Motivated to Work Out By…Donuts?
Will run for donuts. Credit: D Sharon Pruitt
Inspiration comes in all forms. Case in point, this post from new mom Dara Pierre-Louis, who finds that donuts, yes, donuts, help her to be healthier. A hilarious and honest post that’s a must-read…
Donuts Help Me Lose Weight
No, this is not a crazy fad diet. I have always been a person in need of “tangible” motivators; the sheer “joy of doing” has never been enough for me. I need some sort of reward that I can, well, sink my teeth into.
Sweets have not always been my friend. In college I did a work abroad in Germany and gained 30 pounds in three months, consuming eight to 10 chocolate bars a day (no lie). But unlike Germany, the move to Los Angeles has been very kind. I was soon at my fittest, healthiest and subsequently happiest stage of my fitness life until I embarked on that wondrous journey called motherhood. My beautiful son cost me a whopping 80 pounds. My pregnancy was unplanned and unexpected; I was newly married, working an anxiety ridden, overtime desk job, and I attribute the excessive weight gain to stress and, to be honest, disappointment in my pregnant state.
Once my child was born, I was over the moon but also overweight. So I reinstituted the “donut diet.” When I first moved to Los Angeles, where mom-and-pop donut shops exist on every corner, I feared donuts would become my new German chocolate bar. But with simple discipline, I made the donut my friend and not my enemy. I created the simple rule for myself that I could have a donut on Sundays IF and only IF I met my fitness goals for the week. There was a time in my life where my fitness goals were very extensive and included a highlighted gym schedule of selected spinning, Pilates and yoga classes. But now, with my little son in tow, those goals are much more streamlined—running three times a week for 20 to 30 minutes. Even though the goals are simple, the donut reward is just as sweet.