Why We Train: Moving Day

Those of you that follow Michelle and I in other social forums know already that we recently moved across the country.  Despite a couple of hiccups, I'm happy to report that we are happily settled in to our new digs and beginning to explore the possibilities that Arizona offers.  (Although, yes - it's REALLY hot here in August).

As the flurry of activity subsides, we've been talking about the experience.


The question: how do you stay motivated to keep training for the long run?
We hear this one a lot.  People get frustrated.  They don't see progress.  They don't have a concrete goal in their head about what their time at the gym should do for them in the long run.  We've often used the phrase that we're training for life.  And let me tell you, the past month has thrown an awful lot of life our way.  So I thought it would be interesting to share with you how we feel our training has come into play during that time. Do any of them surprise you?


Motivator 1: Keeping our Sanity
Studies show that moving is one of the most stressful life events a person can experience.  While I will immediately give credit to Michelle's supreme planning skills in making this the least painful move I have ever experienced (and that's a large sampling, folks), the ability to keep at least one point of consistency in our lives was a huge help.  We did some serious flexing in our schedule, but putting on the gym clothes and throwing around heavy things for an hour was a way of taking back control of our time and burning off some of that nervous energy.

Motivator 2: Lifting All the Things
Michelle and I lived in Minnesota together for two years.  And I can tell you, those flower pots in the garage were a lot heavier when we moved in than they were last month.  I'm not sure how that happens exactly.  Maybe our flower pots have been getting ripped on Hydroxycut.  (I'll leave it to you to decide.)  We were able to self-pack and unpack 90% of our household, which saved us a ton on moving expenses.

Motivator 3: On the Road
I don't know about you, but I've done a lot of long road trips of over 1,000 miles.  It beats you down.  Back pain, arms tingling, hands sore.  Not to mention the lovely elderly penguin walk you rock after getting out of the car.  This drive was over 1,800 miles and, I'm telling you, I didn't get any of the usual side-effects road trips usually throw at me.  Granted, I was ready to get the heck out of the car at the end, but we hit the ground running upon arrival.

Motivator 4: Adaptation and Execution

Okay - Phoenix is HOT.  I mean, it's called the Valley of the Sun for a reason.  And, in August, it's the hottest kind of hot you can imagine.  And Minnesota  - well - isn't.  It was no small change to acclimate to the desert environment.  And we had a week from the time we moved in to have everything up and running before I had to be back into the work groove.  Landscaping, painting, arranging furniture, you name it, we did it.  Heck, we even helped Michelle's niece move into her new house when we were done with ours.  Having a body that is strong with healthy energy levels was key to us pulling this off.


Motivator 5: Keeping our Figures
We see and hear from a lot of others on their weight loss journey who complain about weight gain after a vacation or a stressful life event.  It's such a common theme, in fact, that we basically assumed it was a given that we would put on a couple pounds.  I mean, we cut our training way back, were stuck in a car for three days, and were subject to whatever food was available at the exit where we needed gas.  It only made sense.

When we weighed in, however, we found that we both lost a couple pounds.  How?  Credit an optimized metabolism combined with a lifestyle that has made us completely re-think what "food" is.  We did lose some ground in the amount of weight we could push in the gym, but a couple of weeks of getting back into our program put us back on track.

I hope I'm getting the point across here.  Life Happens!  If you find yourself wondering why you keep getting out of bed early or stopping after work to hit the gym, then think about the events coming up (anticipated or not) you're going to weather.  Even if it's changing a flat on the side of the road, these kinds of things go so much better when you feel strong.  They don't knock you down so much and you get back up a lot faster.  What will it take for you to be better prepared for that next big change? 

So - why train?  Because... you never know.