gym.
I hated myself at first. First, it was the sauna. Then the dousing after the sauna. Stretching hurt. Massages hurt. Exercise machines were difficult and painful. Then I added weight on one of the machines for the first time. Then, somehow, I didn't feel the accumulation of what had always been there in certain areas of my body.
And yet, I still felt stuck. My weight remained the same. Even though I was warned that for the first three months, it would really stay the same and not go away. No matter how hard I trained. That's true. It's a shame, but what can you do? You just can't stop.
After a few months, especially before the New Year, I loved and respected myself completely. Especially on the scale. My waistline felt great too—I hadn't even suspected such a thing existed. A friend came over and exclaimed, “You've really bulked up.” I mean, above the waist. No, it just flowed smoothly from one to the other, from the bottom up. Defying all the laws of physics and gluttony.
And I help. It just sort of came to me—steamed oats, juices, vegetables, and seafood. Well, not always, of course. Pies and buns, homemade dumplings, and cutlets become the fences and inevitable, but such pleasant surprises.
Now I understand that radical weight loss is impossible solely through physical activity—even scientifically proven and monitored by specialists. And it's becoming unnecessary. After all, there are still positive benefits. These include improved health indicators, or rather, ill health (objective results), a better figure (subjective results), and stronger muscle and vascular tone (and where else would they go, after so much exercise, stretching, warming, and then fertilizing with ice water).
You get pleasure from overcoming yourself, first and foremost. And it's not even about the physical exercise. You get past the morning “I don't want to, I'll reschedule later, another time, another time.” You close your eyes to the traffic jams and the people you share the road with. In fact, traveling by minibus is a special kind of spatial movement, especially during rush hour. You get there, change, plop down to have your blood pressure checked, and—you're off on the road to health and a healthy lifestyle.
Over these few months, I've realized that I don't need to lose weight. I just need to get myself in order. One thing follows another – exercise, nutrition, appearance, inner attitude, the attitude of others.
It works because you're not trying for someone else, but for yourself. More often than not, this turns out to be much harder than it seems: trying and doing for yourself, not for others. The most amazing thing is that it changes the world around you.
There's always an open gate in any fence, and surprises, even those that ultimately come as surprises, can and should be pleasant. No matter what kind of pies, dumplings, urgent matters, or laziness they may involve.