One thing I never, ever understood about other people was their sudden, pressing need to “stretch their legs” at some random interval, like, during the day. People I work with would randomly announce that they were going to go walk around aimlessly for a few minutes, and I would nod because yes that is something I’ve been told people do. In the movies. But whatever.
Off they would go, and I’d sit there thinking “you got up from your chair…to go walk around the block…in the middle of the day…for no reason…to end up where you started. That’s just insane.” The key point here is that I, myself, would never get up from my chair unless needs were pressing, such as a bathroom break or lunch. I’m a champion sitter, people have actually commented on how well I can remain in one place for hours.
This was my normal default, though, from the time I was a child. My version of going to play outside usually involved shade and a book. Nothing wrong with that, of course, I’m just saying I was not exactly an athletic child.
But.
I’ve been off sugar and starches for nearly six weeks, and my body has changed. I haven’t lost a lot of weight (I wish!) but my energy levels have become what I used to call “insane”.
Which leads me to the subject of this post: a stretch of the legs. I never needed to do it before. Getting and up and going for a walk was always a chore — oh, I did it. I’ve gone for long walks regularly for most of my life. But it has always been something I force myself to do.
Same with body building, which I practiced in my mid-20s. I loved the results, but oh boy I hated the work. I never got ripped enough to compete mostly because I was never interested, but I was in good shape despite my complete lack of energy. I’d talk to fellow weight lifters who just couldn’t wait to get to the gym and I’d think, “yeah, you’re putting on a show, whatever, we all know no one wants to be here.”
This is how I know I have fairly strong willpower: I did those things despite my natural inclination to imitate a sloth.
But to need to stretch my legs, to feel the urge to move around simply because I had been sitting too long? Completely foreign concept…UNTIL NOW!
Today, I just had to. I mean, by about 2:30pm it was a compulsion. I had done my usual “eat lunch at my desk” routine earlier and I expected to stay parked until time to leave, but instead I kind of felt bouncy and irritated. What the hell? I had no idea, but my whole being was primed to go for a walk, outside, in the sun, in a circle, to end up back where I started.
So I did.
I get it now. I get why people get up early to go for runs — not because of some sadistic need to prove that they can, or in hopes that it might give them energy (stupid idea, no, it doesn’t, not if you don’t have energy to start with). I get why someone does aerobics class after work. I get why sometimes you just have to get up and move.
What astounds me is that is something that’s been withheld from me my whole life, thanks to sugar addiction and carb overload. I’ve lived a half life, in so many ways.
To me, this is nothing less than amazing. I can’t get over it. I NEVER KNEW!
