After yesterday’s inexplicable school shooting, I felt prompted to table my post on nutrients and revisit my why for this blog. The Pandemic Push-up isn’t just about weight loss, but a gradual, progressive journey to health and wellness.
The realization of positive benefits from emphasizing better nutrition have been great, but it’s only part of the story. In early 2020, I confronted the realization of failing health due to a history of poor eating habits and sedentary lifestyle. This health epiphany coupled with the sense of helplessness I experienced by losing my teaching role at the start of the pandemic motivated me to change. It was the sense of powerlessness regarding the world around me that prompted the question, “What can I do that is within my control to create some modicum of a positive change?”
That’s when I examined my physical health and determined an immediate, achievable action would be to earnestly try to eat better and move more regularly. The onset of obesity-related risks from the pandemic were definitely an incentive, but it was also a realization that this was one, micro-level action I could take – I could engage in self-examination and make adjustments – that might catalyze a positive outcome in a moment of unmitigated despair. This health journey has brought me more perspective than I anticipated as I’ve also spent some time reflecting on past successes and failures in life and career.
The disappointment of past failures at times served as fuel for intense walks, homebody workouts, and healthy eating choices when I was most tempted to stray from my plan. At some point, I began to wonder what my life would be like if I’d more consistently applied the same intensity and focus given to this journey at other stages of my life. But I think that’s probably a normal aspect of the reflection and learning process that comes with life experience.
This all seems rather trivial in light of the distressing realities that we continue to face as a society: indiscriminate and targeted shootings, racism and bigotry, economic calamity, gut-churning armed conflict with the very real prospect of nuclear war, and the pandemic that everyone seems done with, except it’s not done with us! The enthusiasm for health and fitness might understandably subdued by such real-world challenges, however these moments reignite my belief in prioritizing health and wellness.
The metaphorical (and at times literal) picking oneself up off the mat of despair to take that first important step forward. The sense of making a positive contribution to society by doing something meaningful to improve one’s health and perhaps inspire someone else to venture on their gradual, progressive journey to health and wellness.