At Genesis Health Club after Group Ride... It's what we do!

Last week, as I was leaving the gym, I heard some ladies in the locker room chatting up a storm.  I walked by them, smiled, and said G’morning!  They greeted me and then wanted to know what I had just got done doing.  I was wringing wet, and one said I looked like I had just gotten out of a pool.  I laughed and informed them I had just finished teaching Group Ride.  “Oh, that’s the bicycling class isn’t it?”  I affirmed their answer and then asked them both how come they didn’t come… I mean they were both already at the gym at 5 am, why not join the class?!  They both laughed and said that they have weight they are trying to get off and they are dedicated to the treadmill every morning.  I said, well changed it up and watch those pounds melt away with a change in routine!  They said they’d think about it, but no sign of them coming yet…

However, I thought about this more a more as the days have gone by.  Personally, when I train, I’m always changing my workouts.  I try new plyometrics, weights, distant running, intervals, strength training, Zumba, Kettlebell, ab exercises, and more.  I’m always changing my workouts and hoping that I wake up sore… That I’ll be able to feel a deeper muscle the lower I squatted or harder I crunched.  But, I also know, not everyone is like this. 

Truth is, some people treat the gym like a morning routine.  Get up, shower, comb hair, brush teeth, get dressed, eat breakfast… and so forth.  EFFORTLESS!  Your personal morning routine might differ a little, but point is, there is no thinking to it!  You could do it sleeping! 

So my challenge for you to reconsider… Is your workout routine effortless?  Could you do it in your sleep without any drop of sweat?  Is your day effortless?  Are you just going through the motions to ‘get through’ the day.  I know from experience, it’s in the challenges that my character has been challenged.  But that is also where I grew the most.  It was through the toughest workouts, where I found my potential.  Sometimes, it’s meeting failure to see what improvements need to be made.

Here’s a thought I’d like to leave you with: Life begins, where your comfort zone ends.

No matter what you’re doing, are you challenging yourself?  Are you growing?  Are you moving forward?  If you’re not, take a step back and evaluate why?  What can you do differently?  Do you need to take a chance on walking out of your comfort zone… It might be the best move you’ve ever made?

As always, BeBlessed

A

2 Steps Ahead...

Since I was young, I’ve wanted to be at the next level.  My mother says when I was crawling, I wanted to be walking.  When I was walking, I wanted to be running.  And I haven’t changed!  No matter what I’m doing, I want to be at the top and doing it ‘THE BEST’.  I fault at, “If I can’t be the best, I don’t want to do it at all”.  And this explains why I find myself so frustrated with myself in everything I do.  From school, to work, to training, to eating->I want to be the best.  I have that drive in me, but it gets me into trouble. 

I had a recent conversation with a friend about my diet.  He wanted to know details of my training.  I tried to brush him off, but he wasn’t having it.  He wanted DETAILS of how often I was eating, what I was eating, and how many calories burned each day.  I gave him a rough estimated answer that I knew he wanted to hear… But it was as if he heard the truth instead of the lie.

I unleashed my honesty: My diet has been sucky!  I had set up a 90 day period where I wanted to focus on balancing and growing in my training, eating, spiritual, and emotional wellbeing.  I wanted to become stronger in all four, and find a balance.  However, I fault at doing one better than the other.  And that is ‘over-training’.  I still get caught up on the number the scale reads.  I get hung up on this bulge.  And completely depict my body in the first 30second of waking up!  When I was really honest with myself and my friend, I’m consuming less than 900 calories, while burning around 3000 by completing 2-3 workouts in a 24hr period. 

*Humm, no wonder I was cranky, tired, and irritable?!  I would NEVER recommend anyone to do this to their own body, so why am I doing it to my own?!

ANSWER: I have put such a huge weight loss emphasis on myself!  I have taken my eyes off of being fit and more on looking like this person ‘I’ THINK ‘I’ should LOOK like.  I have driven myself into the ground trying to fulfill this imaginary and unrealistic body.  AND ONLY ‘I’ have placed that pressure on MYSELF!  I’ve forgotten how far I’ve come on my journey of being fit NOT skinny.  I’ve placed so much emphasis on where I WANT to be and I’ve lost track of taking care of myself.

So this week, I’m sticking to my diet.  There are no short cuts.  What you put in your mouth (as well as what you don’t put in), will be the results you get.  The work you put in the gym, will be the results you receive.  I’m disciplined enough to put the gym time in, I need to be disciplined enough to eat.  No more making excuses of why I shouldn’t eat, but planning out my meals to set myself up for success.  I mean, my blog is called Success In Various Forms ;)

Lesson learned:
Pursue renewal in your relationship with God and in your personal relationships.  Relationships grown only when you spend time cultivating them.  Our vertical relationship with God affects our horizontal relationships with our friends, family, coworkers, and peers.  Start with the vertical relationship and everything else will fall into place… Veneer by Timothy Willard and Jason Locy.



Four Years ago!







Four Years ago!