The Modern Love Machine had an excellent suggestion at the beginning of the year to keep us both motivated to exercise more. He suggested we do some kind of exercise each day that we’d record by X-ing off a day on a large wall calendar in plain view — the motivation would be that we’re not allowed to ‘break the chain’ of Xs by skipping a workout. As a person who loves crossing things off a to-do list almost more than ice cream, this was incredibly appealing to me, not to mention it worked well with the running training schedule I was on at the beginning of the year.

*This video only related because of the mutual choice of title for song and post.

So on the first or second day of the year, I reasoned out a terms of agreement with myself for the ‘don’t break the chain’ strategy … 1. To be worthy of an X on the calendar, it has to be some sort of legitimate exertion. Walking the dogs around the block, no matter how much difficulty is involved, does not count as legitimate physical exertion. Jogging one mile does, because I’ll still manage to sweat. Thirty minutes of Wii Fit or The Michael Jackson Experience (holy crap, that will WEAR YOU OUT) counts. A few basic stretches on the living room floor does not. Going to an actual yoga class counts because I am always sore after an actual yoga class. Leading myself in a few yoga stretches at home does not count, because try as I might, I can never make myself sore.

I also decreed that we get two days completely off every week because asking myself to do some sort of physical exertion (even if I allowed myself the occasional cop-out of walking the dogs around the block) would be automatic fail. There are days I work for 12 hours straight and need any extra time in the day to do chores. I know exercise might benefit me most on those days, but so does a little mental reprieve. Also, when on a physical fitness routine, your body absolutely needs rest and recovery time to avoid injury.

I grabbed one of the free calendars every Catholic church hands out at the beginning of each year and a purple marker for the workout Xs and a red marker for the days-off Xs. The MLM bought an even bigger wall calendar for himself. I’ve read in many places that it takes a month to make or break a habit, and if that really is the case, consider my lack of chain-breaking a habit now. I’ve successfully plowed through six and a half weeks of not breaking the chain by running, Wii Fitting, practicing yoga and skiing. I had only one mild cop-out day in which I counted a two-mile, unchallenging walk with the dogs at the park. And unlike the MLM (yes, I’m calling him out here), I’ve gotten good at planning out my workout days. As in, ‘Hey, I have to work 10 hours and attend a wedding on Saturday. Maybe I should save my rest day for Saturday.’ And, ‘Hey, I’m completely off work on this beautiful Sunday. Maybe I should go out and run.’

Have I lost any weight? No, but I’m not really trying to and I’m mostly eating whatever I want right now, which means healthy with a side of chocolate-chip cookies and large, carb-loaded Sunday breakfasts. Has my body toned up? Only where the muscles I use to run are located, so yeah my legs are looking pretty hot while my muffin-top is not.

What I have gained from it all is energy — energy like I haven’t had in a long time. I can make it through most days without feeling completely burned out. I don’t always crash on the couch after work. I sleep well so long as I’m not having crazy stress-related nightmares. I’m not as stressed out, and I’m definitely happier more often. And all of that is exactly what I want to be.