I’m walking more than ever, almost daily, now that we are in quarantine. Normally I would go to the gym a few days each week for a harder cardio workout, but right now, I'm just grateful to be able to get outside and move.

 

I always set a timer to see how long it takes me for the same three laps around my neighborhood. I’ve noticed when I am walking while dictating a daily meditation on my phone (wink wink), I start to go slower. If I’m returning an email or a text, that also makes me go slower.

 

Today I allowed zero distractions and the first lap took me about eight minutes. My average time is ten minutes, but if there are a lot of distractions, it might even take twelve minutes. Hang with me, I’m going somewhere!

 

By placing attention on my goal of walking fast without any distractions, while still noticing the sounds and sights of nature and people, I kept up my quick pace. There was one incident where I had to do something on my phone, however, and that lap hurt my overall average. That got me to thinking. 

 

If I can shave two minutes off each lap by eliminating all distractions, I’m going to finish six minutes earlier than average, and twelve minutes faster than if I am distracted on my phone the whole time. Although in the first lap today I was two minutes ahead of average, I finished all three laps only two minutes ahead of average because of that one slow lap.

 

All of this may not sound like a big deal, but I’m walking every day. If I was to track my total walking time in a week, I would really start to see the difference in my cumulative effort between walking fast, average or slow. And of course that got me thinking even more.

 

We can have compounded effort or compounded neglect. Neither happens overnight. Nothing much happens when I complete a walk in record time or when I go slower than average on one walk. Nothing really happens when I indulge in a handful of chips between meals or an extra large serving of something scrumptious and yummy. 

 

But… when I multiply repeated actions over time, everything starts to add up. That can be a good thing or a not so good thing. (I'm using food and exercise as examples but this can apply to watching TV, staying up late, working toward a hobby or professional goal, etc.)

 

I’ve seen lots of memes depicting the weight gain that is likely to happen to many of us during this quarantine season. I think I’ve gained a few pounds even though I thought I was mostly sticking to my usual habits. I don’t own a scale to confirm, but one thing is certain: PJs lie and jeans tell the truth! If you haven’t had on pants that button and zip in a few weeks, it might be time for a reality check! (insert laugh-cry face here, ha ha!)

We could buy the excuse and justify a lack of exercise and/or emotional eating due to boredom, fear, worry and uncertainty. “Everyone else” is doing it (we think), so sure, we wouldn’t be alone in that. If we don’t really mind the extra pounds, no problem.

 
If that’s not what we want, then maybe it’s time to wake up and realize that we don’t have to allow that to happen to us. But we also need to acknowledge that if we’re choosing a little extra food every day, it’s already happening. Pretending not to notice doesn’t change that. Ouch! I know! That’s a whole ‘nother talk about being dishonest with ourselves by ignoring reality. We’ll have to explore that another day.

 

Quick side note: emotional eating can be a bad habit or a life-threatening illness. I've dealt with both and don't mean to minimize either one. I'll share today in our Facebook FTG readers group what I do now when I am tempted to satisfy boredom, anxiousness, overwhelm etc with food. But if you're dealing with a more serious issue, I encourage you to seek help. Check out an organization I speak for here.

 

This quarantine time could be the time to get really healthy. By staying at home more, we could choose to not buy junk food, not go through drive-thru‘s and instead, eat better. We could choose to go on walks and play outside with our kids and animals. We could emerge from this crisis stronger physically, emotionally and mentally.

 

The thing about compounded effort or compounded neglect is it’s going to happen one way or another. It’s happening right now. The only difference is what we are choosing on a daily basis—effort or neglect—because that’s what’s going to be multiplying in our lives.

If the first few weeks of self-isolation have taken you in a direction you didn’t intend, it’s never too late to start making better choices. Great things can happen when we name and then honor our intentions, and make powerful daily choices which add up over time.

 

For today, I hope we can get honest with ourselves about what we really want and whether or not our intentions and actions are lining up. Remember that small, consistent choices lead to big change. Goals that are tracked are also more likely to be achieved. Have a great day and happy choosing!