Should I be a Jack Russell?

This week brings me back to weight loss.

I've gone through talk radio phases, listening to both sides of the ideological spectrum. The conservative ones are the most fun to me because they try to teach morals along with the insane ranting. When I was going through one of those phases, I listened to Dr. Laura, Rush and smatterings of a lot of others when I was in this phase.

One of the things that Dr. Laura harped upon is the fact that you can't make a German Shepherd out of a schnauzer. Accept the person that you're with, accept that person objectively, and make your decisions based on what is true rather than what you want to be true. She talked about this within the context of relationships with others, but I am going to turn the thought inward.

I have a fifteen minute attention span on most everything. That is to say, I'll give an activity fifteen minutes before my mind truly starts to wander into the 'what are you going to do now?' phase. For most activities, I've come to accept it. I watch my mate play video games for fifteen minutes, can listen to a lecture for fifteen minutes, can write for that long... well, you get the picture. Of course, there are some activities that catch my attention for longer, but that's about the norm.

When I started to exercise, the general myth that I held was that longer is better. If I can do it for ten minutes, I can do it for 45. Why did I believe that I could stand walking in place and watching Law and Order for more than fifteen minutes at a time? At around the 20 minute mark, my calves hurt and by around 45, I've gone to sleep but at fifteen I am completely attentive on what I'm doing. At a trainer's suggestion, I worked in 15 minute increments - 15 minutes of walking, 15 minutes of weights, 15 minutes of walking again and then repeat as necessary. That way felt SO much more natural and easygoing than pushing it for 45 minutes straight and being exhausted. If I'd wanted to, I could have alternated between the two until I dropped.

I cannot wake up in the morning and expect to be a Jack Russell when I've been a beagle this entire time. Having a fifteen minute attention span isn't a bad thing, or even an out of the ordinary thing. The way to personal success, though, is to accept this and tailor my weight loss tactics to this knowledge.