Well after falling off the blog radar for a couple days i'm back...and with a lot on my mind. In order to keep this from becoming a novel of a blog entry I'll sum it all up the best I can...bare with me...
- Social Calendar Conflicts - I do not mean this in the usual way. I mean social events conflicting with your healthy habits and choices. This weekend was the first time I literally had nearly no time (without having to get up a 6am) to exercise. The last real workout I had was on Thursday night...and even that one sucked because it was 9:30pm...not optimal. I still made an effort to pick up the weights in my living room and do a few reps here and there...do a few ab crunches...but no REAL workout. No sweat. For me...if there is no sweat involved...its just not worth counting. But that's just me. Don't use that as a rule, I'm learning we all make our own. Sooo...anyway...I am not a drinker...a glass of wine here or there...maybe a mixed drink if i'm feeling cheeky...but this weekend was a wedding, a band night at our favorite bar and a full day of tailgaing for the Uproar Festival in Mass. It involved drinks, shots, and whole host of foods that although for the most part avoided still had to succumb to when pickings got slim. The result of all of the above "social calendar conflicts" - i felt and looked bloated, my energy level was bottomed out at lethargic, and i looked less like the self i've become accustomed to seeing in the mirror...YES...just from a few days of changing things, albeit temporarily, I feel the impact. HARD. And it sucks. The upside? I started my couch to 5k program today. I went out for a healthy spinach and feta omlette and fresh fruit cup and then proceeded to suit up and start my running regimine. I'm using the C25k-FREE app on my iphone and it is perfect. I was sweating out the toxins this morning, feeling energized and empowered by the choice to get myself right back on track. And the best part? I MISSED it. I missed not being able to take the "me" time I needed to keep myself feeling and looking healthy. Did I have a blast this weekend? Hell yes. Do I think next time around I'll monitor my beverage choices and maybe make myself get up at 6:30am to fit in a 30 minutes work out? Hell yes.
- RUN!!! - So as I said, I started the C25K program (in addition to my Perkins workouts). And there I am, running around and around my block, alternating as instructed by my iphone app between a run and a walk. And while i'm doing this i'm literally telling myself "you can do this, you can do this" even though it would have been so easy to stop. But i kept pushing through. I kept thinking about my mom, and how proud she would be. I thought about myself, and how important this is to me. And I kept chanting to myself "i can do this, i CAN do this". As I'm chanting, and feeling like I was the most out of shape lard of a being because I found it all so challenging, I noticed I kept passing/lapping these two women walking. On my second time around they got my attention, I took out my earbuds and was greeted with this.."are you taking a short cut?" I laughed and said "no". "well you keep passing us and we aren't even half way around the block!". I said "trust me, i'm very new to this, its killing me!". They laughed and watched me, almost with a look of wonder as I started to alternate my speed walk into a run. And suddenly I felt like a HUGE success. I was that person. I was THAT person I used to see running/jogging out in the open air and thinking "i wish i could do that". And suddenly these two women, like a gift that i needed, made me realize that to them I was one of THOSE people pushing themselves, running, sweating, lapping them. And then I thought, God, I would love to tell them this isn't an exclusive club. That just the fact they took a walk up and down one side of the block, they were already on their way. That they should feel proud. Because success is relative...i know people out there can run 20 miles...but that's not my goal. My goal is 1 mile. My goal is to know I can do it and I believe I will. I believe I can. There are no limits, only the ones you impose on yourself.
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