Archive for the 'Living Fit Daily' Category

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01
Jun
12

Speed Bumps in The Road

By garagegym107 Leave a Comment
Categories: Living Fit Daily
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Thank goodness for auto insurance!  Needless to say, the boy has learned a whole lot about responsibility from his decision to not notify the police of the accident. 

Note to all of my friends and anyone that I don’t know who is reading this blog:  I assumed my child understood that no matter what, when there is an accident he must report it to the police.  Don’t make the assumption that your kids know this. 

Explain to them that no matter what, it matters when it comes down to who pays the bill for repairs.  I’ve raised my kids with the understanding that in every situation they have choices and no matter what choice they make, they must be prepared to handle the consequences   The boy is better for the experience although his summer will be spent paying off the deductible debt he owes me.

I have been sitting here thinking about the rather crazy week I’ve had.  I’ve managed to get all but one of my workouts in.  I do intend to make up that workout at some point this weekend.  I usually take both days as active rest days.  I’m going to have some pull-up skill work and 10 x 100m sprints.   That ought to work me over pretty good and then I intend to stand-up paddle board if the mound of laundry will allow for it. 

My eats have been pretty close to 90% clean which I’m ok with.   I’ve run the gamut of the eat bad, feel bad, eat bad cycle and then transitioned over to the perfectionist cycle of 100% clean 100% of the time and plenty more phases smashed between the two extremes. 

These phases I now see very clearly and understand how they came about.  It has only been since I realized the difference between 90% and 100% is minimal in terms of my results that I’ve become more comfortable.  Now my body, mind and soul are a lot happier when I selectively choose my 10% meals.  

I do believe that 80% clean eats is a good solid goal for everyone.  I’m personally not as comfortable with that being my choice.  I prefer to keep a slightly tighter reign because I am more comfortable with that structure. 

For those struggling to find balance out there, it’s doable.  Just be patient with yourself and don’t be afraid to fall down from time to time.  Just don’t stay down because no-one will come along and pick you up.  You have to do that for yourself. 

Have a great weekend!

 

 

30
May
12

Changing My Way of Thinking

By garagegym107 4 Comments
Categories: Living Fit Daily
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As I was working out with a trainer this morning I was discussing my loss of that loving feeling about CrossFit.  He asked me if I knew why it wasn’t fun anymore?  Very good question.  Ultimately I’m sure the whole “timed” workout stressors along with the job stressors will do that.   But what is truly the root cause?

As the morning has gone on I have pondered that question.  I began to wonder if I am putting too much mental weight on the fact that I have many weaknesses to overcome in order to compete.   I also questioned whether I will be willing to make the much-needed sacrifices.

Then I realized I’m just over thinking about things that are not even here yet.  Worrying about tomorrow.  That is such a waste of perfectly good today.

At that moment of realization I changed my way of thinking from a negative to a positive.    What does that mean exactly?   Instead of spending my time dwelling on whether I want to compete or whether I’m even good enough to compete, I need to be doing the workouts I need to do to prepare.

Getting lost in the noise of a major decision can literally paralyze us to the point of doing nothing. 

So I have put on my big girl panties and decided that I would make a list focusing on the things I can do as I move forward. 

I will note the big picture, but then narrow it back to what I can truly do in pursuit of the goal.  I’m already doing things to help.  But focused intent hasn’t been one of those things for over a month now.

I haven’t always been a list person but have found lately that the better my list, the more focused I can be.  Will that help me revive my love for CrossFit?  There is a great possibility.  I will move forward focused on today, rather than worrying about tomorrow.

27
May
12

Why I do What I do

By garagegym107 5 Comments
Categories: Living Fit Daily
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It is a hot one today!  You would think being on the lake for the long weekend would be full of fun and games. 

Today was tree removal day.   Since  starting CrossFit almost two years ago I have been the tree hauler.  Any time we need to take a tree down, the spousal unit does the cutting and I do the hauling up the steep lot to the street.

Today was a wonderful reminder of why I train.  Why I love CrossFit and why I became a trainer. 

If I can help one person become as functionally fit as I am
then I can’t really ask for more.  Today I never doubted for a moment the purpose of the farmers walk or the waiter’s carry and the 400m of walking lunges.  Going up and down the steep slope reminded me that agility and balance are taken for granted until you do a WOD like I did today.

