Again and again on this weight loss and fitness journey I have had to remind myself to be patient. It took 30+ years to build myself up to 240+ pounds and you cannot change that overnight using healthy means. And along the same lines, you cannot just jump up after doing little to no formal, regular exercise and start running in 5K or longer races. I had to be patient with my training, trust the people who put things like Couch to 5K and 100 Push ups and 200 Sit ups together to know what they are doing.
And that patience has borne fruit. A year ago I started running, and today I am contemplating running 10K's. 2 years ago I was over 230 pounds, today I am close to getting under 180. I had to be patient, stick with it when things got tough, plateau's appeared, setbacks occurred.
Today's workout
Tough run today, pushed a little harder than normal, really wanted that 6 mile number, and I got it, maybe not as fast as I would like, but that will come. On the fly tested a new route and it worked, maybe not as hilly as I would like, but still a good challenge
What does this have to do with our country and culture? We as a culture have become addicted to the quick fix, overnight sensation effect. And we think that everything we want: fitness, healthy weight, riches, happiness, can all come by following just the right scheme, diet, fitness program etc. Where has that led us? We have an epidemic of overweight, obese people in this country. We have a damaged economy. And we no longer have the will to simply work on the right path to fix these things. We expect that by just taking a magic pill we will drop 50 pounds overnight and have a model's body. And we expect that someone, somewhere, can wave a magic wand and the economy will rebound.
This week I have been reading the book Griftopia by Matt Taibbi
. And if you take the time to read this book, and read it with an open mind, if you are not ready to gather a mob together to storm Wall Street and Washington D.C. there is something seriously wrong. The litany of wrong doing, and outright criminal behavior that led to the destruction of our economy is just astounding in it's depth. But you know what lies at the root of all this? Lack of patience, people didn't want to be the last ones on their block with the big flat screen TV, expensive SUV, fancy addition to their house, or even new house that they couldn't afford. Administrators, bankers, pension fund managers etc. didn't want to be the last ones in their circles to claim a 7 figure bonus and 8 figure salary, so they overstepped and ignored caution and common sense and leapt at the promised quick bucks. It just irritates me. While I have tried to step away from the political posts I had to say something, and this seems to be the best way to link my common interests of fitness and politics together.
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