This post appears as part of our Healthier 2021 series, following three WebMD team members as they strive to improve their health this year. You can follow their travels here.
By Mark Spoor
My fitness journey has taken on a different tone in the past few days. I was a little more emotional than normal.
Earlier in the week I tried a bike class with another instructor to shake things up a little. She is one that Dr. Bruni, the WebMD doctor who advised me on this trip recommended it. Her name is Christine D’Ercole.
Do not worry. This is not a peloton ad. Stay with me.
I was sweating as always from the drive and the Alicia Keys song “Good Job” came up. Christine talked about how she picked this song because it reminded her of a recent time when someone gave her a pickup truck just as she needed it. Then it started to tear in the middle of the drive.
I did that too. And when I was pedaling with two types of water, I wondered why.
If you’ve read my other blogs – or if you know me – you know that my standard position is to look for the joke, especially in situations that are outside of my comfort zone. If I find the joke, it’s usually at my expense.
I’ve joked so much during this blog series that people have told me my fitness journey seems to have been easy for me.
Trust me my friends. It has not.
I got on the scales recently and found my weight right where it was last time I was a week or so ago. Granted, other numbers say I am building muscle and still feeling very good physically. Even so, it’s daunting to do all the work and not see how she was hoping. Worse still, in my often overactive brain, I immediately moved on to where I could have failed.
What did I eat that I shouldn’t have?
Where did I slack off in my training?
The truth is that for every minute of joy and achievement on this journey for me there is probably 10 or 20 seconds of worry and doubt.
I do enough
I’ve lost enough weight
What if I get off track?
Does it even make a difference?
That brings me to the reaction I had on the bike. It was about the next sentence in which the instructor said, “If you’re on this drive, you’re doing a good job too.”
I had to hear that (as my reaction shows).
Sure, it’s hard. Almost anything that’s worth it is. Could i do better Probably. But I’m on my way. The goals are still within reach, and no matter what’s on the scale, my body tells me I will win.
Most of all, I have support from so many places that I cannot fail.
And whether you know it or not, so do you.
Mark Spoor is Senior Health Editor at WebMD. He has spent more than two decades in sports media, working with groups such as the NCAA, NASCAR, and the PGA TOUR. Most weekends, you can find him and his wife Chris cheering on their daughter’s softball team.
While Mark has spent a lot of time with athletes, he’s not, so fitness has always been a challenge. He hopes this endeavor will help him get one step closer to victory in this battle.
You can follow Mark on Twitter @markspoor.
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