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trinityvixenIn his short story "Lunch at the Gotham Cafe," Stephen King proposes, via his smoker protagonist, that there is a very clear and definite hurdle that all people seeking to quit a bad behavior or take up a good one face. This hurdle is the three-day mark. Once you hit and pass that limit, you're home free. The first three days are the test to see if you can make it in the long run.
I don't know that I agree with that exact limit, but I do think he's onto something. There is, most people would agree, a sort of no-turning-back-point where you just accustom yourself to something and you can, without thinking, include it in your life and not begrudge it (or live without it). I think this is definitely true of addictive things like smoking, but it is equally true about hard things like quitting smoking. Addictions are hard to overcome, and you live with the cravings for life. Yet there must be some point where there is no going back because everything you liked about that old behavior no longer appeals.
In case you're wondering if I'm picking up smoking (I'm not), this concerns me on the subject of exercise. Exercising is, to me, like having to quit smoking. It's a lifestyle adjustment that I'm not particularly interested in but that I acknowledge is essential to my continued good health. It's a nuisance, and I hate how mind-numbingly repetitive a good workout is (though I do my best to overcome that obstacle because the hurdle of getting up enough energy to even exercise is high enough as is).
I started regularly exercising about six-seven months ago when I bought an elliptical machine. I used it three times a week for 30-40 minutes, on weeknights, mostly. I fell off with it around the holidays--too hectic, too much time spent away from my machine, etc.--and I came back to it in this past month more than a little apathetic. So I tried to reinvigorate myself by setting a new schedule and waking up an hour earlier to exercise and shower before work. It made sense, as a plan--I wouldn't be too drained by a full day's work to motivate myself to exercise, plus I could shower before work and be all fresh and alert for it. It would be part and parcel of my attempts to remake myself as a healthier person, per my resolutions for this year.
I am now on my third day. So far, I haven't had too much trouble getting up that little bit earlier and going. I'm naturally falling asleep earlier and more easily, which is a lovely change. (I have low-grade insomnia to the point where it takes me about 30-40 minutes a night to fall asleep.) I'm no more exhausted at the end of my working day than I was before (a major concern with waking up earlier and thus "starting my day" well ahead of the work day). The first day was a challenge, but I just forced myself to do it, and it has gotten easier. Granted, I've not tested my resolve after a really late night yet. That might change my opinion. In fact, knowing that will be the case makes me wonder about this miracle point at which waking up early to exercise will become second nature rather than a chore or a duty. I'm okay now, but I don't trust myself over the long term.
The odds of slovenly recidivism are high, in other words. So high that I then have to question whether I do agree with Stephen King's notion of point-of-no-return adaptation. What do you all think? Feel free to conjecture about my own will power, I won't take offense, or your own if you prefer or muse on human will power in general. I'm interested in every angle, really.
I don't know that I agree with that exact limit, but I do think he's onto something. There is, most people would agree, a sort of no-turning-back-point where you just accustom yourself to something and you can, without thinking, include it in your life and not begrudge it (or live without it). I think this is definitely true of addictive things like smoking, but it is equally true about hard things like quitting smoking. Addictions are hard to overcome, and you live with the cravings for life. Yet there must be some point where there is no going back because everything you liked about that old behavior no longer appeals.
In case you're wondering if I'm picking up smoking (I'm not), this concerns me on the subject of exercise. Exercising is, to me, like having to quit smoking. It's a lifestyle adjustment that I'm not particularly interested in but that I acknowledge is essential to my continued good health. It's a nuisance, and I hate how mind-numbingly repetitive a good workout is (though I do my best to overcome that obstacle because the hurdle of getting up enough energy to even exercise is high enough as is).
I started regularly exercising about six-seven months ago when I bought an elliptical machine. I used it three times a week for 30-40 minutes, on weeknights, mostly. I fell off with it around the holidays--too hectic, too much time spent away from my machine, etc.--and I came back to it in this past month more than a little apathetic. So I tried to reinvigorate myself by setting a new schedule and waking up an hour earlier to exercise and shower before work. It made sense, as a plan--I wouldn't be too drained by a full day's work to motivate myself to exercise, plus I could shower before work and be all fresh and alert for it. It would be part and parcel of my attempts to remake myself as a healthier person, per my resolutions for this year.
I am now on my third day. So far, I haven't had too much trouble getting up that little bit earlier and going. I'm naturally falling asleep earlier and more easily, which is a lovely change. (I have low-grade insomnia to the point where it takes me about 30-40 minutes a night to fall asleep.) I'm no more exhausted at the end of my working day than I was before (a major concern with waking up earlier and thus "starting my day" well ahead of the work day). The first day was a challenge, but I just forced myself to do it, and it has gotten easier. Granted, I've not tested my resolve after a really late night yet. That might change my opinion. In fact, knowing that will be the case makes me wonder about this miracle point at which waking up early to exercise will become second nature rather than a chore or a duty. I'm okay now, but I don't trust myself over the long term.
The odds of slovenly recidivism are high, in other words. So high that I then have to question whether I do agree with Stephen King's notion of point-of-no-return adaptation. What do you all think? Feel free to conjecture about my own will power, I won't take offense, or your own if you prefer or muse on human will power in general. I'm interested in every angle, really.
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Date: 2009-02-06 03:24 pm (UTC)The other thing you bring up is why exercising is so hard--it's too easy not to and the momentum takes longer to build in the positive direction than it does in the negative. That's true of most lifestyle changes; it's always easier to fall off the wagon.
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Date: 2009-02-06 04:01 pm (UTC)I fell off the wagon hard. It's really hard to not make excuses, because as soon as you do you're sunk. It got really cold and I didn't have any warm exercise clothing, so a few weeks in the snow passed and bam. Now I'm lazy again.
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Date: 2009-02-09 04:42 am (UTC)I think a better perspective is tension-release -- exercise produces a temporary increase in body tension, but that just enhances the feeling of release afterwards when that tension ends. There's also a certain... drunken sort of amusement to watching your body not be able to do things you know it should be able to do. Then again, those endorphins are supposed to be cousins of morphine, so I guess that makes sense...