Kickin' Your Own Butt....It Does a Body Good

One of the nice things about taking a group exercise class or having a personal trainer is that you have someone there to push you.  So even if you don't want to go any longer or any harder, you do.  On the flip side, working out alone can make it a lot easier to slack off.  Nobody will know if you cut your workout short, do less reps, or choose a lighter weight because it is easier.   

When you find yourself working out alone and leaning toward slacking off, you have a choice.  Your inner voice can take on one of two roles.  Sure, it can tell you it's OK to take it a little easier, to slow down, to stop early.  Or....it can become the voice of that trainer or workout buddy that says, "Keep going!  Work harder!  It is so worth it!"   

I've had this experience a couple of times in the last week.  Last Sunday I was in the middle of a leg workout that really started to kick my ass.  I found myself questioning whether or not I really wanted to finish.  I did - and it felt great.  I have had this happen to me in the past and chosen then easier route, and I can tell you that making the choice to finish with as much intensity as possible will always feel better.  Even if you're the only person who know what you just accomplished, it doesn't matter.  

There are a few things you can do to set yourself up for success before you even start to workout.  I am a huge fan of planning my workouts in advance.  This does a couple of things.  First, you are making yourself accountable to yourself right from the jump.  You know you have a workout scheduled, so get to it!  Second, it is a lot easier to get a tough workout in if you have a plan from the start.  If you wanna work your legs, you can wander into the gym and go from here to there and make it up as you go.  OR....you can have a workout already written down. Then you know exactly what you need to do.  That also makes it a lot harder to quit before you're done.  When I had this happen to me last week, if I had nothing written down, I could have just "ended" my workout whenever I wanted.  But I had a workout on paper, and I looked at the page and how it was half finished, and there was no way I was gonna just stop before I was done. 

When it comes to achieving your fitness goals, a personal trainer can be a great tool...don't get me wrong!  But another huge factor in your success is finding that inner drive that craves a butt kicking workout and thrives on the feeling of accomplishment when you're finished.  The best trainer in the world cannot do that for you, and they cannot be at every workout you do.  You gotta find it for yourself.    And when you do, it is an awesome feeling.

Sarah :) 

Practice....

So last night I ran unexpectedly into a buffet.  I had already eaten dinner (several hours before), and I stopped at a friend's house for a drink.  I had been invited the week prior, but I forgot they were also hosting a birthday party for a friend of their daughter.  So I walked in and found myself face to face with a long table of food.  My first fleeting feeling was panic - I wasn't prepared for this! But then I took a breath and asked myself if I was hungry.  It had been a few hours since I had eaten, but I could honestly say I wasn't hungry.  So I didn't eat anything.  This is completely unprecedented.  And I even sat a table right next to the food.  And I have to say it felt really good.   Then they cut the birthday cake, and I thought briefly about whether or not I really, really, really, really wanted any.  I didn't.  So I didn't have any.  This might seem like no big deal to a person who know how to eat instinctively, but for me this was a major accomplishment.

Eating instinctively is something we are born knowing how to do.  A baby cries when she is hungry and will refuse to eat anymore when she is not.  A child will leave food on her plate when she is satisfied rather than stuff it down because it is there or she is feeling some other emotion.  Somewhere along the way we learn different habits.  Feeling bad?  Have some ice cream.  Celebrating?  Have some ice cream.  Over time, eating becomes so much more than a way to nourish our bodies.  And re-learning how to eat instinctively is no small task after years of eating for other reasons.  It takes a lot of practice and there are stumbling blocks and setbacks along the way.


This was really put to the test for me about a week or so ago. I weighed myself and had gained weight.  As I got upset about it, I could feel myself wanting to eat.  Something.  Anything.  Everything.  And even as I thought about this, I knew that "tomorrow" I would start a new diet.  I wanted to binge to feel better temporarily and then restrict just "for a little while" until I lost the weight I wanted.  Of course, neither of those things work.  Eating when you feel bad is such a short term solution that I generally already feel worse before I am even done eating.  Which, of course, leads me to just keep eating.  And restricting and trying to follow a strict diet just leads to trying to eventual "failure" and more bad feelings, and more binge eating.  But for me, and a lot of women, that has always been the status quo.  If you really stop to think about it, it is very sad that we treat ourselves this way.  But when this happened to me after I weighed myself, and I could feel myself wanting to react in the same way I always have, I stopped.  I thought about the workshops I've been taking long enough the disrupt the cycle just a little bit.  Since I'm still in the early stages of re-learning instinctive eating, it takes quite a lot of concious effort.  I wasn't entirely sure what to do, so I texted a friend that is in the workshop with me and really "gets" it.  It was enough to get me back on track and make choices I knew I would be happy about after the bad feelings had passed.  In the end, I didn't binge or start restricting the next morning.  And not only did I feel really proud of that choice right there in the moment, but it was another instance of really practicing the art of instinctive eating.  Which means that when I was faced with a buffet table last night, the choice not to binge because it was there and I was on sensory overload as just that much easier.

