Today I very nearly talked myself out of exercising. I don't go in to work on Wednesdays, and since the stationary bike I use is at my office, I had the perfect excuse to miss a day. It's Christmas Eve, I had a lot of stuff to do, and I was emotionally wrecked. Never mind that my office is a measly 400 steps from my front door, I *deserved* a day off. I was all set to spoil myself and I physically had to force myself those 400 steps to the office. I physically had to force myself to ride past that initial two minute start up where my legs are killing me and I want nothing more than to stop. Not only did I ride the 15 mins I have been riding, but I kept on going (because a new song had started) and ended up riding 20 mins.
Before anyone applauds I have to confess that I ended up eating three pieces of See's Candies that one of our clients had given to our office for Christmas.
Anyway, it got me thinking about the difference between spoiling and pampering. The definition I've finally come to is that if you do something to spoil yourself, then it has a negative consequence (i.e. eating that extra scoop of ice cream, skipping work for a day, spending excess money, having that second or third drink), while doing something to pamper yourself (taking a long bubble bath, getting a new hairdo, taking a long walk, writing a journal) has a positive consequence.
Through that definition, exercise would then be something you'd do to pamper yourself. The consequence of exercise is that it raises your endorphins and makes you happier. You feel better about yourself, your body feels and looks better. Not exercising would be spoiling yourself. You'd feel guilty later that you didn't do it, you'd feel more sluggish and you might break your stride and put your weight loss journey on hold.
So during this holiday season, even though it's sometimes really hard, love yourself enough to pamper yourself - and leave the spoiling to those high fat leftovers laying wait in your fridge.
Exercise - Walked 1 mile, rode stationary bike 20mins
Dec. Calories Spent: 27,050 - projected weight loss 7.29lbs
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