I exercised for 30 minutes a day for 100 days in a row, and here is what happened…
By: Оля Д.
Tags: Weight Loss, Body Image, Excercise, Habit Building

This story starts with the million and one attempts of losing weight and decades of fighting with my own body. I never was obese or seriously overweight, but I’m a very tall girl, and my extra twenty pounds made me look like a mountain. Or so I always visualized. I never was told otherwise, so that could be a case to some point too.

I owned many exercise equipment: ellipticals, bikes, rowing machines and countless cards from different gyms. I never made a difference since I never stuck to it.

I would get excited about a new thing first and then quickly find dozens of reasons not to do the thing.

And unlike some families, mine was never supportive, unfortunately. Now it’s not on them; it’s on me. But you’d agree, when you are starting things over, any word of encouragement helps. And all I’ve got was: “why would you spend so much money on something you wouldn’t use.” And I didn’t, and they were right.

In the middle of the pandemic, I noticed my weight jumping up again. And even my best attempts of battling it didn’t help. So my weight started to climb up again. 90, 91, 92.5 kilograms… I almost could see myself going to my post-baby horrendous 111 kilograms. I did not want that.

So one evening in mid-August, I made my attempt to find a new exercise machine. This time I landed on a “heavy-duty indoor bike.” Quite a shameful name, but I didn’t care at the time.

And I decided to exercise every single day for 30 minutes: no less, no more. With a comfortable level of resistance, at any weather and mood. I decided I wanted to build a habit of it.

And I did.

For over three and a half months now, 100+ days in a row, my day starts with two cups of coffee at 6 am and half an hour at the bike machine.

Now here is my takeaway, and my biggest results:

1. I did not loose weight because of it.

Yeah, too bad, really. Luckily it wasn’t my goal. And I felt it was the trick that helped me to stick to it. Since my goal was something that I could control, I could control the fact that I’d exercise every day for 30 minutes. Lots of great things came out of it, but weight loss wasn’t one of them. I even gained some weight in my second month, and then lost it back again.

But I feel if I had made my goal to lose weight, I would have given up a long time ago.

2. I built a habit.

And I love it! It’s so much easier to get on the bike now than two months ago. And I know there is a widespread opinion that it takes 21 days to build a habit. I disagree; it takes much longer, even 5 times longer, to stick with it, especially if you do something completely new, like exercising every day.

3. I feel so much better about myself.

Yes, I’m very proud I did it. I’m very proud that I finally got myself on the right track. And that feeling keeps me going every day. I feel good every day stepping on the bike, hitting the audiobook, or just staring out the window.

I look forward to it. And I’m not even some 20 year old bird-weight girly…

I’m 33, I’ve been overweight my whole life. And trust me, this thing is entirely new to me.

And even in a short 100 days, I feel the positive results in my body.

4. I feel more energized now.

And I know it’s hard to measure. But for me, the way I wake up in the morning makes a huge difference. And in the past few weeks, I noticed I’m waking up feeling much better and lighter. Yes, I was more hungry than usual in the first month or so, but now I’m setting a new normal for myself. And I like how my new body feels now.

5. I’m in for a long-term now.

I started the thing with one goal: build a healthy exercise routine. I’m not targeting short-term results, even though it’s apparent how daily exercise helped me almost immediately to boost my self-confidence and self-esteem.

I want to make a life habit of it. I want to be the person who works out every day.

Well, I am this person already.

And trust me, after years of despair, it feels damn good.

And finally, why I wanted to share my story is to tell you:

If I could do it, you can do it either.

One day at a time, you can make the right choices and stick to them; you can live the life you always wanted to live.

Love,

Оля Д.