"Mindset"

    According to Wikipedia, a mindset is a set of methods held by a person or a group of people which creates a powerful incentive to continue to adopt or accept a behavior, or choice.  So, how does one create the mindset to exercise and eat healthy?  
    This time last winter, I compared myself to a momma bear.  I would basically curl up in a ball and hibernate most of the winter.  It wasn't pleasant or enjoyable to suffer through the winter's chill when I had arthritis, when everything hurt.  Another reason I stayed in?  I was sick.  I'd get over one cold, then catch the next one.  It seemed that I was sick all the time, sick and tired, on the couch covered in a throw blanket, a box of tissues handy.  I would come out in the Spring and whine about how pale I'd become, depressed about how snug my favorite jeans were.  How did that happen?     
   That was last year.  No mas.  No more.  How did I change my mindset?  I started off simply by telling myself I could do better.  I was a warrior, a petite Amazon, a powerful force to be reckoned with.  The couch?  It became my enemy.  Good shoes and my little 5lb weights became my weapons of choice.  The mirror, the scale?  I no longer feared or avoided them.  I only used them to achieve my ultimate goal, to monitor my progress.  I stopped wasting time on the blame game and took control of the battlefield, my battlefield.  I could drag myself out of bed.  I could devote a percentage of time every day to being a better wife, a better mom, a better friend, a better me.  So, I asked myself what would it take to do this, to be better?  I knew I had to start slow.  I began seriously working out in April 2010, once the snow left.  I put on the Sketcher's shape ups I'd gotten for Christmas (shoes I'd asked for) and set out walking the neighborhood.  It was so incredibly boring.  I set a walk list on my ipod, songs I thought moved me to walk with a purpose.  It became less boring.  In time, I walked further.  Soon, I began to see results.  I lost weight, I had more energy, and I felt better.  But with the weight loss, I noticed loose skin.  Yuck.  That wouldn't do.  I did some research.  Internet, magazines, wherever I could get it...for free.  I began doing little weights...I worked up to more.  Eventually I became tighter, less like one of those cute Chinese shar-pei puppies.  Much better.  : )  On days when the weather was bad, I popped in a fitness DVD or drove to the mall to walk.  "I improvised, I adapted and I overcame" (I love this Marine mantra).  I used anything that kept me focused.  I was never too busy.  I never hurt too much.  I had developed the mindset that I would do something physical (even if it was small), and that I would make better, healthier choices every day.  
   Of course, the best way to continue with the fitness mindset is with the results you and others will see.  My husband told me I am built like Jillian Michaels now.  Now that's a compliment I'll take.  For one, she's a fitness role model for millions.  She's beautiful, powerful, and hey, she's eleven years younger than I am.  Hooah!