Andrea's Story: "Running to My Best Self"

Like everyone, I’ve had my ebbs and flows with my exercise habits. And I won’t sit here and tell you I absolutely look forward to it every day now, but I’ve made it to a point where I do it anyway. Want to know how I got here? Knowledge. Sure, I know it’s good if you do, and bad if you don’t, but I’ve learned, over time, just how good it is for me, and bad for me if I don’t. I’ve met exercising me and she’s a brilliant, delightful, easy-going rock star. I’ve also met non-exercising me and she’s, well, more of a back up dancer, wishing the song was over so she could go home already. I’ve learned I need exercise. And I’ve learned how to get myself to do it consistently.

Not that there isn’t an inner debate every time it’s time to go; the shoulder angel rooting for exercise against the little devil arguing for everything else I ‘need’ to do. And every one of them seems easier than a workout. But here’s where my knowledge tips the scale. It’s not only the knowledge of all the diseases I’m dodging and how essential it is for my brain and mood. It’s knowledge from experience (aka wisdom) that exercise better equips me to tackle all those other things, and knowledge from experience (wisdom again) that it’s actually not as hard as it seems it will be when I’m looking at my shoes waiting to be laced up. Here’s my trick: In that moment when it’s time to go and I’m thinking of all the ways to get out of it, I tell myself, “I’ll just walk, cut it short, take it easy this time”. The angel knows all she has to do is get me out the door.  

I’m not lying to myself. I really do go easy when I feel like it. But once I get started, I actually want to move. As I go, I work at a pace that is comfortable to my body, always giving myself permission to walk the hill if it starts to feel anything like torture.  My goal isn’t to push myself to the limit.  It’s to have an enjoyable experience in body and mind. Enjoy it so you’ll go again tomorrow, that’s my mantra. You’d think with that mind-set I’d do less every day and finally end up calling a walk to the refrigerator my workout.  But actually, knowing I’m in charge diffuses my rebellion and I run farther and do sprints because when I’m in the workout, I like it, and each day my body is more conditioned and my mind is empowered. 

Have you ever noticed your state of mind during exercise? Next time you are out there, try taking your focus off your body and bring it to how your mind feels. Do you feel more powerful, in control? Do you have a more positive outlook during and after the workout than you did before it? There is a scientific explanation for your mood swing.  

We still have much to learn about what goes on in the brain during as a result of exercise, but what we do know is compelling enough to launch us off the couch and never miss a workout again. We know physical exercise improves the body and wards off a host of bodily diseases.  But less understood is the fact that exercise actually physically changes the brain. Your brain is you. Your ideas, personality, mood is all sitting there between your ears.  If your brain isn’t in top working order, then neither are you. I’d always thought my brain was doing just fine up there in my thick skull. Reading, problem solving, Sudoku, that’s all it needed to keep sharp. Not so. In reality, without bodily movement the brain shrinks. Physically active people actually have bigger brains. Exercise builds the brain’s infrastructure by creating new neurons, and causing the connections between neurons to grow, not only bolstering memory, attention, and problem solving, but improving mood and countering stress. Exercise makes you smarter and happier. 

Running gives me a  general positive feeling, an optimistic mindset, a feeling of power, freedom and control. “Look at how amazing I am,” I think. “Look at what I’m accomplishing.” Whatever stresses I’m experiencing are dulled, my mind is clear and problem solving comes easier. I’ve had some of my best creative ‘aha’ moments in the middle of a 4 miler. The rest of the day is more productive. I’ve noticed I’m less reactive in my relationships. My husband and I had been working on finishing our basement for two years. We just couldn’t work together. He was just so unreasonable. We’d be down there arguing about bamboo flooring or carpet (obviously bamboo!) and I’d finally throw up my hands and storm upstairs. The project stalled. Then I started running every day and he changed. He was suddenly agreeable and the project is moving forward... strange. 

Exercise is a tune up for my brain, my personality, my me between the ears. It helps me to function at the higher end of my God given range of ability. I like exercising me. She’s who I think of in that moment of ‘to run or not to run’. It’s the knowledge that I can spend the day with her - my best self.

--Andrea Hunsaker is a Fitness Coach in Grand Rapids, Michigan