My First Challenge

In deciding what should be my first challenge to myself, I knew I should pick something I would actually stick to and would not get frustrated with if I failed. When I was stressed out my second year of medical school and on into my first year of graduate school, my favorite stress relief was to run. Not many days went by when I did not run and if I did miss a run, I would happily do 45 minutes of aerobic exercise at my apartment. I remember the thrill and the rush of endorphins. When I learned that the chiari surgery would put my running on hold, I became very depressed. What I should have done and of course hindsight being 20-20, I should have looked for exercises I was still able to do.

Now I am disgusted that I can't walk very fast and become tired before most people. I want to have that feeling back about exercising. My first challenge is to exercise everyday. Since I want it to be something I will do, I have chosen 15 minutes of walking on the treadmill. I want to do it everyday because it is easy to get in the habit of "well, I'm tired-I'll just do more tomorrow," but when tomorrow comes, the same thing gets said. I know 15 minutes daily for seven days is below the recommended 2 hours and thirty minutes by the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. I plan to work my way up from my starting position of 1 hour and 45 minutes.