Discipline

 

Sun Quarter Pass, Fifth Day of Childwinter, 525 M.E. (Electra): After a 2½-week break to obsessively watch college football, I resumed my walking exercise routine today. My iPhone logged 6.8 miles this afternoon, although it claimed the same route before the break was 7.7 miles. The planet is obviously contracting.

For those who don't know, early last year my doctor told me my glucose and A1C levels indicated pre-diabetes, and recommended diet and exercise, without specifics on what that actually meant. But I did a little online research and found the advise to be all over the map ("Try this one weird trick to lower your A1C"), so I improvised a low-sugar, low-carb diet and started walking every other day, initially about four miles or so but gradually increasing to six or more. Eventually, I started practicing zazen (sitting meditation) on the alternating days between my walks.

It worked. I lost over 50 pounds between April and November, and in my follow-up medical exam, my bloodwork was back in the "normal" range, well below the pre-diabetes level. My blood pressure even dropped significantly, from a hypertensive average of 140 over 84 to much healthier 110 over 70. 

But what's more, having a goal and the discipline of the routine enhanced the quality of my life. It takes me a couple hours to walk six miles (and it takes me an hour-and-a-half to sit 90 minutes in meditation), and some planning and dedication were required. Instead of aimlessly hanging around the house indulging in what ever pastime presented itself, I'd have to time my meals and watch the weather and daylight to get in my steps. It gave some structure and order to my days, and psychologically and spiritually, I responded well to the discipline. 

During the college bowl season, I felt that structure and order fall away and my days were filled with ennui, made especially worse when my teams kept consistently losing.  I missed the discipline of setting some time aside to walk or to sit, not to mention the activities themselves. Yet, even when the football schedule allowed times for me to get out and walk (or sit down and, well, sit), I found it hard to motivate myself and kept finding convenient excuses ("too cold," "might rain," or the need to do something else). 

I'm glad that I finally overcame my inertia (a body at rest tends to stay on the sofa) and got out today, and look forward to setting some new goals and instilling new discipline to carry me through 2025.