Ahhhh. The Weekend. And, Assessment.
Saturday, July 2, 2011 at 10:08AM
The #1 question or comment that I get has to do with motivation or discipline. People wonder how I stay motivated or (thank you) say that I motivate them to workout and get going. I try to - especially now- share with you all MY struggles when they happen, because I want you to know we ALL have times when we screw up our "diet" or don't "feel like" working out. And the more we all realize that this is very common, it maybe will seem a little less daunting to continue this journey to improve our mind and our bodies.
I will tell you this, even the most fit people you know have bad days. They have emotional eating issues. They get tired and don't feel like working out. You don't think so? Think again. Especially the past several months, I have met more people that I really admire- UBER fit peeps - and they've shared some of the SAME frustrations that I do. I'd be listening to them going "WHAT?? YOU? YOU EAT WHEN YOU ARE STRESSED? I THOUGHT YOU WERE INVINCIBLE!!".
Give yourself more credit than you do. You ARE stronger than you think. The Uber-Fit peeps I am referring to- they've just figured out how to deal with their off days better than the rest of us. It's NOT about how often you fall down- it's all about GETTING BACK UP AND STARTING AGAIN. Period.
A huge part of what has impeded MY progress the past two years has been a lot of NOT getting back up and starting again- soon enough. I'd get upset or frustrated and get SO BENT OUT OF SHAPE and emotional. Then I'd have this attitude of THAT'S IT! SCREW IT! I'M NEVER GONNA DO THIS!! And I'd take OFF my workout clothes, and sit on the couch and watch a movie and feel sorry for myself. Then the next day it was a whole lot easier to think, "Well, I'm just gonna chill out this weekend, I NEED the down time. I'll start fresh on Monday and REALLY KICK BUTT".....so again, it was that feeling sorry for myself, taking MORE time off but then mentally telling myself that I was "being bad" and needing to be "punished" by HARDER, LONGER WORKOUTS and A MUCH MORE STRICT DIET.
Fitness should NOT be a prison. No one wants to go to prison. Fitness should be a gift that we "GET TO DO" every day. Not a punishment. ENOUGH OF THAT MINDSET!
Not many of us would look at this breakfast and say, "EWW!!" Right? But-- it's all about mindset. If we put ourselves in a box and say, "Kelly ALL YOU CAN EAT for breakfast is egg whites or oatmeal. And every meal must be fish and green veggies or salads no dressing."<---#Fail. Maybe some of you can excel with this and I respect that. For a good many of us, that kind of restrictive thinking automatically encourages us to think about ALL WE ARE MISSING. We obsess about fruit because "we can't have it". We obsess about Ding Dongs because it's sugar and we can't have it. We obsess about margaritas because they are 400 calories and we can't have it.
Change your mindset.
I've made SERIOUS SERIOUS progress in my relationship with food the past several months. I really NEEDED to do this. This psycho dieting mentality was destroying me on the inside over the past couple of years. I was becoming a completely irrational person-- AND of course NOT making any progress. Just treading water in my fitness journey. Now that I've "made peace" with food, my stress levels have gone WAY DOWN and a tremendous amount of fear and anxiety is gone.
I happened to just watch Zuzana's vlog this morning and in it, she talks about how important the "diet" is in reaching our fitness goals. And SHE says that she is usually at an 85% success rate! HELLO? She is one of the most buff babes on the planet and SHE has struggles! It's just about staying FOCUSED and finding a way- that works for YOU- to get yourself dusted off and back in the saddle!
Last night I had the pleasure of meeting Angie Miller at the Zaarly Party we had at Amy's House. Wow. You all have seen the posts and vlogs I've shared about Angie's amazing Kettlebell DVD- Kettlebell Bootcamp. This was really my first Kettlebell DVD and a GREAT workout that I always go back to time and again.
Angie has some new DVD's out now at AngieMillerFitness.com and she's going to be a part of our growing FitFluential Family too! This is another thing I love about what we are building at FitFluential- the opportunity to expose greatly talented individuals like Angie to a larger audience. We are all hungry for great new workouts to add variety to our weeks and wow- stay tuned.
What a small world that Angie lives in my hood!! And yes she is that buff in person. #jealousbutnotangryjustmotivated
Here is my vlog that I shot yesterday. I was really upset because I started my Kettlebell workout and in between moves, I popped out that area BEHIND my knee, below my hamstring-- like I did in Galena on my power walks. UGH! I knew it was a bad idea to keep working out and potentially make it worse but that got me SO ticked!! These are the types of days that in the past would get me so upset and I'd fall into a bad mindset "Oh I've screwed up THIS week with my # of workouts! Another #fail! Might as well go read 5 more books and find out new ways to punish myself with a more strict diet NEXT WEEK". Wrong. I got over it. I went to Amy's party (sadly that tummy ache I mention in the vlog below ONLY GOT WORSE LIKE A DAMN DRAGON IN MY STOMACH...I was sitting on the couch with Angie chatting and thought I was going to give birth to an alien life form....I'm not exaggerating. My tummy was not normal feeling again until this morning. Ugh.) and took it easy. This morning it is still hurting a bit so I'll need to feel it out--
QUESTION OF THE DAY: Has anyone else ever injured or "popped" this area of the leg? It's really frustrating- should I ice it??
Now- peace be to all of you. What are your plans this holiday weekend? I'm actually very excited that I have three days of NO PLANS. Amen. I am looking forward to some peace and quiet.
