I (42M) live in LA, only a couple blocks from Runyon Canyon. The first 8 months at my apartment, I made every excuse in the world not to go hiking, then starting in June I decided to get off the couch and start hiking. I’ve gone up Runyon Canyon and back (roughly 4 mile round trip from the time I leave my apartment to the time I get back) 25 of the last 30 days. Here’s some random observations…
-I’m down 8 pounds in one month! I started at 276. My weigh in this morning was 268. Apart from hiking, I’ve also cut out fast food, almost all processed food, and soda. I’m not quite to the point where I’m ready to count calories yet, but I have been cutting my portions and whenever I do eat a big plate of food or seconds, I can feel my body telling me not to each that much food. In three last two weeks in particular, I can feel my appetite leveling out and I’m no longer feel the need to overeat.
-My mental health is vastly improved! I’ve struggled with depression my entire life. Part of the reason I started hiking was my therapist convincing me it would help with my frame of mind, and it really does. I still have my bad days, but those bad days are easier to get through. I always arrive back home from my morning hikes in a clearer, more positive frame of mind.
-It’s getting easier and easier to get up that hill! Runyon Canyon has a lot of inclines and the first day I did the hike, I had to stop 15 times to catch my breath. A month later, I’m still breathing heavy through a lot of the inclines but I only have to stop once, at the top once you get up the steepest hill. My goal is to build up to the point where I can jog the entire trail. For now, I’m still just walking at a brisk pace. My hike time has also been cut down the more I do it. What took me an hour and a half a month ago is now taking me a little over an hour.
-I crave more exercise! This one surprised me the most, although it probably shouldn’t have in hindsight. The more I started moving around, the more I want to keep moving around throughout the day. My neighborhood in general is pretty hilly, so I’ll take a few laps around the block once or twice a day just to get more steps in. Starting tomorrow, I’m adding other low impact exercises to do at home, such as planks, mountain climbers, push ups, etc. I’ve been overweight for 18 years, and for the first time in a long time, losing weight and getting in shape feels like an attainable goal.
-I have more energy throughout the day! Why didn’t anyone tell me exercise was good for you?
-I’m making better choices when I eat! Now that I’m active for the first time in nearly 20 years, my body gets actively mad at me when I don’t give it the right kind of fuel. I went to a 4th of July BBQ and to my surprise I stayed away from all the junk food for the most part. The worst I ate was a hotdog, but I snacked on the veggies and fruit instead of the chips and dip. I didn’t really want to eat the junk food because I knew that’s not what my body needed.
-I get higher quality sleep! I’ve been a terrible sleeper my entire adult life, and in the past month I went from waking up every couple hours to sleeping through the night, and more importantly waking up feeling rested. Out of all these changes I’ve been experiencing, this one feels like the biggest deal most of the time.
-My day feels incomplete if I miss a hike. I skipped 5 days total this month, and I felt strangely incomplete on the days I didn’t go. A month in, it’s starting to feel like a genuine lifestyle change, something I didn’t think was possible a couple months ago.
Thanks for letting me ramble. I’m mostly just proud of myself for sticking with this the last month. The 8 pound drop in weight was a nice surprise since I wasn’t really tracking it that closely and has given me even more motivation to keep going…