It takes time, and it takes practice.  Some days I still feel like it is just too much effort and I'd really just rather eat a bag of doritos.  But I really do believe that if I keep practicing, it will become easier.

Remember.....practice makes perfect better.

Sarah :)

Balancing Act

I am really struggling with getting out of bed to workout in the morning.  I do really love an early morning workout.  It took a long time for me to appreciate getting up by 5:00 am and getting my workout done.  For awhile, I was on top of it.  Everyday during the week I had my workout in before going to work.  It really does set you up for a good day.  I feel energized, focused, and I don't have to try and find time for exercise after work, when regular life tends to take priority. Then I had some changes in my life...divorce, moving, new love, new family....and working out took a backseat all together for awhile.  I'm back to it now, and I feel good. But I am struggling to get back my morning routine.

I realized this morning why the snooze is so attractive.  My husband goes to work a lot earlier than I do, so I have the house to myself and nobody cares if the snooze is going off every 9 minutes for an hour and half.  And when I climb back into that comfy, cozy bed, all I can think is, "This is so amazing....only 9 more minutes!"  And pretty soon it has been an hour.  That's never been the case before.  There was someone else trying to sleep past 5:00 who would get very grumpy if I let the snooze go past 2 times.  So I got up.  I need to figure out how to motivate myself to turn off the alarm and "just do it", as they say over at Nike.

I think part of it might be my workout schedule.  I need to reassess what I'm trying to do.  I am training for a half marathon, but I don't want to give up strength training either.  I may have put a little too much on my plate, and the thought of getting in my running AND my lifting might be a little too much.  And by Thursday, my legs are feeling a little burned out, so I think, "Oh, I better rest them this morning."  And although listening to your body and giving it rest when it needs it is a good thing, I know that mentally I'm using it as an excuse not to get out of that comfy bed.  Maybe I should I just get a crummy mattress???

So sometimes we need to be honest with ourselves and sort out the physical needs of our bodies and the mental excuses we use to be a little lazy.  Part of that for me is being honest with what I should expect out of my training schedule and backing off if I need to, and the other part is realizing that I can do more than that little voice in my head says, and stepping it up when I need to.  It really is all about balance.  And if you think about what that word really means, that can be a tricky thing.

Happy Thursday
Sarah :)

And that is called growth...

So yesterday was a rough day emotionally.  In the past, when something like that would happen,  my mind would instantly fixate on food.  It became an obsession that I could not put out of my mind until I found something to stuff my face with. Several years ago, when I found out a co-worker got a transfer I desperately wanted, I walked right out of my office to the store across the street and bought a jelly roll.  I then proceeded to eat the whole thing.  Of course, I felt worse afterwards because not only did I still feel like crap about not getting the transfer, but I also felt physically and emotionally like crap because of the jelly roll.

At some point in this journey a part of me did realize that I was just temporarily shoving my emotions back down while shoving food (usually sweets) down my throat.  But even then, when I "knew" exactly what I was doing, when the time came and the obsessive thoughts took over, I didn't care.  In a calm moment, I could tell you that in a crisis, I will obsess about food.  I could make a plan about how to handle it.  I could tell you exactly how crappy I would feel after.  But when the time came, and something bad actually happened, it didn't matter.  In fact, I can remember stopping ever so briefly to reflect on all my plans and to check in for just a moment and know exactly what I was doing.  But in the end, the obsession always took over and I would dig in anyway.

So yesterday, when I was indeed having a bad day, my mind still went to the food.  It is like a flash in my brain.  I am sitting there, crying and upset, and all of a sudden some type of sweet food flashes into my line of vision.  I think it has been a way for me to cope with bad feelings.  But yesterday I did something different.  I ignored it.  Instead of just briefly recognizing it and throwing my rational thoughts out the window, I focused on them.  I stopped long enough to say,"You only want to eat that because you are having a hard time right now.  You think it will make you feel better, but it won't.  You will actually feel worse in the long run."  And then I did something really different...I delayed going for the treats.  I deliberately focused my mind on something else.  And wouldn't you know...it worked.

This has been an extremely long process to get here.  And I'm not saying that there may not be times in the future that I will just say screw it and eat the cookies.  But it gives me hope.  It can be done.  And in the end, I still felt bad about some of the things that were happening in life, but I didn't compound the problem with a sugar binge and guilt.  And I am hopeful that with practice, it will get easier.   There have been times along the way that I never thought I would get even this far.  So with this small victory under my belt, I will march forward filled with the confidence to know I CAN do this.

Happy Friday
Sarah :)