Yet this idea is backed up by numerous scientific studies that point out that in order for exercise to matter, it needs to be frequent, intense, and vigorous.
According to a December 31, 2015, Washington Post Op Ed, “The Five Myths of Our Habits,” it takes an average of sixty-six days to form a new habit. While some simple behaviors may only need to be repeated for a few weeks in order for you to continue doing them without thinking about it, some, like exercise, can take a year.
A year.
A freakin’ year.
The author, Wendy Wood, a University of Southern California psychologist, suggested that setting a routine (what you do to get ready or prepare) may be even more critical to forming a habit than repetition (exercising). Even now, I plan out my week, incorporating my exercise and nutrition into my work schedule, I set out my workout clothes before I go to sleep, and I am out the door to run or train by 5:15 a.m. I don’t think about it. It’s like brushing my teeth, which is what I do after drinking coffee, not before—another mindless ritual.
By this point, I may be obsessed with my fitness routine, but like my coffee addiction, I’m good with that, because the benefits are worth it. I take true pleasure in the moments in my day when I’m moving around.
The point is to get set in a fitness habit and schedule your workouts in the same way you factor in anything else you need to do every day. What’s important, according to Wood, is that whatever we do, it needs to become routine. If you can only exercise three mornings per week, establish a routine for this until it becomes a habit.
And here’s where establishing a fitness habit gets so challenging, and possibly why many of us are setting the same fitness goals year after year.
What if you don’t enjoy exercising? Or what if you are like me when I started and so out of shape that exercising is physically and mentally uncomfortable?
My niece Nina Lish, an architecture student in Philadelphia, told me about a podcast she heard on “Freakonomics” with Katherine Milkman called “When Willpower Isn’t Enough.” Milkman, who coined the phrase “temptation bundling,” suggests that if we can combine two activities—one you should do but tend to avoid, and one you love to do but that may not be entirely productive—we can have better success achieving our goals.
The example she gave is this one: Milkman hates to exercise and loves to watch television when she’s got other important things to do. She told herself she could only watch her favorite shows when she was at the gym, so after a few evenings, she found herself rushing to get to the gym.
“Or like having a beer while you fold the laundry,” Nina said.
“Was that an example in the podcast?” I asked.
Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project, writes about this in her book Better Than Before. Like Milkman, Rubin, who doesn’t focus on exercise, makes the case for combining activities in order to form a habit. So genius, but not so different from gradually loading your child’s plate of beige foods with colorful, healthy items. We’ve all done that, right?
As I began to develop my exercise habit, without thinking about it and without seeing fast results, music became my incentive to work out. It occurred to me that as I had my children and worked outside the home, I never noticed how much music had fallen by the wayside. If you ask me what I most look forward to on a long run, I’d have to put listening to music high up in the plus column. Now I devote a chunk of time on a regular basis to catching up on new artists as I curate and build my music playlists for exercising as well as warming up and stretching.
“You have the music taste of a fifteen-year-old,” my State Department colleague and friend Steve Royster told me after he came across my blog and playlists and agreed to read an early draft of this manuscript.
Ha, I smiled. You have no idea.
It’s not just my taste in music, which by the way is closer to that of a thirty-year-old. It’s my brain, too. It’s as if by developing a meaningful exercise habit and discovering my edge, I’ve found a way to live all of my ages at once. Kind of like being fifteen—or thirty, but with the benefit of being fifty-something.
I’m good with that.
***
I was in New York City in July 2016 attending the opening of the New York Music Festival as my daughter, Mia Walker, and my son, Adin Walker, made their New York professional debut working together as director and choreographer, respectively. I asked the concierge in my midtown hotel if she could recommend a good place for my morning run. After she mapped out my route to the High Line, she put down her pen and sighed.
“I wish I could be a runner,” she said.
“You can,” I quickly responded.
“Look at you,” she said. “You’re so fit.”
We talked for a few minutes about the importance of making time for ourselves, of starting out slowly and committing to walking a few blocks every day.
“Seriously, if I can do this, you can,” I said. I showed her my before-and-after photo, and she nodded.
“You got this,” I said.
And you can, too
What follows are posts from my original blog, SKINNYCAROLEE, which was hosted on BlogSpot from February 2014 until August 2015. I started my journey with a goal of transforming my physical appearance, but when I made the transition from focusing on losing weight to learning how to carve out time to meet my own fitness needs and to push myself physically and mentally, I moved the blog over to my personal website hosted by Squarespace and renamed it BE THE DOG.
Awesome people you’ll meet throughout this book:
Adin – My insanely artistic son, a dancer and athlete, who’s always there to encourage me to dig in.
Adorable – Reuel Tizabi, my original trainer at Equinox Bethesda who’s on his way to receiving his doctor of physical therapy degree.
Buff – Shoubry Sos, my trainer at Equinox Bethesda after Reuel left to return to school full time.
Lord Baltimore – Bob Walker, my husband, who was born and raised royally in Baltimore.
Mia – My wildly talented daughter, who heads up my squad and who sensibly reminds me when I get anxious before a race, “Mom, you volunteered for this.”
MCRRC – Montgomery County Road Runners Club.
Patrick Gatti – An American businessman on assignment in Kingston who ran with me in Emancipation Park in the evenings after work and talked endlessly with me about my upcoming first half marathon, D.C. Rock ’n’ Roll.
Perfectly Nice – Daniel Le, my trainer at Equinox Bethesda when Reuel attended the World Cup in Brazil.
Really Smart – Dr. Katie Taraban Mahoney, my physical therapist at Elite Physical Therapy and Wellness Center in Washington, D.C., who relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area in 2015.
Ripped – Neile Miller, my Vassar classmate who also trained with Reuel.
Triathlete – My good friend and work colleague, who’s apparently naturally athletic.
Wonderful – Francis Bass, my massage therapist, who has sadly relocated out of Washington, D.C.
Chapter 1 – OMG—Endorphins Are for Real
Day 1, March 30, 2014
“We’re running around like we’re brainless.”
—Rizzle Kicks, “Down with the Trumpets”
I