I think I’ve been afraid of resistance or challenge. I want to learn to love it, especially as it applies to exercise and eating. NOT that I’m going to try to resist certain foods, but that I want to enjoy the sensations of hunger and muscle work. I’ve been watching my kids and notice that they do just what they want to with their bodies! When they’re bored, they want to move. I’ve lost that instinct. My little Maria just started crawling, and she doesn’t avoid it because it’s hard–she just keeps trying, even with her tired little muscles! I know that athletes and many people out there really like a challenge, find it motivating. I’ve not been that way, and even thinking about it scares me, but I want to get there. I’ve hated the words “work”, “challenge”, “goal”, etc. my whole life, because I associate them with guilt, failure, and punishment. I want to like those things! I want to get excited about exercise instead of thinking of it as another chore. I want to think of healthy foods as nourishing and happy rather than a necessary evil.

I haven’t committed to a regular exercise plan yet, and I’m OK with that for now. I do want to exercise, but not because I should. Yuck! No, because I like it! When I was in great shape in the army, I began to love the feeling I got doing push-ups. I do enjoy lifting weights, but I usually don’t do it because I have this silly notion that if I’m not doing regular aerobic exercise, the muscle-building doesn’t count. I guess I think of resistance training as dessert in the exercise world. What do you think, folks? Should I just do my “dessert exercise” anyway?