Don't Stop Me Now

I’ve been reading a book called “The Chimp Paradox”, the basic premise is that we all have a rational brain and a monkey brain that basically tries to screw us over. 

It’s the chimp bit of the brain that leads us astray, and makes us do stuff that isn’t necessarily in our best interest! Your chimp convinces you that going to the pub on a school night will not result in a hangover…. A second helping of pudding won’t result in a food baby cramp and texting your ex on a drunken Saturday night will DEFINITELY result in you getting back together!

  In recent months, my chimp has had so much control over me, that I think it’s been intravenously feeding me PG Tips!

  However, 23 days after I started my 21-day plan and I think Maxwell Maltz really did know what he was talking about! For most of that period, I’ve really focused on putting myself first, making sure I eat healthily because I’ve made sure I have time to prep my food, reading books, sorting out my garden and sorting out boxes that were still packed nearly 3 years after I moved into my house!  It’s all felt good and made for a lot happier me.

  This week, I decided it was time to up the ante and really factor in time for the gym. My mind is a lot healthier, so it was time for my body to catch up. So we are 2 days into this, and according to Maxwell Maltz, another 19 days and I’ll have nailed it!

  I decided if I was going to silence my chimp, then I needed to push myself out of my comfort zone, so I decided I should give the “couch to 5K” challenge a go. To put this into context, I don’t run, I’ve never run! At school I was told I was rubbish at sports and my P.E teacher made quips about the fact I should invest in a copy of “Rosemary Connelly’s Hips and Thigh diet” so I stopped engaging in the lessons and convincing my music teacher that I should have my flute lessons then, so I didn’t miss anything important. Then when I broke my ankle, there was a mental block that stopped me wanting to run, because I didn’t want to be in that sort of pain again. Then the excuse was my weight, fat girls can’t run……

  So yesterday morning, armed with my iPod, a bottle of water and a fairly decent sports bra, I stepped onto the treadmill. My plan was to warm up for 10 minutes, then run for 30 seconds, walk for 3 minutes, run for another 30 seconds….. walk for 3 minutes…. Run for another 30 seconds and then cool down on the exercise bike.

  As my iPod sang to me and I could see the timer approaching 10 minutes, my chimp started to take over. 

  My chimp brain was reasoning with rational brain, that today was an easing myself back into coming the gym session and tomorrow…well tomorrow I would start! Then my rational brain decided to broker a deal with the chimp, whatever song came on next would dictate what decision I made (OK maybe it’s not that rational) There are over 5,0000 songs on my iPod, so it could have been anything from Bing Crosby to Drake. Maybe deep down, I knew the odds were in my chimp’s favour!

  However, then I heard the words “Tonight I'm gonna have myself a real good time, I feel alive and the world it's turning inside out Yeah!” It made me immediately speed up the treadmill. “Don’t Stop Me Now”, was my best friend Matt’s favourite ever song, it didn’t seem to matter where we were if he heard it, he’d be flinging himself round the dancefloor and lose himself in the dulcet tones of Freddie Mercury. Matt was someone who had lived life to the full.

  So I ran! I stuck to my plan, because against the odds my rational brain had overcome my chimp brain and as I ran, I smiled, I felt like a goddess and I was really bloody proud of myself! I went back to the gym this morning and I did exactly the same thing and do you know what, I’ll do it all again tomorrow!