I challenge ALL of my friends to put your CrossFit training to task and do something major, something around your home to improve it.  If you’ve been training like I have you are ready, no doubt. 

If you aren’t doing CrossFit in a box, I recommend going through a fundamentals course just to see if you like it.  If you don’t have access to a box then I highly recommend that you take a look at Cultfit.com and check out some of their workouts that can be done just about anywhere.

Get yourself started on a path to fit.  Take it one day, one workout, and one clean meal at a time. 

There is no going back for me.  I live with intention, with purpose even if at times the purpose may be a little clouded, I still focus on living today being a better person than yesterday.

25
May
12

One of Those Moments

By garagegym107 4 Comments
Categories: Living Fit Daily
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Rewind to yesterday.  I was driving home from the gym after my workout and noticed a large gentlemen slowly making his way down the walking path next to the road.  He wasn’t walking, he was doing his best to jog.   He’s heavy, really heavy. 

That little voice that gets me in trouble some times started whispering “pull over, pull over and tell him don’t quit!” but the rational side said “that man will think you’ve lost your mind” so I kept going.  But I never stopped thinking about that guy.  All day yesterday I thought about his red and black clothing and I remembered my first year in the gym.  I wanted to cheer for him.  I wanted to be his biggest fan yesterday.

This morning I was working out and I turned around and thought “OMG!!  That is the dude that was running down the street!!”.  He was there in the gym in the flesh.

I waited for him to finish his time on the elliptical and went over to him and asked if he was the guy going down the road and he said yes.   

I know he thought I was pretty close to crazy because my eyes filled up with tears and I just looked at him and told him a little bit of my story and I said “just don’t quit, no matter who or what interferes with what you are doing here today or any other day, just don’t give up because if I can do it, you can”. 

I left him to his workout and went on to finish mine.  He’s probably never going to set foot in that gym in the early morning again thinking that crazy woman might be there.  But I don’t think he’ll ever forget that. 

You know I think back on the people who have encouraged me and it humbles me every time I do.  People I have met either in the gym or online.  Many of the online friendships developed in to real life friendships.  Support groups, friends, mentors all in it to help one another along.  One of my friends said to me “Each one, Reach one”.  I know she will read this and I know she will know I’m talking about her.

Living fit daily can be challenging, but those challenges can be overcome.  Every single day I get up with the intention of being more fit today than I was yesterday, mentally, physically or emotionally in some way.   I’m not always perfect, but I am always consistent.  Consistency wins the race.  I’m living proof of that.

22
May
12

The Morphing of a Fit Woman

By garagegym107 3 Comments
Categories: Living Fit Daily
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People in the gym see me and most would never know that I weighed 328# at one point in my life.   Most days I don’t think about where I came from just because I don’t live in the past.  I prefer to keep my eyes peeled on what’s happening today. 

That way I see more of the good stuff.  Worrying about tomorrow before it gets here solves nothing.  Hanging on to crap that happened in the past only serves to keep me there so I tend to let yesterday go and live in today.

Ever looked up the definition of morphing? 

  • Undergo or cause to undergo a gradual transformation: “it began as an online magazine and morphed into a book”.

This suits me perfectly. Gradual transformation.  What started out as a seemingly impossible task has become a reality.   From fat to fit.  I used to bristle at the term fat for fear of hurting someone’s feelings.  

The truth is I WAS FAT and I blamed it on everyone and everything.  Bad  divorce, hated my job, not enough money, I had three kids, I was too busy to go to the gym, my knee’s hurt (ya think??  what body part doesn’t hurt when you pack 170# of excess weight on it?).   In reality, I was scared.  What if I failed.  What if I didn’t follow through.  What if I didn’t stay with it.  Notice I never said “what if I can’t”.  Subconsciously, I always knew that I could and I would.  Where I got into trouble was wanting major results all the time.  I’ve learned that the minor changes are just as important. 

It’s in the details.  We lose ourselves in where we want to be instead of what it takes to get there.   My best progressions have come when I stopped focusing on when I get “there” and started wholeheartedly focusing my attention on where I am and what I can do to be better today than I was yesterday.

It’s not easy, but I promise you when you get “there”, you’ll move the bar to somewhere else.     That’s morphing. 

Gradual transformation is difficult mainly because of our instant gratification society.   For me, gradual transformation has forced me to embrace the journey. It’s the journey that makes it possible to endure the necessary sacrifices to achieve any goal worth having.

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